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My heart pounded sickeningly fast as I held Setti’s reins and the crossbow. The force of the horse’s speed tore at the shorter strands of my hair, blowing them back from my face as we raced through the narrow, winding streets crowded by businesses and ramshackle homes. The buildings were mostly a blur, but I caught a few brief glimpses of people scurrying into narrow alleys—and those who stood in front of their businesses holding wooden swords or clubs and pitiful shields, prepared to die to protect their livelihoods as we rode past them, the wolven leaping over forgotten wagons and carts. We swarmed the lower district of Oak Ambler with one target in mind. Castle Redrock.

The twisting streets widened, becoming less crowded, and the wolven quickly spread out, their claws digging into soil and stone now. Near the inner part of Oak Ambler, the homes were larger and more spaced out, businesses established in newer buildings. Lampposts dotted the streets. Cobblestones gave way to lush lawns and narrow creeks that all sat in the foothills of the glistening, black Temple of Theon and the crimson stone of Castle Redrock.

And the horns—the godsdamn horns—kept blaring.

Ahead, a stone bridge glistened like polished ivory in the sunlight, and on the other side of a wide but shallow creek, the sun glinted off…rows of shields and swords. The mass of guards and soldiers. They’d been waiting. The bulk of the guards and soldiers protected the Ascended’s homes and the wealthiest of Oak Ambler.

Leaving everyone else to fend for themselves.

My mouth dried and my stomach twisted as dread collided with adrenaline, bouncing and spinning off one another until nothing but instinct guided my actions.

“Shields up!” Hisa shouted from behind. “Shields up!”

A volley of arrows shot into the air, oddly reminding me of the birds that took flight from the pines. Everything slowed down—my heart, my body, and the world outside it. Or, everything sped up so fast that it felt slow. The draken above us rose out of reach of the arrows as we rode toward where the Solis soldiers and guards had entrenched themselves on the other side of the bridge, beyond the reach of the arrows that arced and plummeted down, smacking off stone and shield and—

I shut my senses down, locking them far away as the wolven hit the creek. We followed, sending water spraying into the air.

“Shit!” Kieran leaned back as the line of soldiers on the other side of the creek moved into formation, slamming the blood-red shields into the ground, staking them side by side so they formed a wall under a line of swords that would pierce the flesh of the horses and wolven alike.

My gaze found Vonetta and then Delano in the mass of wolven and through the spray of water, ahead of the others and nearly halfway across the creek. They didn’t slow. They showed no fear as they forged on, toward what would be certain injury and possibly even death for some.

I couldn’t allow that.

I glanced up at the draken, and they responded before my will could even finish as a thought.

Nithe cut away from the others, making a sharp turn. He swooped down in front of the wolven. A flash of intense, silvery light followed, and then a stream of fire swept over the line of soldiers.

The screams. The sight of the soldiers as they dropped their shields and weapons, stumbling back and flailing as the fiery energy burned through their armor and clothing, their skin and bone, was horrific. Nithe lifted as a larger funnel of fire rained down, cutting through the second and third line of guards, clearing the path and leaving nothing but a cloud of ash and embers as we crossed the creek. I couldn’t think about what the fine coating of ash settling on my hands and cheeks and the wolven’s fur was made of. That would have to come later.

Another volley of arrows went up, angled lower. Reaver cut away sharply, kicking up wind with a snap of his barbed tail. The arrows sliced through the air as Kieran drove his steed toward Setti and leaned over, lifting his shield. My world went dark, and my heart lurched at the sound of arrows hitting Kieran’s shield.

“Thanks,” I gasped.

Kieran gave me that wild grin as he straightened, only to stretch down to grasp a fallen spear scorched by the draken’s fire. “It’s about to get messy, meyaah Liessa.”

And it did.

The grounds of the Temple of Theon, the imposing fortress-like Citadel, and the lands between them and the inner Rise surrounding Castle Redrock became a battleground.

Wolven leapt onto soldiers and guards, knocking their shields and swords aside as they took them to the ground, cutting off high-pitched screams. The Atlantian soldiers poured across the land, their white-and-gold mantles a stark contrast to the shadowstone Temple. Their golden swords clashed against iron as they swarmed the Temple’s courtyard.