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A roar sounds from behind me as I turn to find a mutated lizard with wings like a bird and a furry tail flying at me. I brace for the hit, knowing I can’t move in time, but that’s fine; we can finish this on the ground.

Black shadows wrap around the beast a moment before it collides with me. I watch as it’s flung back through the air, slamming into the wall hard enough that dust fills the air as the stone cracks under the force. The creature is no longer moving, and I’m not sure if it’s knocked out or dead, but I don’t have time to sit around and find out.

I don’t want them to die if we can avoid it. I’d love nothing more than to be able to save everyone, but I know that’s unrealistic. This is war, and there will be casualties; I’d rather it be them than us.

Turning, I find Serena looking like a god of wrath, and it takes everything inside of me not to fall to her feet and worship her.

Her shadows move around her as if living things, tentacles she can call on and command much like she did that day down at the lake. The wings that protrude from her back are no longer foreign; the dark, bat-like leather wings are almost an exact copy of Ryker’s, though the coloring is off. I assume that’s due to them being shadows. Her chest heaves, eyes completely black, veins of inky black crawl down her face, and I can’t be sure, but it looks like she has some kind of shadows at her temples.

I can feel her exhaustion as this begins to wear on all of us.

Something pulls Serena’s attention, and she dives, much more comfortable with her shadows now than I’ve ever seen before.

It’s not enough, though; none of this is.

All we are doing is delaying the inevitable because we won’t kill them, but they have no such reservations. Actually, it’s quite the opposite; they want us dead, or most of us.

They don’t seem to be targeting Serena though, only trying to capture her, and that allows me to breathe a little easier.

The sun hangs low in the sky, taunting us, reminding us of how long we have been here with no end in sight.

“Prince Garrett, the citizens have all been moved to the compounds outside of the castle. Your father is working on a way to shut down the skies,” Nero calls from down below, and I give him a nod, letting him return his attention to where it is needed.

I might not like Nero, but I don’t want him dead, and that’s what will happen if he becomes distracted.

A roar sounds, and I know it’s Storm without even looking, the sound of his tiger and the feeling in my chest telling me.

Two chimeras are on him, and I’m moving, my wings cutting through the air as I try to reach him. Being low is dangerous, but it can’t be avoided right now; I’m the closest to him.

Or I thought I was.

Before I can reach him, Ryker is there, gripping one of the chimeras and tossing it away as if it weighs nothing. It flies through the air, and I see where it will land, but even as I summon the winds, I know it won’t be enough. Again, a shadow plucks the chimera from the sky, tossing it to the side where Nero isn’t standing, leaving him to stare at the woman he hates, the one who might’ve just saved his life.

Why he’s not shifted while he fights is beyond me, but I don’t have more time to worry about him than I’ve already given him.

Serena moves away without giving him a second glance, and I hope he remembers that next time he wants to act like she’s the devil. If not, I’ll be happy to remind him.

I use the wind to blow away a few smaller chimeras as they attempt to ambush Sol again while Ryker helps him deal with the other one that was on him. The second he’s dealt with Sol, he's moving, and Ryker is once again airborne, moving to help handle those who are attempting to go over the wall.

The next district is clear, but it’s still better to keep as much ground between them and the castle as possible.

It’s not until Ryker is mere feet from me that I realize it’s more than his wings out now.

Ryker has a tail… and not just any tail, but a scorpion tail.

What?

As if he can feel my eyes on him, his head snaps in my direction, and I feel my eyes go wide when I’m met with the same white eyes as the rest of the chimeras. It fades before my eyes, morphing back to the strange glowing purple he usually has.

Shit. He’s so normal it’s hard to remember he’s the same feral creation that we’re fighting.

“We’re getting nowhere like this,” he snarls, turning back to the wall. He tucks his wings in and drops onto the hard stone, quickly moving to shove two chimeras back off the side as they reach the top.

He doesn’t even bother to see if they survived the fall.

“We can’t kill them and we can’t save them yet…” I say more to myself than to him as I try to think of something, some way to handle this, but I come up blank. “Do the chimeras have any weakness? Does your father? Is there anything that can slow them down? If we follow Draven, will they follow us? Maybe we can lead them away? Do you think he has a cure somewhere?” I ask, letting the questions fall from my lips as they come to mind.

“No, no, no, maybe…” he stops mid-step, whirling back around to face me. “What was that last one?”