Page 375 of Elemental Becoming

“You were magnificent. Obviously.”

Despite everything, I laugh.

Across the sky, Thane raises a hand, a single signal that needs no explanation.

Then he dives.

Xaroth folds his massive wings and plummets toward the burning keep like a black meteor.

We follow.

FIGHTING SHADOWS

FIFTY-TWO

I translated this passage this evening. Ibelieve it is about the bond. It roughly reads as: When their wills move as one, their might is multiplied beyond measure. A weapon in solitude is a worthy thing, yet wedded to their united power, it may become an instrument unstoppable, a harbinger of ruin to all who stand before it.

—VALEN’S JOURNAL

AMARA

Calryx roars, the sound ripping through the air as she tucks her wings and dives after Xaroth. Our descent is fast, furious, and unstoppable. Around us, fifteen other dragons fall into formation, a blazing storm of scaleand power.

The wind screams past my ears. The ground surges toward us.

Below, chaos reigns. Soldiers battle through the rubble. Shadow-born tear through shattered walls.

And at the center of it all stands the Gorganthe.

Its body is stone and shadow, its limbs thick and gnarled, its eyes glowing like embers in a dying fire. The ground shudders beneath each step. Massive arms sweep through the battlefield, leaving broken bodies in their wake.

Calryx flies tight beside Xaroth, just as Thane ordered, her wingtip riding just beneath his and matching his altitude with disciplined precision. Their movements are instinctive and practiced, the kind of aerial coordination forged through months of flying together.

But I’m not watching the formation. My gaze is fixed on the Gorganthe below.

It moves like a force of nature, towering and grotesque, its limbs wrapped in shadow and stone. Molten veins glow beneath its cracked hide. Every strike sends bodies flying. Soldiers scatter. Wielders retreat. It is carving a path straight through the heart of Greythorne’s final line.

The power inside me rises in response.

Fire.

Wind.

Magics threaded with something deeper. Something older that stirs whenever darkness gathers in such force.

A sudden spike of emotion tears through the bond. Protective. Urgent.

“Amara, no!”Thane’s voice slams into my mind.“Stand down. That’s an order!”

My heart lurches, but I don’t stop gathering power. The Gorganthe is cutting down everyone in its path. We have to act.

“Thane,”I say through the bond, my voice calm despite the fear I know he feels in me.“You can’t protect me every time.”

A heartbeat passes.

“I have to be part of this. This is my purpose.”

The bond tightens.