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With wings tucked, a smaller navy-blue dragon bolted down, straight at her. Starborn and Night cut left, and evaded a hit. Valeen backflipped out of her chariot and dropped into a freefall. Bracing herself, she curled her legs as she landed on the dragon’s back. It roared and twisted. Valeen’s stomach dipped and she gripped the dragon’s spike with both arms and held on through the barrel roll.

Once she evened out, Valeen drove Zythara straight into the back of its neck, severing the spine. There wasn’t even a dying roar, the dragon’s body went limp, and it plummeted. Starborn and Night came back around, and she leapt from the dragon’s back to her chariot. She gripped the reins once again and caughther breath.Whew. It’s been a long time since I did something like that.

“Up, up,” she said in the primordial language. When her boots started to slide from the steep incline, she gripped the sides of the chariot. She needed to get a better view. A roar made her twist. Two dragons pursued her, one black, the other a charcoal. Both had massive gold horns at the tip of their snouts and riders on their back. The rider on the left wore no sleeves or pants and decorative gold armor; it wouldn’t protect her from anything which meant she was a goddess, not afraid to die. Rich auburn hair and bronzed skin… Eliza, the goddess of fury.

The rider on the dragon next to her was her husband, the god of serenity. “I didn’t think you were one for war, Lennox,” she shouted at him.

“Only when war is necessary, Valeen. Attacking Pricilla forced my hand.”

“Even out,” she commanded her horses. She turned to Lennox. “And her killing me, Hel, and War, didn’t?”

“You look alive to me,” Eliza said and chucked a spear.

Valeen dipped and it whistled past her head and between Night’s ears. Clenching her jaw, she pulled Soulender and gripped Zythara in the other. Threatening her was one thing but her horses were another. They were eternal but they could be injured. Eliza and Lennox split and flew up on either side of her chariot. Her dragon snapped at Starborn, and he squealed and chomped back.

Lennox saluted and raised a pair of golden cuffs. “Surrender is an option. Our armies will leave if you come with us. The elves don’t need to suffer.”

“And you don’t need to die, but you will. You chose the wrong side.” She tapped the left side of the chariot, and her horses turned, forcing Eliza’s dragon to tilt. Half-shadow, she launched herself over the side of her chariot and landed behind Eliza. Thegoddess of fury ducked under her swing and threw her leg back at Valeen’s feet. She jumped and hacked downward, but Eliza turned and blocked the strike with her sword.

“She has Soulender!” Lennox bellowed.

They both swung, metal clashing against metal. Throwing a boot into Eliza’s gut, she kicked her back and she stumbled over the saddle. She had to make this fast before Lennox got closer. Valeen jammed her blade into the dragon’s side. He jerked in surprise and took a sharp downward turn, sending them both toppling.

“Shit, level out!” Eliza shouted at her dragon and grabbed hold of the stirrup of her saddle. Valeen managed to hook her elbow around Eliza’s neck before she fell. Curling her thighs around the back of her hips, Valeen sent Zythara to the aether, switched Soulender to her other hand and shoved it into the side of Eliza’s neck. She screamed and let go, dropping them both into a freefall.

“Eliza, no!” Lennox screamed.

Turning half-shadow slowed her down but she needed her chariot. The horses were still far above.

Below you, love.

A moment later, she slammed into Hel’s arms. She circled her arms around his neck as he flew them rapidly upward straight to Lennox, whose dragon was careening down at them. He lifted her onto his shoulders, and she pressed her ankles tightly to his sides for balance.

“You got this?”

“Always,” she said, and he turned left just in time to miss the dragon’s jaws, and they flew straight at Lennox, and she gripped her weapon hard and shoved Soulender into his chest. With the momentum, it tore through him, cutting up through his shoulder and out.

“Fuck.” Hel slowed to a hover and held onto her thighs beside his head. “You cut him in half.”

She took several deep breaths, but it wasn’t because of exertion. She felt more powerful than ever. Searching among the fight below, she watched several of Ronan’s dragons get teamed up on and dragged down. Half of them were already dead on the ground or had dropped out of the sky. “We’re going to have to send them back inside the wall or they’re all dead.”

“Look to the north.”

Valeen turned and her heart leapt. “It’s Drake Drakonan!” She knew by the red and gold collars they wore, matching Ronan’s. And he had a thousand strong. She looked to find Ronan. Below and to the left, he and Dax still flew together, a team of their own. “Ronan! They’re here!”

“Keep fighting! The king is here!” Ronan commanded his dragons. Their viciousness intensified, harder strikes, spiked tails crashed, and more fire arched through the air.

Searching among the hundreds of dragons below for pearl scales and powder-blue horns was harder than she thought. They moved too fast and there were several light-colored dragons. The longer she looked the more her heart rose in her throat. “Where is Presco?”

“I was just with him…” Hel pointed right. “There.”

He fought off three dragons, tearing into a wing with his back talons while biting the neck of another. The third hacked into his side, forcing him to release his bite. His back and neck were covered in thick red gashes. “Hel, go!”

She jumped from Hel and dove for Presco. The wind tore past, tears rolled up the side of her face into her hair. She screamed with rage, landing on one of his attackers and drove her sword into the back of his head. Then dragged herself down and sliced clean through, cutting his head off. Hel cut through the throat of the other, and Presco snapped the final dragon’sneck. Hel swooped her up as the dragon she stood on started to fall.

Presco’s eyes were unfocused. His snout horn was broken in half. His wings beat too slowly. “Hel, help him.”

“You need to land and shift,” Hel said.