Page 372 of Elemental Becoming

The first Kethraki explodes mid-air. The second is caught in both streams and incinerates, its body flaring bright before collapsing into ash. The third veers off course, only to be snatched by Calryx. She catches it with her claws and tears it apart in a single savage motion, sending the pieces spiraling toward the ground like burned paper.

Rowena twists in her saddle and catches sight of the aftermath. She raises a hand, pressing two fingers to her temple before flicking them outward in a sharp, silent gesture of thanks.

I nod once and turn my attention forward.

A high-pitched scream cuts through the chaos.

I whip to my right just in time to see a soldier ripped halfway from her saddle. The enchanted straps around her legs hold fast as a Kethraki adjusts its grip, its talons driving deeper into her shoulders. Her dragon bellows in fury, twisting through the sky and spewing fire in every direction, desperate to reach his rider without burning her alive.

I bank toward them instinctively, but Rian is already there.

With a sweep of his hand, ten razor-sharp discs of ice streak through the air. They strike the Kethraki almost simultaneously, slicing through leathery wings, severing limbs, and carving the creature apart before it can react. Its grip vanishes instantly.

The rider drops back into her saddle, slumping forward against her dragon’s neck. Blood darkens her leathers, but she’s alive. She lifts a trembling hand, Skysigns her gratitude, then signals she’s well enough to return to the Capital.

I wait only long enough to see her dragon bank away.

The battle changes quickly.

The Kethraki are fast, but we are faster.

Calryx and the others tear through them with terrifying precision. Flame erupts across the sky in violent bursts. Claws, teeth, and wind magics carve through the creatures one after another, sending broken bodies tumbling toward the ground.

The dragons move like a force of nature. Ruadhan bull-rushes two Kethraki at once, driving them into the side of a cliff. Xaroth barrels through five of the flying monsters, sending them spinning through the air upon impact. His jaws snap around one and send it plummeting with a broken scream. Even the younger dragons strike with practiced fury, their riders holding formation and pressing the attack.

Their numbers are cut in half within moments.

A new scream rises on the wind.

Higher.

Sharper.

Stronger.

I snap my gaze toward the horizon, toward the blighted lands beyond Greythorne Keep, and my stomach drops.

More.

Another wave.

Three dozen additional Kethraki rise from the scorched terrain beyond the broken gates, their wings slicing through the wind like blades.

Calryx growls beneath me, low and dangerous.“They’re multiplying. Someone’s summoning them.”

“The Commander,”I say through clenched teeth.

I can see them now. Thirty-six more, already halfway across the field and closing fast. Their shadows sweep across the battlefield below.

My gaze drops to the keep. The fighting on the ground is getting worse. More Fellborn pour through the breaches. The inner wall is beginning to buckle under the pressure.

Understanding hits like a lightning strike.

This isn’t a fight. It’s a battle of attrition, and we’re running out of time.

“Thane.”

The bond opens instantly.