Page 382 of Elemental Becoming

A dragon roars overhead, fury and fire given voice. My dragon.

Calryx’s magics pour through the bond, pushing back against the pain and flooding my body with power and adrenaline andresolve.

I hiss through my teeth and force myself upright. I will not fall.

“Amara!”Thane’s voice slams through the bond.

I look up and immediately see it.

His power falters. Only for a moment, but it happens. The flames along his blade stutter. His attention fractures, pulled away from the battle and toward me.

No.

Not now.

“Keep going!”I snap through the bond, forcing my feet stable and my blade back into position.“Don’t lose focus. I’m fine.”

For a fraction of a second, I feel the struggle inside him.

Then discipline wins.

The fire surges. His focus locks back into place. And the bond steadies with it.

I risk a glance at my arm. The bolt carved a deep furrow through flesh and muscle. Blood runs freely down my forearm, and beneath it I catch the pale gleam of bone.

My stomach drops.

At the ball, the wound had begun healing almost immediately. This one doesn’t. The flesh remains torn. The blood keeps coming.

“Virelya!”Calryx’s voice crashes through the bond.“I am with you.”

Her presence wraps around me, fierce and unwavering.

“Finish that monstrosity.”

Through gritted teeth, I force my attention back to the battle.

Thane and I have spent months building toward this moment, ever since Valen discovered what our bond made possible. That we could speak mind to mind. That we could move as one. Together we were stronger than either of us could ever be alone.

We trained for this relentlessly. Every movement. Every angle. Every shift in position. We refined it until it became instinct.

Me above, trailing Elemental ribbons of storm and flame.

Thane below, a blade of fire and fury.

A maneuver no other pair could execute because no other bond was built like ours.

And now we unleash it.

Thane drives forward, his blade ablaze as fire erupts around him in a sweeping arc. I dive from the opposite side, ribbons of Elemental power streaming behind me as I channel all four Elements through my sword.

We meet at the same instant.

Flame and storm.

Steel and wind.

A single attack from two directions.