“Fuck,” Slade muttered, pushing harder.
I adjusted my grip on Maddie and kept running. The buildings blurred as we tore through the wreckage—burned-out stalls, shattered stone, ash hanging thick in the air.
The battle had set alight several buildings around the south side and the blaze had spread across the city like a virus, consuming the ruins of Varrowmere. The sky was orange and thick with smoke.
I didn’t know if Phoenix was dying.
I just knew if we didn’t move faster, we’d all be too late.
Somewhere ahead, I heard the creak of wood and the splash of water.
“What… what’s going on?” Maddie croaked.
“Welcome back,” I said with a breathless grin, ducking behinda corner. I put her down and we listened to the approaching hoard.
Ahead, just off a small wooden jetty sat a weathered old fishing boat. I could see someone on board in the deep darkness, fiddling with ropes. I could sense Phoenix even closer now.
Thundering hooves pounded across the ground, making the docks rattle. The wharf wasn’t far, but the space was exposed.
I caught movement ahead—two figures dragging a body between them.
Elira.
I’d know that silhouette anywhere.
She spotted me and waved, urgent. Then pointed to the boat.
“There she is!” I yelled.
“Run!” Thorne barked beside me.
The sentinels swarmed at our backs like wasps on the attack.
He surged ahead, cutting through smoke and shadow like a blade. Slade kept to the rear, deflecting spears and blades that screamed down toward us. His arms flashed with metal, each strike buying us seconds.
I kept Maddie close, one arm braced around her.
She wasn’t unconscious anymore.
Her eyes were open—blazing. Rage twisted her bruised face as she lifted her hand and sent a surge of vines bursting from the wooden jetty. They wrapped around the lead Sentinels, dragging them down with a shriek of cracking timber.
“That’s my girl,” I grinned, giving her a shove. “Run to the boat!”
Maddie staggered free of me, then broke into a limping sprint, clumsy but determined.
I walked backward, body between Maddie and the storm, watching the darkness swallow the docks. If it came to it, I’d be the last thing standing in its way.
**
Elira
It was a wave of red.
The Sentinels just kept coming—more and more—a flood of armour and blades crashing across the dock. And at the edge of it all, Vasquez sat astride his horse, watching like he was some godsdamn king surveying a battlefield he already owned.
Leo, Slade and Thorne were all running our way, but the Sentinels were right on their heels.
“They’re not going to make it,” I whispered, breath caught in my throat.
