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She shook her head. ‘Nada. You go after him. Bring him back to me.’

Riv bent down for a quick, passion-filled kiss before stepping back.

‘Mirage,’ he called out, ‘you have the captain’s chair.’

He turned to his woman. ‘Angel, Zane, and Xion will look after you.’

His two fellow Riders, also onboard Glimmer, appeared at the edge of the steps, having stayed back to give the family some privacy.

‘Come Élisa,’ Zane cajoled.

She took to the staircase with reluctance as Riv exited, his heart heavy.

He switched on the power on his meta suit, activated stealth mode, and donned his helmet before stepping out of the massive bay into the vastness of Devansi’s sky.

Two figures twisted midair above the salt plains. He headed towards them.

On approach, he readjusted his vision to focus on the pair, flinching at the crystal clear sight.

Killen was hovering in a circle around a creature so monstrous and large it obscured the sun for a mile in all directions. Its wingspan was that wide and broad.

The resemblance to Killen’s grandfather, Tempest Light, remained, but theKíríga, in full K?str?l hawk mode, had morphed into a titanic winged predator with a brass beak. Its talons measured six feet long, and its feathered and cromed crest and crown shook in the wind at about ten feet above its magnificent skull.

Arrows of silver-white heat flashed from its eyes.

Itskoyasab?r feathers are also made from brass, which Riv remembered from Élisa’s retelling that they could pierce armor and fire like arrows.

It circled Killen, beating its wings, which crackled with lightning and rumbled with thunder.

Riv trembled as he braced himself for the very worst.

The winged warriors circled each other.

Without warning, the Tempest Light let off the first salvo, a flurry of armed feathers aimed at Killen’s wings, accompanied by charged bolts.

Riv growled out as they hit.

His heart jumped as a section of Killen’s right wing, about two feet long, sheared off, the Kíríga’skoyacutting through it like an obsidian blade.

The King crowed, beating his chest at landing the first blow.

His large talons reached and grabbed at Killen’s brow from where his hawkstone shone so bright it blinded the older Katánian.

Killen, bleeding dark silver from his wing, used the bright light as a feint and managed to jerk from theKíríga’sclutch.

Still, the older Katánian tried grasping for the hawkstone, lashing out with his bronze talons.

With a screech of frustration at Killen’s nimbleness, the King changed strategy, aiming his strikes at Killen’s vital organs, each blow designed to deliver a massive amount of pain and damage.

Killen, more agile, darted away, responding with swats of his razor-edged plumes.

Still, theKírígafired, lashed, and slashed through the air. His feathers shot out in all bearings in a scatter gun approach.

‘The trick is seeing the launch streaming toward you, son.’ Riv shouted into the void of his helmet. ‘If they come straight for you, don’t be too eager to make a move. Because if you dodge too fast, they will turn and catch you; if you wait too long, they will explode near enough to get you.’

It was as if Killen tapped into his thoughts.

The Katánian winged warrior whirled towards the surface and dove as hard as possible. Tempest Light followed but was too slow, heavy, and cumbersome to match the more agile K?str?l.