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Why wasn’t it working? What had I done on the ground that got us in the air? I willed him to fly, and his wings had spread.

I willed him again now with everything I had in me.

I reached inside my flight jacket and clasped the chain around my neck, pulling the pendant out so I could hold it in my hand. It was time to see if this would work. We were out of power and out of time. I gripped the pendant tightly and prayed to the Goddess for help. The crystal thrummed in my hand, sending energy to my reserve. It was barely a drop, but I would take anything. The ground was coming up to meet us, but I could not give up. I could amplify. With that drop of power, I could amplify the stone. Increase the replenishment. It was worth a try. I squeezed the crystal as if I could get more from it this way and pushed the last drop of my power back into it. It warmed in my palm, and power trickled into me. I heaved in a breath and pushed harder. The more power it gave me, the more I demanded. It wasn’t a lot, but we’d got in the sky with less, so I stopped pushing into the stone and went back to giving it all to Nyx.

Just feet from impact, Nyx’s wings spread and caught.

We soared a few feet above the ground.

“Did you do that?”

“Yes?” I couldn’t figure out where I ended and he began. Our magic was too closely entangled.

Was I flying this damn thing?

“Keep doing it. I think…I’m…too…weak, and I’ve…been hit.” There was a pause between every word, all of them strained with pain.

“Are you hurt badly?”

“It’s bad, Sol.”

Goddess, help us all.

I pulled back, not sure if that’s how it was done, but his wings flapped and lifted us, and we rose higher and higher. I was doing it!

Another volley of arrows flew in our direction, but somehow, I knew they’d fall short. Then a frightening sound reached my ears. I knew what it was, but I didn’t know how I knew. I turned in my seat to look back. They’d loaded a catapult on the garrison wall, but that wasn’t the worst part. They lit it on fire, and it smoked just like the Dragon’s Bane weapon they used had.

“NO!”

“You have to keep pushing, Sol. Get us as far away asyou can,” Nyx urged, his voice growing weaker.

“Will we be fast enough?” My inner voice trembled.

“We can only pray.”

A piercing screech reached my ears. I risked another glance backwards, and my heart nearly stopped.

They had dragons.

But even at a glance I could tell they weren’t right. Their color was off—the same with the ryders. They launched into the air, but even their flying wasn’t normal. They were?—

“They have undead flyers,” I told Nyx with as much calm as I could find in me.

The sound Nyx made was guttural. Grief and sadness. “They turned them?”

“I think so.” It had to be the Vivi Mortui. If they caught up to us, we were dead.

“We have to warn the First Kingdom. We have to warn everyone! This plague will engulf the realm if we don’t stop it.”

“I don’t think we can make it back to the First Kingdom, Nyx. I can’t fly up forever, and your wings…” At least one had a huge gash in it. I was running low on power, and I was beginning to think I was keeping us in the air with the sheer force of my will alone.

“There are pyres on the alert towers. If we can make it to one, we can send the alert.”

“Where? Show me.”

He gave me a mental image of a map.

“I’ll try.” I leaned forward, willing him to fly faster, but the strain on my reserves burned in my veins. I was running dry. “I don’t think we can make it. We need to find a place to hide.”