The monsters were here. They had started killing those who refused to leave, or maybe guards stationed near the gates.
Panic rose in my throat. The stars had died in the wake of night. I wouldn't be able to cast without them.
A shadow tore above my head and dove for the last wagon in line. Bláth's light illuminated a drake as it grabbed a young mother in its talons and whisked her away.
Her screams grew fainter as she was carried away.
I didn't feel her die. Gods, that was almost worse.
Pounding steps thundered toward me. A shardwolf leaped from the darkness and crashed against my chest, throwing me to the ground. Its icy maw opened to snap down on my neck.
I flinched, but nothing sank into my flesh. Warm, emerald wind flowed around my neck. The shardwolf’s maw was pushed open by the gale's force, and it was thrown backward off its feet.
A dragon flew between the wolf and me; it was a tiny thing, no taller than a man. Its emerald body pulsed and flickered—not entirely corporeal.
"Liam!" Ferris called.
He had his hand outstretched, eyes blazing with unnatural light. Finding my feet, I dashed to his side, nearly tripping over a crack in the road.
The strange, feathery dragon soared into the sky above Ferris' head and ruptured. A dome of lightning grew from its disintegrating body and slammed into the road, surrounding the villagers and us.
"What is that?" I asked.
"My catalyst," Ferris said, voice strained in concentration.
Did he mean the dragon itself was his catalyst? Maybe I knew less about magic than I'd thought.
The shardwolf righted itself and lunged for me again. Sparks burned its fur as it slammed into the cage of lightning and was thrown back.
Bláth ran past me and grabbed a small child, shoving him into the closest wagon. A trail of smoke pursued her.
My heart thumped painfully. I remembered that smoke—trails of mist mixed with the night. A terrible creature with long claws had emerged from its cocoon and torn a young woman in half in Galasvar.
Grabbing my knife, I lunged toward her. "Bláth!"
She whirled around in time to see the smoke growing into a towering figure. Steel claws burst from the smog and lunged for the Solheart. She danced out of the way—and then shoved her hand into the wraith of smoke.
The ball of light she cupped in her hand burst, illuminating the creature. Spindly limbs and a skull-like head were visible behind the smoke for a brief moment before it disintegrated into dust.
A wave of relief washed over me. These two were capable—we might just survive.
A roar thundered above us. An enormous bird dove down from the heavens, neck long and pale, eyes glassy and dead.
Feeling relief had been a mistake.
The vulture crashed into Ferris' lightning dome. The prince bucked from the force of its impact, hands twisting. Static charge rushed through the air—but the shield held.
I could hardly hear myself think over the screams and braying horses. Monsters surrounded Ferris' shield. The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air as they tested its defenses.
Shardwolves from the south, fur bristling with ice. Those horrible human-shaped creatures made of tree-like vines with one terrible, vertical maw to the east.
One of the creature's whips slipped through the cracks in the lightning and wrapped around Ferris's calf. Blood soaked through his boot as it cut through leather and skin, yanking him off balance.
He gasped in pain. I lunged forward, grabbing his arms to keep him from falling.
Ferris righted himself, but it didn't matter. The moment had been enough to break his spell.
His shield fell.
