“There are no fucking reinforcements! Send the reserve units to the eastern troop. Tell them to hold it at all costs! Finnian is in there! If too many are injured, have them fall back to the second line if you must, but donotlet them get to the healers’ tent!”
Leon gave me a curt nod as his gaze swept across the battlefield before taking off in their direction, swinging his blade with each step.
More than anything, I wanted to reach down into the bond and check on Lia, but I knew that any distraction could cost each of us our lives. So, I forced myself to stay true to our promise to one another and kept my focus on cutting down the enemy fleet.
Yet, I knew that this was only the beginning.
Chapter sixty-seven
Elianna
Kellan’s wyvern had slammedinto Nox head-on, bursting through the wall of flames he shot at them, completely unfazed.
My eyes flared as they met his, a menacing grin adorning the rest of his features as he greeted me in a yell over the madness. “Hello, Princess.”
He winked and blew me a kiss, right before ordering his wyvern to lash out again at Nox.
The sky above the battlefield morphed into a chaotic dance of flame and scales as our mounts repeatedly slammed into each other, clawing, thrashing, and snapping at anything they could get a hold of.
I commanded Nox to soar upwards, to lure Kellan and his wyvern away from the battle below. Racing through the clouds, their enormous, stretched wings eclipsed the sun, casting shadows on the blood-stained earth below.
The skin beneath my armor burned as the wyverns repeatedly shot an eruption of flames at one another. Their roars echoed like thunder across the sky, and my own matched theirs as I desperately clutched my saddle to keep atop my mount. And I had never been more thankful for it.
My eyes roamed over the conjured wyvern, who looked nearly identical to my Nox. Scales the color of obsidian, only they reflected ruby beneath the blinding sun instead of his amethyst—all that differed aside from that were their eyes. While Nox’s gaze had always been a blazing gold, this beast’s eyes were similar to its creator.
Nox’s tail whipped towards them, cutting into the other creature’s hind leg, a shriek of pain echoing from it at the contact of it. With a flash of speed, Kellan’s mount disappeared within the cover of the clouds.
Nox leveled us as we hovered in the sky, slowly beating his wings to keep us steady. Working to catch my breath, I unbuckled myself from the strap of the saddle to get a better look at Nox.
I peered over his shoulder to see a small bit of blood leaking from between his scales, but I was thankful it was minimal compared to the damage we had just done to Kellan’s mount.
“Shit. Nox, are you okay?” My eyes darted back and forth from his face to the wound. A continuous growl rumbled from him. “I can’t touch it,” I whispered. “It will burn me.”
He let out a sad whimper, and my eyes softened, lips parting as sorrow overcame me at the sight of him being in pain, and there was nothing I could do to help.
I sat back in the saddle while my gaze moved through the clouds, and only an eerie silence accompanied us. My once settling heartbeat picked back up again after realizing Kellan had truly disappeared—the fuckingcoward.
“Nox, we need to—”
My order was cut off by a scream that tore through my throat as Kellan’s mount came barreling at us from the side, emerging from the cover of the thick clouds. Jaw gaping open, the beast unleashed torrents of flame from its maw, scorching Nox’s side and the straps of my saddle with searing heat.
A deafening screech left my wyvern, and my heart cracked, knowing how much pain he must’ve been in to make such a guttural sound.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Nox!” I screamed as one of my hands had a death grip on his back fin and the other on my saddle that was barely holding on by a scorched thread.
He leveled out his wings as Kellan’s mount circled through the clouds—both of their lethal stares locked on us.
A snarl crept up my lips, and I positioned myself as quickly as I could, waiting for the attack I knew was coming.
“Come on, you vicious fuck!” I bellowed. “This is what you’ve been waiting for, is it not?!”
He wore a sly smirk as he winked at me the moment I finished uttering the words. Without even being commanded, his mount took a nosedive toward the ground, jaw snapping as its red gaze was locked on the battle that raged beneath us.
My heart instantly sank. “Nox! Dive!” I ordered, and he obeyed.
The wind stung my eyes as we raced to catch up to them, descending toward the unforgiving terrain. We were nearly directly behind him, but still not close enough as Nox’smaw snapped at the other wyvern’s tail while it lashed out at us.
As the ground came into view, the armies fought relentlessly at the foot of the gates. My eyes locked on Kellan as he lifted a single arm and then pointed it at the ground, where both of our armies fought.
