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T he windborne advance, their movements synchronized and predatory. They say nothing. Give no warnings or dramatic speeches. Their intent is clear, and it's deadly.

The taller windborne raises a hand, and the air ripples with power. An elemental materializes beside her—not an eagle or falcon, but a creature of pure air, its form constantly shifting, eyes glowing with ancient intelligence. It doesn't look like any elemental I've ever seen.

The female summons a similar elemental.

Both pause for only a heartbeat and I think they're looking at Typhon—probably wondering how the hell any of us tethered something so massive. But Typhon only gives them a moment of hesitation.

And then they're attacking, movements so fast my eyes can't begin to track them. The air around me compresses, squeezing my lungs, lifting me off my feet. I can't breathe, can't move, can't reach my rapier.

My legs kick uselessly as I float a few inches above the ground, invisible hands squeezing in around me from all sides.

I hear the electric sound of stasis tokens triggering behind me even though the windborne hardly even seem to be paying the others attention.

They're wiping us out like we're nothing. No games. No speeches. Just pure violence and efficiency.

Raith charges the woman who is squeezing the air around my head, sword flashing, but the male windborne intercepts him, his elemental blocking Raith’s path. I feel Raith's desperate need to protect me, but the male windborne is impossibly fast, dodging his every strike and preventing him from interrupting the woman.

My vision darkens as the air compresses further.

Small, pin-like daggers of air form and try to slide into my body. I use the last scraps of essence I have to hold them back, just barely, but it’s a losing battle.

Typhon roars, a sound so deep and terrible I can feel it through my entire body. He launches himself upward, flips, and then begins a death spiral straight for the woman as he tucks his wings tight and gains speed like a projectile.

The woman's focus falters as she lifts her face toward him and has to float backward, invisible winds lifting and yanking her away as if she's being pulled by strings.

I collapse as the distraction breaks her spell, gasping for breath. Typhon's jaws snap at her, but her elemental moves to intercept, the two creatures clashing in a maelstrom of water and air magic.

I look behind me and see there’s nobody left. The windborne have already sent every last survivor into stasis.

It’s only Raith and me. And if we fall, nothing will stop the windborne from collecting our tokens and finishing us for good.

The windborne facing Raith moves like smoke, her strikes too fast to track. Raith’s skill keeps him alive, but just barely. Through our tether, I feel him drawing on every technique he knows, his mind calculating each move seconds ahead. Pyrin battles beside him, snapping at the windborne when Raith's guard falters or he's in danger.

There's a sudden rush of wind as Bastian appears on his steed made of pure air. It leaps for the man fighting Raith as Bastian jumps from its back and joins the fray, long spear stabbing fiercely.

I stare in disbelief as the blonde legacy throws himself into battle. If I had any doubts about his loyalty, they fade quickly. He's fighting side by side with Raith, trying desperately to save us when he must know his chances of making it out of here alive are slim.

Together, they're barely managing to buy time, but it's clear they're outmatched. Even Bastian and Raith together are outskilled. The windborne combines two short blades with rapid magical attacks that Raith barely burns up or deflects. Bastian has an easier time, using some kind of heavy wall of wind to disperse the worst of it.

But I can tell they won't last much longer.

Typhon is struggling against the combined might of both windborne elementals and the female windborne.

I feel useless as I stumble to my feet, searching for any source of elemental power. There's nothing left to draw from—I've burned through everything I had. Every last shred of power is gone and my body is completely exhausted. My only hope is to reach someone, to make physical contact.

The female windborne battling Typhon seems to be the greater threat. Her elemental is pushing him back, its form constantly shifting to counter his attacks. No matter how much power Typhon unleashes, the creature adapts. It fades from existence to dodge his power and reappears, making it impossible for him to land a single blow. All he's doing is keeping it busy.

I need to help him. I need to stop her.

With a deep breath, I charge toward the woman.

"Nessa, no!" Bastian shouts, but the male windborne takes his momentary distraction and uses it. He suffers a deep cut to his leg and is blasted away by a torrent of wind, flipping through the air like a ragdoll.

Bastian lands hard in the mud, motionless, even though the blue of his stasis token hasn’t flashed.

Gods. I hope he’s okay, but there’s no time to worry.

The female windborne senses me coming, whirling to face me with inhuman speed. Her elemental turns from Typhon, rushing to protect its primal.

I throw my rapier toward her as a distraction, then dive.

The only thing that saves me is how pathetic she must think the attempted attack is. Instead of dodging, she only stands there, head tilted as if puzzled.

But I manage to land with one hand clasped around her ankle, drawing out her essence. Power floods into me. More than I've ever felt. So much I think I might burst from the rush of it.

The windborne screams, a sound of genuine pain and surprise that buckles her knees and makes her fall to the ground. Her elemental hisses as Typhon catches it, pinning it to the ground before it can reach me.

I claw my way up the windborne’s body, mounting her as I grip her tighter, urging her power into myself in a mind-numbing rush.

"What are you doing to me?" she gasps, struggling against my grip. "Stop!"

I don't stop. I can't. The power flowing into me is intoxicating, filling me with strength I've never known. I pull harder, drawing more and more of her essence into myself.

Above us, the sky darkens rapidly, clouds gathering and swirling in an unnatural pattern. A deep rumble of thunder vibrates through the air, followed by the sharp crack of lightning that illuminates the battlefield in stark white.

I feel her reaching for a hidden blade in her armor. By instinct, I know I need to act now or I'll die. The power flooding me reacts before I can form a coherent thought. The air around the woman's head responds to my fear and alarm, pressing inward.

With so much air essence in my body, it feels like nothing more than a magical flinch—a reflexive tensing of the muscles. But I've never wielded so much power before, and the air essence gushes from me, enhancing the attack.

Warm liquid splatters my face, hands, and arms.

I flinch from the sudden splash, eyes blinking as I struggle to understand what I'm looking at.

Her head... it's a red ruin.

Dead. No stasis token. Just... dead.

"Oh, Gods," I breathe as I stumble back, face and hands covered in droplets of blood. Horror washes over me as I realize what I've done. I've killed her. Actually killed her.

Lightning cracks again, followed immediately by a thunderous boom that seems to echo my shock. The sky opens up, releasing a torrential downpour that washes over the battlefield, mixing with the blood at my feet.

A scream of rage tears through the air. The second windborne has seen his partner fall. He abandons his fight with Raith, rushing toward me with murder in his eyes.

I can't move. I can't process what's just happened. The dead windborne lies at my feet. Her blood covers me, staining me with the visceral knowledge of what I've just done.

Rain sluices over me, somehow failing to clean the blood from my hands as I stare at what I’ve done. My hands tremble, my vision blurring at the edges. Too much power. I've drawn in too much.

"You'll pay for that with your life," the male windborne hisses, his voice cutting through the storm.

I only have moments left.

Before he can reach me, Typhon's roar shatters the air—not the sound of a mere elemental but the primal scream of an ancient being whose patience has finally snapped.

The ancient water dragon abandons all pretense of restraint. His form swells, blue magic drifting from his body like steam as his scales gleam brighter with blue-white intensity. His wings extend to their full span, casting shadows even through the downpour.

"ENOUGH!" Typhon's voice thunders aloud for all to hear. "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER."

Lightning splits the sky as Typhon launches himself at the windborne's elemental. Not the careful, measured combat of before, but an unleashing of raw, ancient power. Water magic explodes from his jaws in a torrent that would put a hurricane to shame, cutting through the air elemental like a blade through mist.

The attack makes the windborne turn and take notice, forgetting me as his elemental fights for survival.

The elemental tries to reform, but Typhon doesn't give it a chance. He gathers his massive body, then slams down with such force that the ground shudders. Water essence radiates outward in concentric rings, disrupting the very magic that holds the elemental together.

The windborne falters, clearly shocked at facing the unrestrained might of an ancient. His elemental dissolves completely under Typhon's assault, wisps of air magic scattering in the wind.

"Impossible," the windborne breathes, backing away.

Typhon's answer is another devastating attack, his claws slashing through air and rain to pin the windborne to the mud. The assassin uses some kind of air magic to free himself, barely dragging himself out of Typhon’s grip. But Typhon is prowling toward him, deadly and terrible.

As Typhon holds the windborne’s attention, I see Raith's form materializing through the rain. His eyes catch the lightning as he moves with predator's silence behind the distracted windborne. In one smooth motion, he draws his blade across the assassin's throat.

Blood mingles with the rain as the windborne's body goes limp. Again, no stasis. Just death.

I feel relief, but it’s only temporary.

The power I've drawn is too much, burning through me like wildfire. My legs give way beneath me as my vision narrows to pinpricks.

"Nessa!" Raith's voice reaches me as if from underwater.

I sense Raith rushing toward me.

Typhon’s massive form curls protectively above me, sheltering me from the rain.

Lightning flashes once more, illuminating the battlefield in stark relief. Thunder crashes so loudly it seems to shake the world itself.

Then darkness swallows me whole as I collapse into the mud.

Through the tether, I feel Raith's panic as my consciousness fades.

"Nessa!" His voice sounds so far away, drowned out by the pounding rain and rumbling thunder. And then nothing.