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V ahly’s stomach turned. “We need to figure out what’s there, then leave before we’re buried in snow.”

“Quickly, Kyril,” Arc called out.

Kyril flew faster, and the rest of the group followed suit, and soon they were landing on a slender outcropping on the first peak. Powdered snow covered the landing spot, heaping around Kyril’s furred legs.

Vahly remained on Kyril’s back while Arc dismounted.

The area held nothing but sparse trees, stone, and snow.

The narrow trail leading away from the outcropping showed that some forsaken beasts actually lived here and took this path from range to range.

Her stomach turned. This was a fool’s errand. She’d misread her magic’s pull.

Beyond them, near Aitor and Amona, Nix’s foot slipped off the path, and Vahly’s stomach turned.

“Nix!” Vahly kicked her feet into Kyril’s sides, and the gryphon lifted onto his back legs.

Nix flapped her blue-lavender wings and gripped the edge with her back talons. I’m fine. Though you look a bit sick, darling.

Vahly waved Nix’s mental communication off and looked up. A cave yawned above them.

Arc leapt to grasp the black root of a skeletal pine growing from the side of the mountain, then he swung upward to land at the cave’s mouth. “I’ll scout it.” He disappeared beyond the edge.

“What do you see?” Vahly called up, her hands shaking with cold.

Arc’s face appeared at the overhang, his black hair stark against the snow gathering across his broad shoulders. “Nothing. I suggest we keep moving unless your magic says otherwise.”

Snow fell in slanting sheets. Ice clung to Vahly’s hair and cloak and set her teeth to chattering as Arc jumped onto Kyril’s wide back and the group lifted into the sky.

Lightning broke the black clouds, and the dragons roared, enjoying the heat and flash and taking in its power.

Vahly scowled at the sky and gripped Kyril’s ruff to keep from falling.

Arc’s hand spread against her spine, and his healing magic soothed her chilled body, thawing her enough that she might be able to keep her teeth after this was all over.

Kyril flew them over the second peak, where the wind ripped at Vahly’s hair and would’ve torn the cloak from her back had Arc not been there.

Other than a few more snow-crusted pines, the area below was devoid of life.

Vahly put a hand on her ribs, focusing on the magic, feeling its direction.

A dark spot halfway down the third peak made her Blackwater mark pulse.

Kyril whirled around, changing course and flying straight at the darkened area.

Vahly patted his side as she squinted to see through the storm.

Uneven lines of darkness showed in the continuous snowfall.

Perhaps a flat area where they would be able to land?

At least there, they could huddle down and wait out the storm.

Maybe that was all the magic was attempting to do, to keep them safe until the snow passed.

Vahly gritted her teeth. They had no time for this.

Even now, Astraea was plotting her next flood, the one that would truly end it all and kill what little was left of the land.

Why was the Sea Queen waiting to finish them off?

With Ryton gone, Vahly had no one to make thoughtful guesses as to what Astraea might be planning.

Ryton’s stern face flashed through Vahly’s memory, and a weight sat on her chest as she recalled the way he’d plunged into the fray and given all.

He’d been her captor, yes, but he’d been true to his heart, protecting her when his own elemental powers asked it of him.

The love he’d had for his fallen sister, Selene, had shown in his actions and his mournful eyes.

Ryton had sacrificed himself for the good of the world. He wouldn’t be forgotten.

A gust whipped across Vahly’s face, sleet pelting and burning her cheeks, as Kyril circled and nearly smashed into the rock face. She adjusted her hold on the gryphon’s ruff, but her fingers wouldn’t curl tightly enough to do it properly, the joints stiff with cold.

The group fell apart, then came back together, struggling to fly to the flat area to land. Thunder crashed, echoing across the mountains and making Vahly wince. The storm snarled like an army of dragons. Shivering, Vahly looked down at the earth.

“Arc. My hands.” She cursed her too-human fingers and how a simple winter storm could threaten her.

Arc poured more healing warmth into her, but then Kyril dipped harshly to the side, and Arc called out something unintelligible. His voice echoed in her head, but it was only sound and no meaning. Her body shuddered, fingers slipping from the gryphon’s ruff, and her body shifted, falling.