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“Fucking Spirits,” I growled, pushing to my feet. I wiped rain from my eyes.

“We don’t need your damn sacrifices right now, Alabath,” Tolek yelled, and I swore there was actual anger in his voice. “We need to get out of here in one piece.”

“That’s the plan, Vincienzo,” I called back, dodging another attempt of the alpheous.

Then, a second shriek pierced the air.

Another serpent, this one silver and larger than the first, emerged from the water, slamming into the other platform.

My heart almost beat right out of my chest as my sister was nearly impaled on those foot-long fangs. As she?—

Something crashed into my gut. I flew backward, air cascading from my lungs as I hit the rock. The world spun for a moment, my lungs clenching as the alpheous’s shadow rose over me.

It had flung me back with the underside of its tail. At least it hadn’t been the spiked top, or I’d be bleeding out now.

Head spinning, I blinked rapidly and caught my breath. Ezalia continued to fire arrows at the beast, crimson now shining against its navy scales.

Throwing a hand on the rock beside me, I rolled as that spiked tail battered the rock where I’d been a moment before.

And something in my palm sparked like pure fire.

My hand pressed into the largest point of the starburst scorch mark. And the outline glowed. A gold radiance that called to my blood and bones, turquoise fringing the edges.

I followed the river of Angellight through the rock with my eyes. It trickled down a barely imperceptible path and landed feet away among a smooth pile of rocks.

Both alpheous were still attacking, still desperate and hungry for us, but I pushed up and ran to that source.

I scraped my palms across it, ignoring the burning, and searched for an opening, a piece that may come off. Anything that could be the emblem.

Tolek appeared at my side.

“It’s in there, I know it is,” I panted. “We need?—”

“I have an idea,” Tolek said, watching the alpheous rise above Ezalia. He whistled, and the beast snapped his attention to us like an obedient pet. Thunder cracked overhead, lightning splitting the gray sky.

Picking up a rock, Tolek squared his feet before the hiding spot and chucked it at the giant serpent. Lured the thing to chase us.

And at the very last moment, we dove.

The alpheous went snout first into the rock, shattering it. It’s tail thrashed, fully on land now, and I thought I heard Tolek grunt, but when I looked, he was glaring at the serpent.

Before the alpheous could shake off the impact, an arrow went through the soft flesh at the back of its neck, piercing deep enough to kill.

A roar echoed from the other island. We all spun to see Cypherion’s scythe brace across the second creature’s open jaw.

Those fangs were an inch from snapping his body in half. My heart lurched into my throat.

But Vale was running up one of the rocky inclines. Without pause, she jumped. Launched herself right onto the creature’s back, narrowly missing the spikes along its spine, and used a small dagger to repeatedly stab it.

It didn’t die—those wounds were too small to kill it, but it roared, hot rancid breath blowing through Cyph’s hair as it pulled back and writhed, trying to dislodge the unwelcome rider on its back.

Cypherion stood, shocked, trying to make sense of who had saved him.

The alpheous thrashed enough that Vale flew from its back, landing on a bed of seaweed near the shore. Cyph screamed like a feral creature, running toward it.

And as that silver serpent tried to rise again, the dead one on our island moved. Arrow still in its neck, wound bleeding, its limp body dragged across rock and slid upwards, as if carried by another entity or a wind.

Up, up, up it went, still dead but controlled by something, until it was hanging above the water.