Golden light flared from my skin. The cracks on my neck deepened, running up toward my jawline like lightning bolts. I could feel my own blood boiling, turning into steam against the metal plating.
I pulled back against the suction. I anchored my will.
I am the Keeper,I thought fiercely.I am the Unbound. I am the Gate. I am the bridge. You do not get to eat my family.
A glass harpy broke through Kaelen’s fire perimeter. It dove at me, its faceted eyes devoid of life, its beak a jagged shard of obsidian aimed right at my eyes.
I couldn't move. If I moved my arm to defend myself, the bridge would collapse, and Thane and Elias would fall into the erasure.
I stared at the death coming for me and held the line.
A furry mass struck the harpy in the throat mid-dive. It shattered into a thousand pieces of harmless glass that rained down around me.
Flynn landed in front of me, crouching, panting, a wild grin on his wolfy face.
Told you I was watching the shadows.
"They're nearly across," I gasped, sweat stinging my eyes. "Kaelen! Cover the rear!"
Kaelen roared, a sound that shook the ravine walls. He banked sharply, his massive wings creating a vacuum that pulled a dozen harpies into his wake, where he incinerated them with a lash of his tail.
Thane stepped off the bridge onto the far bank. He practically threw Elias onto the solid ground and turned back, reaching out for me.
"Aria! Release!" Thane bellowed.
"Not yet!" I yelled. "Flynn hasn't crossed!"
Flynn looked at me. "I can jump it."
"It's too far!" I argued, my vision blurring. The strain was becoming unbearable. The screams of the souls in the river were getting louder, bleeding into my mind.
Help us... cold... so cold... join us...
Shut up,I commanded the voices.I am not one of you.
"Go, Flynn!" I shrieked.
The Wolf didn't argue. He sprinted across the bridge of my soul. His footsteps were lighter than Thane’s, sharp staccato taps that felt like needles piercing my nerves. He cleared the distance in seconds, leaping the final ten feet to land beside Thane.
"Clear!" Flynn yelled.
"Kaelen!" I called to the sky. "Landing zone is hot! Get down there!"
The Dragon Prince folded his wings and dove. He plummeted like a meteor, pulling up at the last second to crash-land on the far bank, shattering a ridge of glass with his impact. He spun around, roaring defiant fire at the remaining harpies, daring them to follow.
They didn't. They retreated into the fog, screeching their frustration.
Now it was just me.
I was alone on the wrong side of the river.
"Aria, cross!" Kaelen shouted.
I tried to move my legs. They wouldn't obey. I had poured so much structure into the bridge that I had forgotten how to be a body.
The river surged again. A massive hand, formed of thousands of smaller hands, rose from the ash. It towered over me, blotting out the grey sky.
Mine,the river whispered.
