Page 379 of Elemental Becoming

We continue in a wide, sweeping arc, searching the battlefield below for any sign of him. Though smaller, Calryx remains tight beside Xaroth, matching him beat for beat and wing for wing as we scan the broken landscape beneath us.

The wind rushes past. Below, the world churns with smoke, fire, and shadow, but up here there is only focus.

Calryx holds steady, her wings stretched wide and her emerald eyes fixed on the battlefield below. Every muscle in her body is ready. Through the bond, I feel that readiness mirrored inside me as we circle above the fighting, watching for any sign of the Commander.

I inhale and let the power settle. The fear is still there, sharp and pressing at the edges, but it no longer rules me. I’ve done this before. I have fought and destroyed a Commander, and I will do it again.

I see Thane turn sharply to the right, his attention locking onto something below.

“There he is!”

I follow his gaze and finally see him.

Far beneath us, a towering figure stands at the heart of the battlefield, half-shrouded in a mass of writhing shadow. Fellborn swarm around him in a living shield, their movements unnaturally coordinated and precise, as though guided by a single will.

The Commander stands at their center, waiting and watching.

Even from this distance, there is something deeply wrong about him. His skin is pale beyond anything natural, white as polished bone and unnervingly flawless. Not beautiful. Crafted. As though he had been shaped by intention rather than born.

Long white hair spills down his back, threaded with silver chains that catch the light against the smoke. His armor gleams like obsidian edged in starlight, dark and lustrous, etched with jagged sigils that pulse with slow, rhythmic magics.

A chill works its way down my spine. He’s a weapon in the shape of a man, made to command hundreds.

“Stay close,”Thane says, his attention fixed on the battlefield below.“We’re going low. Take out as many of the Fellborn as possible and clear a path to the Commander.”

His next words come sharper.

“Keep your eyes on him. He will try to strike at us.”

I give a tight nod.

Xaroth drops first, his descent controlled and precise. Calryx follows, folding her wings just enough to mirror the dive and hold tight to his flank. Their movements are seamless.

Below, the Fellborn react, snarling and screeching as they sense the threat descending from above.

Too late.

Xaroth opens his jaws, and fire erupts in a devastating sweep. A blazing wall tears through the ranks of Fellborn, consuming everything in its path. Heat blasts upward even from this height. Bodies burn. Shadows scatter.

Calryx banks wide and dives beneath the rising smoke. I draw from her as we descend, reaching inward for wind, for power, for precision. Raising my hands, I unleash two blades of compressed air that tear through the Fellborn attempting to regroup.

Calryx follows immediately, roaring as her claws rake through the survivors. Her wings drive her forward, carving a clear path through the battlefield just behind Xaroth. She carves a gash through the outer line, but it isn’t enough. More Fellborn surge forward to replace the ones that fell.

We climb again, banking wide as wings thunder through the air and the wind shrieks around us. As we angle for another pass, the Commander moves.

He lifts a hand.

A bolt of lightning streaks upward, black and veined with violet.

I barely manage a warning before Calryx twists hard to the right, the bolt hissing past her wingtip.

Two more follow.

Fast.

One shoots straight for Xaroth.

Thane raises a hand and throws up a wall of fire. The blazing shield absorbs the impact with a crack like splitting stone.