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The clicking grows louder, and a glow builds in the back of its throat like embers stoked to life.
Panic surges through me.
Fire.
The chimera rears back, its jaws opening wider as the glow intensifies, heat radiating from its throat.
I lunge forward, sprinting straight at the beast, and the clicking falters.
At the last moment, I drop to the ground, sliding on the blood-slick stones. I lift my dagger, and the blade slices through its underbelly. The chimera’s roar turns into a guttural, choking scream as the dagger carves deep, splitting flesh and muscle.
Hot, viscous gore pours over me, drenching my arms, my chest, my face. The stench is overwhelming, and I gag.
I roll to the side as the chimera’s legs buckle. It crashes to the ground in a twitching, convulsing heap, its body jerking violently before finally going still.
Thunder rumbles overhead as light flashes through the clouds, and I turn toward the source, pushing myself to my feet.
The rest of Lyxander’s kin have joined the fray, weapons flashing as they hover over four remaining chimera on the frozen river. A charged stillness fills the air, tingling over my skin, and, as if some silent signal has been given, the Harpaurai retreat.
Lightning forks from the sky, striking the ice where the chimera stand. Once. Twice. Countless times more. The air crackles with energy, the ground trembling beneath my feet.
The ice groans, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface. The chimera roar, their massive forms shifting uneasily as the ground beneath them begins to give way.
And then, with a deafening crack, the ice shatters.
The chimera fall through, their snarls turning to panicked howls as the freezing water engulfs them. They thrash and claw, but the current is too strong, dragging them under.
Silence falls over the city, broken only by the muffled sound of water rushing beneath the ice.
I wrench my gaze away, searching the winged figures nearby.
Until I find him.
Lyxander turns, his gaze finding mine across the blood-soaked street. The lightning marks on his throat start to dim.
My chest heaves, my body trembling from exhaustion, but I force my legs to move toward him.
A shadow shifts through the veil of smoke. My heart lurches, the relief I felt shattering in an instant.
“Lyxander!” I scream, my voice raw and desperate.
The chimera bursts from the smoke, its claws extended as it launches for him.
My heart stops.
I can’t be too late again. I can’t watch him fall.
The fear is so sharp, so overwhelming, that it numbs me. My body moves on instinct, my mind a hollow void. I plunge into the depths of my power source without hesitation, without thought, and the world around me fades.
The air around me shifts, and the chimera halts in midair.
The wind howls into existence, answering the scream that stays trapped in my chest. It engulfs the beast, then starts to spin.
Dust and debris are pulled into the spiraling vortex, nearly shrouding the creature within.
The wind coils tighter. Spins faster.
I stand amid the chaos, detached, as though I’m watching from somewhere far away. My body feels weightless, my mind eerily calm, even as the chimera’s hind leg bends at an unnatural angle with an echoing crack.
