Page 108 of Heart of Night and Fire

Several more guards joined in, surrounding the demon, while more attempted to reach the princess to escort her to safety.

The dakini swung out a massive arm, its claws slashing through Yasen’s thigh, carving four deep bloody grooves, forcing him to stumble back. Zarya screamed, but Yasen shook it off, recovering quickly before he took another swing at the dakini.

She went in for the kill while it was distracted, arcing her blade into the spot between its shoulder and throat, the edge biting into its stiff tendons before it threw its head back and roared.

It was a minor victory because she was immediately hurled off her feet and thrown through the air. She landed on the pavement with a smack that knocked the breath out of her, her elbows and palms tearing at the impact.

The elephant-sized kala-hamsa stood over her, its enormous feet caging her in. It bent down and shrieked in her face as she scrambled on her hands and feet, her chest still too tight to draw a proper breath.

Using a long talon, the beast snagged the remains of her skirt, dragging her closer. Somehow, she still had a hold of her sword, and she slashed at the bird while attempting to anchor herself to the pavement, her nails ripping as it towed her in.

The bird then raised a huge clawed foot, and she watched as it slowly descended, thumping on top of her. Her remaining breath whooshed from her lungs like she’d been flipped inside out. She scrabbled and kicked, trying to free herself from its grip, panicking as her ribcage verged on the brink of collapse.

A gust of wind tousled her hair as the bird began to flap its massive wings.

“No,” Zarya wheezed as she fought harder, realizing the thing was about to take off with her as its unwilling captive.

“Zee!” Yasen cried as he grabbed at her feet. Zarya felt the brush of his hand against her ankle, but he wasn’t fast enough. She slipped away as she was lifted higher, the noise from the fight receding as the ground moved away.

The bird’s talons squeezed her so tight she was growing desperate for breath, her heart thrashing like a moth trapped in a thimble.

As they ascended into the sky, the bird lurched, thrown off course. Zarya caught a glimpse of Apsara below, her hands pointed at them. The bird swooped, dropping several feet as Zarya’s stomach launched into her throat before righting itself.

An arrow of fire blew past her vision as Kindle released his magic, but the kala-hamsa evaded the shot with more ease than something that large had a right to. It aimed its head at the ground and opened its mouth as a stream of bright green flame shot out, striking Kindle in the chest, sending him flying.

Zarya was having difficulty organizing her thoughts, both from the adrenaline burning through her veins and the increasing lack of air. Beads of panicked sweat slicked her skin. Her sword still clutched in a death grip, she swung it up, attempting to hack away at the bird’s foot or ankle or anything that would make this fucker let her go.

The world beneath her grew smaller.

Apsara appeared in the air like a divine goddess coming to deliver her from this nightmare. Her magnificent wings flapped madly as she hurled bolts of ice at the demon. But a flock of smaller kala-hamsa appeared, diving for Apsara and attacking. They wrestled her in the air as she tried to fend them off while Zarya lifted higher.

They were well above the city now, the world below rendered into miniature. Zarya gagged, a sour wash of fear climbing up her throat.

As she tried to gather her fraying nerves, another horror materialized before her eyes.

An iridescent black dragon swooped alongside her, only slightly smaller than the bird, with black leathery wings, a shimmering black hide, and a wide jaw filled with needle-sharp teeth. A fact she learned when it opened its mouth and bellowed with a howl that seemed to vibrate the very molecules of air she was still trying desperately to suck into her lungs.

The dragon dove, its speed like a flash of lightning. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable snap as she was swallowed in those tremendous jaws. She wasn’t sure which ending was worse. Being shredded to ribbons or facing whatever this forsaken bird wanted with her. Maybe it had a nest of babies, and Zarya was their freshly caught worm.

The kala-hamsa lurched, and they fell several feet, the bird’s talons digging viciously into her skin. She screamed, though the sound was a feeble whimper because she still couldn’t get enough air.

The dragon circled away before it doubled back, snapping at the kala-hamsa. She wasn’t sure if it was her addled brain, but it seemed to be attacking the demon rather than her. Maybe it was just trying to kill it so it could keep Zarya all to itself.

Still clinging to her sword, Zarya again tried to penetrate the tough skin of the bird’s foot. The movement was awkward from her position, and she couldn’t find the right leverage, but she kept trying until her grip slipped. The sword bounced off its armored foot, and the blade flew from her hand, spinning away and plunging to the earth. She watched it fall, a sob sticking to the roof of her mouth.

The bird had recovered, and they were rising again. Zarya caught a fleeting glimpse of the dragon surrounded by a flock of kala-hamsa. It bucked, its long tail and neck swinging before it let out a roar so anguished and broken that she felt it echo into the marrow of her bones.

Zarya tried to think. Tried to come up with some way to save herself. She was going to die. Of that, she was certain.

She stopped writhing and forced herself to calm down, taking the deepest breath the bird’s tight grip would allow.

And then she felt it. A vibration. A call. Or rather, she felt them.

The stars.

Up here in the sky, where she was so much closer, the same feeling that flooded her veins every time she drew on her magic filled her now. She wasn’t sure how she knew, only that some part of her had always felt like they belonged to her. That they were hers to command, as they had always been.

It had only been light and an illusion of power, but now, her magic had been freed. Now it was something more.