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Uriel threw out his hands and pushed. Magic burst out of him like a rampaging flood, burning out those black tendrils and scattering them outward. His spell didn’t stop there; it shot toward Xenowen faster than Bruiser could blink.

“Bruiser, fire!”

Bruiser sucked in a deep breath to stoke the flames in his gut. Then he breathed out the hottest blue flames, sending them on the tails of Uriel’s spell. His flames flew as quickly as the spell did.

Xenowen’s eyes widened. He chanted frantically and waved his arms, but Bruiser’s flames swallowed him.

Xenowen screamed.

They watched in silence as the mage plummeted to the ground, trashing.

“Is he...?” Bruiser trailed off.

“Don’t know. We’ll have to get closer to see. Be careful.” Uriel began to cast another spell, but he was panting, his hands shaky.

“Sweetheart. Don’t overexert yourself.” Bruiser gave him a quick squeeze.

Uriel shook his head. “Let me be sure he’s dead first.”

“Yeah, okay. Could you make us invisible again? Might be safer that way.”

Uriel recast the spell with some difficulty, and Bruiser carefully flew them closer to the ground.

“I don’t have night vision,” Bruiser said.

“Me neither. But I have a spell that’ll help.” Uriel murmured something and passed his hand over Bruiser’s eyes. Then he did it to himself.

When Bruiser blinked, his world was different. Everything was in shades of silver and gray: leaves had turned silver, while tree trunks were almost black. The sky was a deep gunmetal gray, while the ground was lighter.

The world seemed ethereal like this. Well, except for the burnt, crumpled figure on the ground.

Bruiser circled them closer, watching Xenowen for any sign of a trap.

They were almost on top of him when he spasmed. With a scream, Xenowen spread his arms and sent a pulse of dark energy outward.

Bruiser cursed and twisted them around to shield Uriel with his own body, terrified that he was too late. Uriel flung out his arms and cast a wordless shield spell.

Xenowen’s attack battered against Uriel’s shield. Bruiser didn’t dare breathe.

But Uriel’s shield spell held steady, and he kept holding it until the dark magic faded and spluttered out.

Uriel was panting now, pale and drained. With his arms still wrapped around Uriel, Bruiser carefully wiped the sweat off his omega’s face.

“Think it’s safe enough for us to get closer?” he whispered.

“Maybe. Be careful.”

Bruiser wanted nothing more than to bring Uriel home and bundle him into bed, but they had to make sure that Xenowen was no longer a threat. With exceeding care, he flew them closer to the lump on the ground. “I still don’t like it,” Bruiser said. “Do you... Do you have enough magic to do a simple containment spell? For a fire. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Y-yeah, I think I can do that,” Uriel said shakily. He wriggled his fingers through a few runes, and cast the spell around Xenowen.

Bruiser set Uriel on a sturdy tree branch. Then he shifted into his dragon form, with its protective scales, and approached the defeated mage. Without waiting, he breathed fire into the containment spell, a small sphere that was only wide enough to surround Xenowen.

The mage shrieked. The flames swallowed him, and Bruiser let them burn their hottest with his rage.

Wing beats drew closer. Three dragons dropped out of the sky—Yaeger, Ace, and Thiago. They added their flames to Uriel’s spell, and the flames burned so hot that they completely incinerated Xenowen.

Finally, Bruiser stepped back and stopped his flames. His friends did the same; all of them stared at the charred bit of ground.