Page 101 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

Hold on,she warned, her muscles coiling as she adjusted in flight.

The black cloud surged toward us like a living thing, writhing and pulsing at the edges. The moment it reached the perimeter of our circling horde, it broke apart, dissolving like mist torn by wind to reveal what hid beneath.

Blood Fae.

Dozens of them. At least fifty.

Each rode a dragon black as pitch, their wings thinner, faster, shaped for speed and precision rather than brute strength. They shimmered with enchantments, their eyes glowing red or silver, their riders cloaked in armor that gleamed with rune-etched bone and deep-crimson steel.

I had seen the Blood Fae. But not ones dressed like this.

They were here for war.

Kaelith roared, her wings flaring wide as she veered toward Foran’s position. Hein mirrored her on the other side, the two larger dragons forming a protective triangle around the injured blue striker.

My eyes swept the sky for Seraveth.

But these dragons were smaller, sleeker. None bore her signature monstrous wingspan or the haunting, still grace she carried. These were soldiers. She was a general.

And she hadn’t come.Yet.

Crownwatch struck first.

Their formation shifted like a sword swinging down from the clouds. The sky erupted with flame and steel as dragons collided midair, shrieks echoing through the heavens.

Within seconds, we were all fighting for our lives.

A Blood Fae dove toward me, his dragon’s teeth flashing as they snapped close to Kaelith’s tail. Kaelith twisted hard, and I flung myself to the side, barely avoiding a strike that would’ve opened me from shoulder to hip. I swung my blade, sparks flying as it struck the rider’s curved sword. His eyes, solid red, locked on mine.

He grinned.

They’re after Dorian,I realized with a sick twist in my gut.

Zander’s voice cracked into my mind like a whip.They want him dead. You have to call the storm, Ashlyn. Now.

I didn’t hesitate.

I reached for it.

The sky pulsed in my chest, heat flooding through my limbs as the storm answered. Clouds swirled like a vortex above us, lightning crackling through the growing dark. Rain slammed down in sheets as I raised my hand, and the wind roared with me.

I aimed.

The bolt lanced from the sky, striking the black dragon on my tail.

It screamed as the blast knocked it backward, hurtling toward the sea below. Its rider clung on, his armor smoking, his spell shattering in flashes of broken magic.

I gasped, my magic nearly spent.

But just before the dragon hit the waves, its wings snapped open.

It recovered, blood trailing behind it, and soared back toward me like vengeance given form.

Kaelith snarled.

Again?she asked.

Again,I whispered.