Bruhn gave me a curt nod and took off, galloping towards those waiting in the field.
Turning back to face everyone, I nearly did a double take as I took in the sight of my family. They were all covered in ash and blood, their skin littered with wounds, exhaustion seeping into their faces, but they each had a glow about them.
My mate’s stare met mine. “You did it.”
“No. We all did.”
A prideful smile answered me, and a caress of love warmed our bond.
Gage caught my attention then, his gaze peering over my shoulder toward the city at my back as he took a step in its direction. His lips parted, wearing a look that could only be described as pure relief.
Turning on my heels, I followed his line of sight, landing right at the center of the gates, where Avery stood in front of an enormous crowd of Isla’s citizens.
“You did it,” he whispered as his steps moved him past me.
A second later, he took off into a run, leaping over the leftover carnage of war to get to my sister.
Avery met his pace and raced toward him in the same breath, her torn gown flowing behind her in the wind, and when they met, she leapt into his arms. She wrapped her own around his neck and embraced him, her fiery locks cascading over his shoulder.
She lifted her gaze to mine as I stood in the distance with the others and gave me a soft smile that I returned.
An arm then wrapped around my waist, and Jace worked to stand tall at my side. Our eyes collided, and I looked him over. The arm with his injured shoulder was laced through a makeshift sling that looked as if it had been ripped from one of their shirts, but the bleeding had ceased, thanks to Finn’s quick stitching.
“What are your plans if those who surrendered refuse to take a knee to your claim, Lia?” he asked as his gaze remained on me. A subtle growl lingered beneath his words.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
Zaela stepped up to my opposite side on near-silent feet, her stare locked on Avery and Gage as they approached us. “Has anyone seen Veli?” she asked in a whisper.
My eyes flared and instantly lifted to the sky. “Oh, gods…” I whipped back to Jace. “She saved us! She saved me and Avery. We never would have been able to get out without her.”
His jaw locked, and his stare lifted back to the gates, where the centaurs and forest creatures lined up the Islan soldiers and guided the gazing citizens back inside.
“There was an eruption in the sky toward the far edges of the city. I saw it briefly and assumed it was Nox…but he’s been out of flame since he returned to us down here.”
“Oh, gods…” I whispered.
Avery and Gage came to a halt before us. I looked into my sister’s honey-hued eyes, so similar to her mother’s, yet entirely different. “Veli?” I asked warily.
She bit her lower lip, sucking it in through her teeth. “There was so much going on. I was just trying to get everyone to listen to me and get to safety, but then the guards on the tower shouted the fighting had ceased, and everyone rushed back to the gates.”
Bruhn appeared once more, galloping up to us. “There is something you need to see,” he announced to me. “My herd hurried into the city the second the gates opened. It was just reported to me that your silver-haired witch has been found in the castle gardens.”
My eyes widened. “And?”
He pressed his lips together and shook his head.
“No,” I breathed and took off in a run toward Nox, who waited in the center of the ruined field.
Jace rapidly caught up with me and extended his good arm, allowing me to assist him in getting onto the wyvern.
Everyone else raced towards the gates.
Chapter seventy-eight
Elianna
The once-calm winds becamea storm from booming wyvern wings, rustling the leaves and tousling the flowers as Nox’s immense shadow eclipsed the castle garden.
