They deserved so much worse.
Jace placed his hand on my shoulder behind me, a reminder that he was there, as we soared over the army in taunting circles.
My eyes then locked on the camp itself instead of those before us. I realized that if they had nowhere to flee back to or supplies to replenish their empty sheaths, they were sitting ducks.
I sucked in a sharp breath—it was now or never. My knuckles turned a ghostly white as my grip on the saddle tightened. The word worked its way up my tongue, sizzling my veins like lightning in anticipation.
My nostrils flared as the veins in my neck pulsated, and I screamed, “IGNYSTAE!” My voice was unrecognizable as it bellowed the word into the open air.
A blast of scorching heat erupted as Nox shot an enormous wall of fire down onto the camp, answering my command with its fiery force.
The tents and those who had remained inside them were immediately engulfed in flames. They screamed in agony and terror as they desperately tried to put out the blaze.
“Holy gods!” Gage shouted from behind me. “Hell fucking yes, Lia.”
“Mother of the gods,” Jace breathed.
“It worked.” Zaela’s words were barely audible.
My lips twisted into a wicked, menacing smile. It had worked. Veli was right—Nox understood the tongue of the gods. A growl of anticipation rumbled beneath us as if the wyvern realized this himself.
“Lia, have Nox eliminate the army before he’s out of his flames!” Jace reminded me.
Right. One more fireball at their remaining supplies couldn’t hurt, though.
My command rang out once more into the smoke-filled air as my fingers started to ache from gripping the saddle so tightly.
Nox circled and sent another blast of flames down at their supply wagons, which immediately turned to ash.
“YES!” Zaela roared behind me.
“Everyone, hold on!” I screamed as Nox turned quickly to the right and soared above the soldiers below.
My wyvern came to a halt before the army. He beat his wings in perfect unison, the powerful downbeat of them keeping us aloft, hoovering above the soldiers. They continued to shoot their arrows up at him, but they just bounced off his armor of scales.
Nox released a blaze of relentless flame down at the forces who refused to yield to us and his inferno.
Screams of agony and fear rang out between the roar of the flames as he lit up the entire army.
I hoisted myself up and steadied my balance on Nox's shoulder while gripping his neck for support. I felt Jace’s body tense behind me as my eyes searched the burning terrain below. Disappointment nearly suffocated me when I couldn’t find Kellan among the troops in the flames. I searched every bellowing, terror-filled face. None of them were him.
Thick tendrils of black smoke wafted into the air around us and almost completely blocked out the midday sun.
“Where the fuck is he?!” I screamed right before my jaw ticked.
“Lia, I—” Jace’s sentence was cut off by a sharp hiss as an excruciating sting radiated through my own arm.
I whipped around, jaw agape, and beheld my mate as he clutched his arm that an arrow had skimmed through, leaving a gash open in his flesh.
The arrow had cut through his armor. Jace hissed again as his eyes found mine. Blood dripped down the metal.
I was at his side in an instant and pressed my finger to it. My fingertip instantly sizzled from the contact, the skin bubbling as if it were burned.
The arrow’s head had been dipped in wyvern's blood.
My eyes flew up and met his once more, but I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t comprehend a single thought as my vision darkened completely and enclosed around me, draping me as if it were crafted from Veli’s shadows.
“Jace! Are you okay?!” Zaela roared as she joined Gage in unleashing their arrows down into the burning army.
