“Protect Aura with your lives!” the dragon shouts, diving beneath the force of friendly thunderbirds.
We soar beneath Crispin, who flies ahead of the others with Serena and Calida in the air beside him while Mia and Talsa coast well back, their faces filled with concentration. They will use their communication skills to help the thunderbirds that the Springtime and Harvest fae are riding, since many of them will be new to aerial combat. Evander soars toward Talsa, joining her. His Frost power is nearly exhausted, but he is physically strong and will do his best to protect her and Mia while they work.
The Vanem Dragon soars into position behind my new defenders, safe for now, giving me the chance to take a breath and allowing us to see the entire battle.
The fight in the air is violent. Serena and Calida are vastly outnumbered, but they are agile, darting between their attackers. Serena’s firelight hits the first attacking Solstice fae, her thunderbird darting between them while several thunderbirds ridden by Harvest fae cut to the right and disrupt the attacking fae’s formation. The Harvest men are used to felling trees. They are all muscular, strong from years of physical labor, and they carry makeshift wooden spears. Evading the firebolts aimed at them, they use their spears to full effect to defend my position.
I search the battle on the ground for Nathaniel, the light inside me pulsing with anxiety until I find him in the center of the field. The human army protects his back, facing Imatra’s army, while Nathaniel faces Cyrian and his hunters.
Nathaniel isn’t alone. Hagan fights on one side of him while Christiana battles on the other.
I wasn’t sure if he would seek to fight Imatra or Cyrian first, but it appears that he’s going for Cyrian.
The Fell King isn’t making it easy. Cyrian stands well back at the edge of the Misty Gallows beside the bears while his hunters charge at Nathaniel. The fight is fierce and bloody. The hunters are brutal and it’s clear that Cyrian has given them orders to kill Nathaniel by whatever means necessary. Even so, Nathaniel, Hagan, and Christiana are making ground, bodies piling up around them as they cleave and hew their way through the hunters.
At Nathaniel’s back, Esther leads the humans, trying to hold back the immense tide of fae warriors converging on Nathaniel’s position.
Imatra herself has taken to the sky—a safe place for now—but she made a critical strategic mistake when she mixed the powers of her troops. Fae of the same class can’t hurt each other, but fae of different classes can. Her women on the frontline should have annihilated the humans already, but they’re pulling their power, trying not to hurt each other, only taking clean shots when they can.
The women’s hesitation gives the humans time to move swiftly through the fae, cutting them down with skillful sweeps while making inroads into Imatra’s defenses.
Imatra was never a good strategist. She had me for that. I can see her thunderbird’s agitated wing beats as it reacts to her tension and her screams of rage. The battlefield is too densely populated for her to use her own magic, but she appears to be rallying her riders in the sky, screaming orders at them. I’m not sure what she plans to do next.
I’m suddenly drawn to movement on the field closer to my location. Several hunters push against the iron weapons that Cyrian brought with him, swiveling the machines in my direction. The top portion moves on some sort of axle so that the beam is in line with the thunderbirds protecting me. A group of hunters works around each of the metal slings, filling them with what appear to be jagged iron shards, pouring oil over them before setting the shards alight.
Fear shoots through me as the beam releases from its anchor.
The sling flies upward and the burning projectiles arc through the air toward us.
“Look out!” I scream, twisting to see Talsa and Mia.
Their arms are outstretched, their eyes glazed, but they adjust just in time. Every friendly thunderbird suddenly soars upward, avoiding the arc of the burning shards. Some of the attacking fae aren’t so lucky, their birds’ wings catching fire as the shards fly through their feathers. One of the riders—a Frost fae—screams as she tries to put out the flames, but the fire keeps burning, tearing through her bird’s body.
My stomach turns. “It’s dark magic!”
I thought the hunters were pouring oil over the shards, but it must be a substance powered by dark light so that it continues burning.
The Frost fae’s thunderbird screams in agony as it dies, plummeting to the ground while the Frost fae leaps from its back onto another bird.
Tears fill my eyes. No thunderbird deserves to die that way.
On the ground, the hunters adjust the beams on all three weapons and prepare to fire again.
They want to cut me from the sky.
Every thunderbird and rider around me is now in danger.
As the Vanem Dragon soars higher, not making it easy for the men on the ground, I shout above the wind. “You told me to run, but I want the truth: Can I fight?”
The dragon’s breath leaves his torso in a gusty sigh. “I was afraid you might ask me that.”
He beats his wings carefully, turning his head to consider me with his bright eyes. “Nathaniel’s conversation with me is private. I can only break that confidence where he has given me permission, but I can tell you this: He knows you are willing to die for him. But he will not allow that to happen. He would rather die trying to defeat Imatra and Cyrian, than be forced to fight you to the death. I… however… see the future that you see, Aura. Nathaniel is the only chance for peace.”
My chest squeezes. “That’s why you were angry with him when he spoke with you. By invoking the Path, he’s risking his life because of me.” I choke back the grief rising inside me, forcing myself to focus. “You haven’t answered my question: Can I fight?”
The dragon exhales. “You may fight, but you must not kill Imatra or Cyrian. Nathaniel must do that himself. But know this, Aura: If you die before Nathaniel completes his path, he will die too. His life is connected to yours even more closely than it was before. It is your duty to stay alive so he can reclaim his throne.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. Nathaniel knew that I didn’t plan to be alive by dawn. Now he’s forcing me to stay alive because he knows I won’t risk his life.
I tip my head back and scream. “He’s forcing me to live!”
If Nathaniel and I both survive this, I might just kill him for putting me in this position.
“He wants to protect you,” the dragon says. “Just as you are willing to lay down your life for him.”
My voice quiets and so does the light inside my chest. “But he knows I won’t sit and idly watch while others die.”
The dragon sighs. “He gave me a message for you, Aura. He said to tell you, and I quote: ‘Beautiful woman, the choice will always be yours.’”
My chest burns, my light striking sharply through me. Nathaniel said that to me when I asked him if we were still married. He accepted my trust and gave me his faith. He told me he wanted to fight beside me, not against me.
“Then I choose to fight,” I whisper. Giving a final exhale, I lean forward. “Vanem Dragon, fly me to the iron machines!”
A gleam enters the dragon’s eyes. “As you command, Aura Lucidia.”