Daimon’s lip curled, pure hatred boiling inside him. He stepped forward just as Moros flung a hand out, shadows flecked with crackles of light barreling toward them.
“No!” Evelina bellowed as she lurched forward. She jumped in front of Daimon, screaming as the warmth of her shield exploded from her body. Brielle lunged after her, dutifully protecting her side even as the shadows raced toward them.
The shadows slammed into an invisible barrier. Moros’s dark magic pushed harder against her shield. Evelina screamed, blood dripping from her nose.
Ranick and Elias were only a few steps behind, sending streams of fire at Moros, but the moment the flame reached him, it flared around him, bouncing off. Moros turned toward the Aegis like they were nothing more than a fly irritating him.
Evelina screamed and her light flared bright, fighting against Moros’s dark shadows. Her magic pushed against him, forcing him back a step. This time, it wasn’t a shield she pushed; it was rays of light aimed at him like arrows. She sent them hurtling toward him, one of them catching his arm and slicing through the muscle.
He screamed out in pain, his eyes widening. She sentanother wave of light at him and he stumbled back another step. His eyes grew wide with panic, his chest heaving. He twisted around and sent a slamming wave of shadows out of the cave.
Daimon didn’t see what happened until it was too late. All he could see were the shadows flying off and past them as Moros’s magic flew out in all directions, Evelina’s shield firmly in place around Daimon and Brielle.
But not Ranick and Elias.
They were dead the moment the shadows swept over them, their bodies dropping lifeless to the ground. The force of Moros’s magic blasted the rocks away from the mouth of the cave, opening it up to the outside world.
Before Evelina could go on the offense once more, Moros fled the cave, leaving silence in his wake.
The second the shadows stopped pressing against her shield, she slipped out of Daimon’s grasp and sprinted to the Aegis’ side. Daimon ran past her, searching outside for any signs of Moros. But there were none. He was gone.
Everything was quiet…too quiet. No sounds of fighting, no battle happening outside. He turned to find Brielle pressing her finger just beneath Ranick’s jaw.
“No pulse.” Her usually stable voice cracked. She twisted to where Elias had fallen, his body unnaturally still, and did the same to him, shaking her head solemnly.
Daimon fought back the tears that threatened to spill down his face. Evelina had collapsed a distance away, sobbing. He crouched down and cradled her face between his hands, forcing her eyes away from their bodies.
“Eve, we need to go.” Her breathing was shallow and sobs racked her body. “Evelina,”he snapped. “Look at me.” It took a few moments, but she finally brought her gaze to him. “We have to leave,now,” he repeated. “Before they decide to come back.”
Her eyes were vacant. “He said my mother was dead.”
He fought against the nausea, the bile climbing the back ofhis throat. If he fell apart, he could be risking her life. That was the only thing keeping him moving. Focused.
He tugged on his bond with Zephyr, nearly gasping in relief when he found it was still there.
Zephyr landed moments later, followed by Aster, Willow, and Ranick and Elias’s wyverns. Daimon was relieved to see Willow’s wyvern alive, her wing patched with mud and leaves, a small reprieve from the unbearable grief.
“A mass of shadows swept over the valley, killing rebels and Valon soldiers alike,” Aster said breathlessly. “What happened?—”
His eyes landed on Ranick and Elias.
Willow was frozen atop Khaline, her mouth agape in horror.
Aster slid off his beast and ran to Daimon. He took in the scene before him: a sobbing Evelina, a hauntingly quiet Brielle, and their fallen comrades beside them.
“Help me tie them to the wyverns,” Daimon said. “We’re going home.”
Aster blinked before nodding his head. They silently gathered their friends to take them home and give them a proper burial. One where the stench of darkness wasn’t surrounding them, and they could pass into Caelum, finally free from this needless war.
Fifty-Five
Daimon
They flewover the remains of the battlefield. The ground soldiers who had not been infected by the shadows were stopping to check on the wounded. Evelina was silent on the ride back to the palace. Daimon wrapped both of his arms around her waist and tucked her in close. He traced circles over her abdomen, lost in his mind as much as she was in hers.
Every death settled like a heavy weight against Daimon’s chest. They’d lost half their flight, the skies feeling far too empty without Ranick, Elias, and Keir. They had trained as a unit for years. To suddenly have their closest friends ripped away from them, to have to fly so soon, was like a knife to the gut. Willow had almost lost Khaline, too, the wyvern’s wing still stiff and her flight slow.
But the empire had not just lost soldiers today.
