Page 51 of Veiled By Smoke (The Nature Hunters Academy #5)

“Would you like to share this new plan with me?” Kimba’s voice rumbled in her mind, sharp with sarcasm. “Since I’m the huge dragon and you’re the tiny former witch with an attitude problem stronger than her ability to follow orders?”

“Wow.” Rory grinned, adrenaline singing through every muscle “Somebody is a little bitter over the lack of order-following. Do we need dragon bonded counseling?”

A flash of humor—laced with exasperation—sparked down their connection. “The plan, little witch,” Kimba insisted, her massive body coiling in the air as they climbed higher.

“Oh, right.” Rory nodded. “You’re going to eat the dark fire king.”

Kimba’s wings faltered for just a beat, then she huffed, smoke curling from her nostrils. “What if I’m not hungry?”

“You are, I can practically hear your stomach growling,” Rory shot back, her voice tight with laughter and nerves. “Chomp, chomp, Kimba. I got a sister to get to know.”

Kimba’s answering growl vibrated through Rory’s bones. “You don’t know what you’re asking, little witch.”

“Maybe not,” Rory agreed, hearing the dread in Kimba’s voice. “But I do know dead Viscious is better than alive Viscious.”

“Mother Gaia forgive me,” Kimba’s voice rumbled.

Rory barely had time to brace before Kimba tucked her wings, and they dove.

The sensation was immediate and all-consuming—her stomach launching into her throat, the world spinning into a haze of wind and elemental magic.

Smoke and shadow rushed past her, the battlefield a distant storm of color and movement.

The air turned razor-sharp, snapping at her skin and tearing tears from her eyes.

Her hands ached with the effort of clinging to Kimba’s scales, each ridge slick with rain and demon blood.

The roar of wind drowned out everything but the thunder of Kimba’s heart beneath her, steady and wild.

The ground hurtled toward them—Viscious’s form clear now, caught in a lattice of royal elemental power.

Nasima’s wind tore at his shadows, Kairi’s water hissed and steamed against his fire, Aviur and Agni’s flames seared him from within, and Dhara’s earth shackled his feet.

Osiris stood at the center, a beacon of blinding white, his gaze locked on Rory, trust and desperation written clear across his face.

All around, demons scattered, driven back by the soul-bonded elementals’ assault and the terror of a dragon descending from the heavens.

Rory’s heart pounded, every beat echoing the words in her mind: This is it. This is what it means to protect your own. To break every rule, damn the cost, and take the fight to the darkness with everything you have.

“Let’s end this!” she shouted, her voice ragged and fierce.

Kimba roared—a sound that split the sky and shook the stones below. It was a sound older than language, older than fear. The demons fled. Viscious turned at the last instant, his eyes widening as he finally understood what was coming.

Rory felt the rush of heat as Kimba’s jaws opened wide, fire igniting along her teeth. She saw the flicker of panic on Viscious’s face, the way his shadows shrank from the oncoming inferno. There was no time for regret, no space for mercy.

With a final, thunderous snap, Kimba’s jaws closed around the dark fire king. There was a burst of shadow and flame—a taste of scorched earth and bitter ashes on the wind. Then, silence, and the echo of victory ringing through Rory’s bones.

Kimba’s wings beat as she hovered in place, and Rory exhaled, shaky and elated, knowing that for this moment, they had won. And beneath her, Kimba let out a satisfied, smoky huff, her body finally relaxing as the darkness tasted defeat.

Rory pumped her fist, breathless. “That’s for threatening my family, you glorified bonfire.”

Gabby, fire sword dripping with demon blood, let out a breath. “Never thought I’d see a dragon eat a dark king. Can we call that a win?”

Lark, shaking out her hands, managed a tired smile. “Let’s see if it sticks.”

Kimba landed, and Rory ran down her wing straight for Aston. He wrapped her up tightly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Why the hell do you insist on scaring the hell out of me?”

Rory smiled sheepishly as she looked up at him. “To keep things interesting?” He simply grunted. They both turned when they heard a whooshing sound.

The massive dragon shifted back in a swirl of light and magic. “He tasted like hubris and ash.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’m going to need a week to get that out of my teeth.”

But before anyone could celebrate, the ground under Rory’s boots began to tremble—a deep, bone-rattling quake. The earth split.

“Move,” Osiris ordered. “Get on the same side.”

Rory watched in awe as the air queen effortlessly lifted half the group across the chasm until they all stood together.

She watched in horror as ancient stones crumbled and a chasm tore through Stonehenge, belching sulfur and dark magic.

Then Rory glanced around at the faces of her friends.

Her eyes landed on her dragon bonded, who was looking at her mate.

Kimba’s eyes met Osiris’s, as they seemed to understand exactly what was happening.

The last echoes of Kimba’s victory had barely faded before the soul-bonded pairs closed in further away from the chasm, battered but alive. The air was thick with adrenaline and the aftertaste of magic. Rain drizzled through the shattered stones, hissing on scorched earth.

Gabby was the first to break the silence. “Somebody want to explain why the ground just tried to swallow us? Because I distinctly remember the plan did not include splitting open the ground of one of the seven wonders of the world.”

Lark, still catching her breath, gave a wry snort. “Or how we didn’t just die in that shit show? Because none of that was the plan.” She glanced at Rory. “No offense. I’d have probably done what you did, too. Your sister is just a kid. I wouldn’t have wanted her within fifty miles of Viscious.”

Rory’s stomach twisted. This was her fault. But she couldn’t say she wouldn’t do it again. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you all. It’s just, she’s my family. My only family.”

“I don’t think that you didn’t trust us, not really,” Kimba said, her eyes gentle as she looked at her. “You just trust your own abilities more. You’ve been taking care of yourself a long time, Rory. You’ve had no one fighting your battles for you or even with you. Nobody is blaming you.”

“Speak for yourself, king eater,” Gabby said dryly.

“I’m totally blaming her. A damn demon stole the suckers out of my back pockets.

And then fled. He didn’t even try to fight.

Just took the suckers and ran. You owe me some suckers, dragonrider.

” She softened her words with a wink when she looked at Rory.

Rory tipped her head at the fire elementalist. “I’ll be sure and find a very unique flavor, to go with your unique personality.”

There were low, tentative chuckles from the group, but it died down quickly.

Riggs, wiping blood from his jaw, fixed his dark eyes on Kimba and Osiris. “What’s the fallout? Forget the Grand Canyon behind us for a moment. We won, right? Viscious is dragon chow. That’s a win.”

Osiris scrubbed a hand over his face, looking every bit the former king he’d once been—old, tired, and infinitely dangerous.

“We were supposed to trap Viscious, not destroy him. The plan was to use the circle’s power to confine him—to keep him as a counterbalance to the light, to prevent exactly this. ”

Kimba nodded, her face grim. “It’s like a dam bursting. There’s no time for slow fixes or careful negotiations.”

A current of unease rippled through the group. Rory could feel it, the energy around them shifting—like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting to see which way the scales would tip.

Nasima, the air queen, stepped forward. Her white, shimmering hair clung to her cheeks in the damp, her eyes luminous with worry.

“The short of it is, we didn’t win. Not in the way you’re hoping.

The world demands balance. For every force of light, there must be an equal force of darkness.

That’s the oldest law, and it cannot be broken—not without the universe breaking with it. ”

Kairi’s voice was gentle but implacable, water swirling at her feet. “The dark royals and the light are the anchors. Together, we hold the realms apart, even the underworld. Viscious was more than just a king—he was one of those anchors. With him gone, the balance is broken.”

“But then how did the gate get opened,” Shelly began, “if you are able to control it?”

The water queen shook her head. “We don’t control it. A gate can be opened and closed by those able, like the dragons with their fire, but in order for it to keep from collapsing altogether, it requires the magic of all the royal elementals.”

Dhara nodded, earth magic rumbling beneath her words. “And when balance is lost, the world finds the fastest way to restore it. The gate between the realms was the weak point—already cracked, already healing. Killing Viscious undid that healing in an instant.”

Beval, Nasima’s mate, added quietly, “If too much darkness, or too much light, tips the scale, the gate shatters. And whatever’s on the other side, comes through.”

Aviur’s flame flickered, casting deep shadows on his face. “The dark fire queen will not let this stand. She will want retribution for her mate’s death. The dark royals will not rest until balance is restored, by force if necessary.”

Brianna stepped forward, her hand in Rush’s. “So what now? Do we just wait for them to come for us? For Lucifer to waltz through that chasm and try to take the world?”

The royals looked at each other, the weight of centuries in their eyes.

Kairi broke the silence. “We could return to the elemental schools. Prepare the next generation. War is coming, whether we want it or not. If the students aren’t ready, none of us will last long.”

Dhara shook her head, and when she spoke her voice was like granite. “We could try to heal the gate again, but it will require sacrifice. Someone will have to take Viscious’s place—to become the new dark anchor. It’s a death sentence, or worse, but that is what will restore balance.”

Rory’s stomach tightened as she looked at the group of people around her, some she’d come to love like family. “How on earth are we going to do that?”

“Seriously,” Tara said, shaking her head. “It’s not like we can just put out a post on all the socials, ‘Villan position just came available, all dark, twisted, elementals, please apply at the gates of hell.’”

Gabby shrugged. “It needs work, but it could do in a pinch.”

Before anyone could respond, the ground beneath Ra’s feet trembled. A low, guttural hum pulsed through the stones, and the air grew suddenly thick—charged with the kind of magic that made every hair on Rory’s arms stand on end.

Then, just as abruptly, fire and smoke erupted around Ra.

It wasn’t ordinary fire—it was laced with shadow, streaked with gold and deepest red, swallowing him in an instant.

The air filled with the roar of ancient power, the scent of scorched earth, and something older, darker—like the echo of a tomb being opened after centuries in shadow.

The flames twisted, rising in a vortex, and within their heart, Ra’s silhouette arched in pain, his hands clawing at the air as if reaching for something—or someone—just out of reach.

“Ra!” Shelly screamed, surging forward, but Osiris caught her arm, holding her back. His face was pale, eyes wide with the terrible certainty of someone who’d seen this kind of magic before.

“Don’t!” he said. “You can’t touch him right now. The balance—he’s—” Osiris shook his head, words failing him as the flames coiled tighter around Ra’s body.

Rory’s heart hammered. “What’s happening to him?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

The royal elementals exchanged grave looks, but none of them moved. Nasima’s hand fluttered to her lips. Kairi’s eyes shone with tears. Kimba’s hand reached for Osiris’s as she watched with the same horror Rory felt.

A sigil flared to life at Ra’s feet, glowing with molten red and black.

The fire bent inward, pressing against his skin, and when he screamed, it was as if the sound came from the depths of the underworld itself.

Rory could see shadows writhing beneath his skin, ancient hieroglyphs flickering up his arms, racing to his heart.

“His blood,” Agni, the light fire queen, whispered, horror in her voice. “It’s answering the call. The oath . . . the ancestors . . . ”

Shelly fought Osiris’s grip, tears streaming down her face. “He fulfilled the oath, he handed Aurora over—but it was a trick. It wasn’t real?—”

“The magic doesn’t care about intent,” Aviur said, voice rough. “It only knows the oath was fulfilled. The balance is demanding a new anchor. And Ra—Ra is the only vessel left with enough darkness in his blood to take the throne.”

The group watched, helpless, as the fire and shadow twisted tighter, forming a crown of black flame above Ra’s head. Shelly sobbed, wrenching herself free and falling to her knees, reaching out with her magic, her love, anything to steady him.

For a long, breathless moment, the world seemed to hold itself on the edge of a knife.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the flames collapsed inward, and Ra dropped to his knees, then fell to his side, gasping, his skin marked with swirling sigils, his eyes burning with flames where moments before only darkness had been.

The silence was absolute.

No one moved. No one breathed.

Shelly crawled to Ra’s side, gathering him into her arms. “Ra,” she whispered, voice broken and desperate. “Please be okay.”

He looked up at her, and for a moment, Rory saw both the man she’d come to know and something ancient and dangerous lurking beneath the surface.

Osiris stepped forward, the lines of his face carved deep with regret and dread. “I don’t think an ad will be needed,” he said quietly. “The universe just recruited a new dark fire king.”

The wind howled over the ruins, darkness pulsing from the open chasm, and the group realized, with a collective shudder, that the battle for balance had only just begun.