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Noreen glanced up from her map, her eyes shining in the dim light of her office. “If Ramapheal decides to send the Demon and that monster he calls a mount, then you find somewhere to hide and pray to every God that’s forsaken us not to be found.”

Noreen had told the truth for once. That was all Soraya could think as Lyra’s jet was snapped up between those massive jaws and the creature soared upward, one beat of its black wings strong enough to send all the other crafts crashing back as though shoved by giant invisible hands.

It took barely any effort at all on the dragon’s part to tear the jet apart, the thick steel body and wings breaking between those razor-sharp fangs as if they were no stronger than branches.

Pieces of metal rained down, slamming into the mountains below with a thunderous crash.

And if the jet was that easy to break apart, then Lyra’s fragile human body …

The dragon soared beneath the clouds, its colossal wings propelling it forward much quicker than a beast that size had any right to, clearing huge spaces of empty air in seconds.

How had the scanners not picked it up until it was too late? It was enormous. Its head had to be at least twice the size of their jets, each one of the spikes fanning out around the base of its skull like an obsidian crown taller than a person—and that was just its head. Something this big should’ve had the scanners ringing out like church bells on coronation morning—like they were right now.

Soraya could hardly think around all the beeping—or the screams.

With the exception of Deimos, every soldier she’d selected for this mission was a seasoned flyer with years of battle experience. None of that seemed to matter, though, in the face of such a monster.

She tried to tamp it down, but panic swirled in Soraya’s chest so completely she struggled to draw a breath—not at the dragon, but at the armored, horned figure sitting between its shoulders.

The Demon was really here.

Suns help them all.

Fear held the rest of her team hostage. Soraya tried to rein them in, barking orders to stand together and keep formation tight, but it did no good. Blind, mind-numbing panic ensued, sweeping through the group like a poison so quickly there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Did you see what it did to her craft?” someone was shouting.

“It’s coming back! What do we do?”

“We’re all gonna die!”

The dragon flapped its wings in a mighty push, the sound like two boulders colliding. It wove between the rotting mountain peaks and turned, barreling back toward them at an alarming speed, and what sliver of control Soraya had over the group vanished entirely.

Formation completely broke apart, Sunrunners scattering in every direction.

Soraya tried to rally them again. To take control and suck the panic out of the wound—but it’d already spread too far.

Only the other fighter jet pilots seemed to have kept their heads. Deimos and Theron shot toward the dragon, the noise from their tired engines like a roar from an old beast. Pellets of bright Light shot from their guns, bullets of burning energy hot enough to melt metal and bone alike.

They might as well have been throwing pebbles for all the good they did. Each one bounced off the dragon’s scales, but the jets did have one advantage. The dragon was fast, but the machines were faster.

The brothers soared in close on either side in a pincer maneuver, still firing, still desperately trying to make any sort of mark, but swerved just before those snapping jaws could snatch them up.

Soaring high above the mountains, the dragon snarled in frustration, releasing a deafening roar loud enough to make Soraya’s bones feel as though they were vibrating. It didn’t breathe a single flame—that sound alone was enough to make one of the Sunrunners lose all rational thought and do the unthinkable.

He started to pull up.

“No!” Soraya screamed, reaching out as though she could grab the craft’s wing and yank it back down. “The Towers are working again! If you—”

The craft slammed into the Iron Sky at full speed, an almighty crack ripping through the air as the machine broke apart like they’d smashed into a wall of solid steel. Red lines slashed through the sky where metal met magic, rippling overhead just for a moment like a spider’s web that’d ensnared a helpless fly.

More screams rang through the speakers. The pilot’s own shriek lasted only a second before the craft exploded and the attached sunbank and flower fell, down, down, exploding among the abandoned mining equipment with a flare of brilliant white light.

Fuck this.

“Res,” Soraya said to the only other remaining jet pilot. “Stay here and try to get the Sunrunners to regroup.” She didn’t wait for a reply before pushing her craft toward the dragon at full speed right as Theron and Deimos turned to make another pass. The brothers fell into a tight formation behind her, an arrow of black and bronze and green, then together, rained down a sea of Light right on the dragon.

Again, nothing got through, the Light extinguishing like a candle blown out just before reaching the beast.