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He nodded but his body went limp.

“Presco!” Valeen screamed. “We have to stop him from hitting the ground!”

“I can’t hold you and stop him.” Valeen shoved herself out of Hel’s arms and let herself fall. Hel dove for Presco and flew up under his chest and pushed. It slowed him but not enough. Panic that she’d held at bay this entire time fought its way free. Turning to shadow she drifted to Presco and reformed. “Wake up! Wake up!”

He groaned.

“Ronan! Help!” But where was he? The ground was coming too fast. “Presco! Wake up! Shift!”

“He’s too heavy to stop!” Hel screamed with effort then he flew out from under Presco. The ground was feet away. All she could do was watch in horror as she took her half-shadow form to hover.

Boom.

Presco hit and dirt billowed up around him. She dropped beside his face and, with tears, pressed her hands to his snout. “Presco?”

Hel landed next to his chest and laid his ear against his pearl scales. “His heart is still beating.”

With her chin trembling, she ran her hand over his smooth scales. “You’re going to be alright.” Smoke rolled out of his nostrils and a low rumble in his throat vibrated her hands. “I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore.” The wall was fifty yards away. If they could just get him inside…

“Hel, Valeen, watch out!”

Thane stood at the top of the stone wall, pointing. Valeen whirled to face the council’s army running toward them. Thousands of boots and hooves stampeded. Weapons in both hands and shadows rolling off her, she stepped out in front of Presco with Hel at her side. “I won’t leave him to be torn apart.”

“They’ll have to get through us first.”

Valeen’s shadows rolled out, her deadly vines curled out of the ground.

“Archers, fire!” Thane shouted.

The first enemy soldiers—giants, dragon shifters, feline shifters, men, even dwarves and elves, all on the front line—were a few yards away, wearing the colors of their god; greens and oranges, pinks and blues. Valeen took several sharp breaths and braced herself, her magic roaring in her veins. Throwing up her shield, she waited for the impact.

Then black armor glinted in the sunlight and the Ravens, with Thane at the front, rushed past her and met them.

Chapter 57

VALEEN

The killing, the death, the screams—it all seemed endless. Metal clanked and rang out as weapons clashed. There was so much screaming, whether for fury or sorrow, her ears could bleed from it.

There was a ferociousness amongst the elves she hadn’t witnessed before. Their beautiful faces were twisted in rage. Their graceful moves suited for dancing were used to kill. Elves moved faster and were more agile than the other mortal races. This was their land, and they fought harder because of it. Their families were too close.

In her own mind she thought of Aunt Evalyn. If they got through, she could die hiding under the floor of Nerium Oleander. That couldn’t happen.

The roars and crashes of the dragons were as loud as any thunderstorm. The flashes of color from their scales glimmered in the sunlight and might have been beautiful if this wasn’t war, if blood and death didn’t fill the skies too.

Win, we must win. All their lives, all the fighting to remember, Hel’s sacrifice of four hundred years of sleep, thecursed pale ones who terrorized the land, all the consequences and hopes for the future came down to this one moment in time.

She swung Zythara and Soulender, only seeing ways to kill. She lost herself to it. Cutting through armor with ease, slicing open throats and arteries.

Blood. There was so much blood. Crimson splattered across her armor, her skin. The warm wetness became unnoticeable.

The minotaurs and giants hit hard but went down harder.

Catapults with giant boulders crashed into the magical wall. They broke against it, raining boulders and rocks below. Dragons took turns knocking their tails and blowing fire against it.

More than once the wall’s iridescent rainbow shimmer faded in spots, and each time her heart stuttered.

But it held. Nothing had gotten through, not arrows nor beasts.