Two gigantic rifts carved through the terrain in a rush of violence—

Sending our soldiers scrambling for safety—

And struck the twin monoliths in a deafening BOOM!

Earth blew sky-high—

A tsunami of dirt crashed down like a filthy wave of water.

Spinning away, I flung an arm up over my head as a heavy rain of clodded grass and sharp stones pelted my body. Stinging heat flared across my arms and shoulders.

Rising quickly, I twisted back around...

...and watched with dread as the monoliths made a terrible creaking sound and began to sway drunkenly. Their filmy shadows stretched long, shifting across the field with the monoliths' lurching movement as they swung back and forth like a pendulum.

Fucking hellsgate!

"Kenton! Jett!" my father bellowed.

Kenton charged, activating his shield. A zinging sound reverberated across the field as magically hardened air formed before him. The shield hummed and fizzed. Jett took the opposite position. My youngest brother surged forward with daggers in each hand.

My gut twisted in horror. "No blades!" I roared.

Jett's head whipped my way, his violet eyes blazing. He snarled, but he tossed the blades away and reached for the lasso hitched at his hip.

We'd always known that whatever we faced with Nelle would be difficult, if almost downright impossible to confine. My little bird was full of righteous fire and she was always going to meet us head-on in a fight. We hoped if we could find some way to incapacitate her, we could capture her safely without her or anyone else being hurt.

My father and our warband advanced as best they could with the ground shuddering beneath their feet. The earth had been cracked and split apart by wide fissures which stopped them from getting too close. But that didn't stop my brothers from leaping across the chasms and rushing at her, forcing her to defend herself against their dual attack.

Dust swept around Nelle like a dark veil.

Birthed from her vengeance, a blazing fireball materialized out of thin air. Ethereal and deadly. Blazing so bright it bleached the world like a flash of lightning.

Nelle became a lethal warrior of dark magic and might. Fire. And wrath.

She hurled the fireball at Jett—

He dived out of range, rolling to flip to his feet—

Pivoting to realign himself away from our oldest brother.

An unearthly spear of fiery flames sliced through the air, aimed at Kenton.

He knocked the bolt of fire aside with his shield—

Kept charging, his head ducked low, shield high.

She flipped her wrist fast and threads of silvery power punched out—

Slammed into Kenton, knocking him off his feet, sending him flying sideways to smash into Jett.

Both went down hard, tumbling across the field, skidding to a halt dangerously near the edge of a chasm.

In the background, beneath the chaotic sounds of battle, I heard my father bellow a string of orders at our warband.

Our soldiers joined the attack—

Nelle spun a vicious squall, scattering them like a handful of tossed marbles.

Caidan swung his lasso, letting the noose fly—

She incinerated it in a flash of fire.

Her fight, her spirit, and the spectacular way she thwarted us was fucking enchanting. It was a fluid elegant dance, the way she flowed with the battle. Flames rolled off the flat of her palms. A spin on the tips of her toes and a graceful arch of her arms unbridled a turbulent gale. Bolts of shivering power that shot as swiftly as arrows with a punch of a fist. A quick step and stamp of her foot—the earth detonated with a heaving quake.

So easily did she drive us all back.

The sun was making a slow descent, half below the horizon. Deep hues of tangerine and streaks of coral and crimson tinged the edge of ashen clouds. Those same colors were reflected on the battlefield where Nelle stood at the center with pockets of dried grass on fire and plumes of smoke drifting on a breeze.

"You want to see what you're dealing with? What's inside me?" she taunted us, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Brave, so brave, my little bird.

She was revealing herself.

I lowered my stance, watching patiently as silvery threads of dark power twined around her body.

She was beautiful.

Simply beautiful in this moment.

I couldn't tear my gaze away. The scatterings of freckles over the straight nose, pink lips parting as she drew in a deep breath. Her wavy, moonlit hair curled over her shoulders down to her waist, and the t-shirt, oversized like everything she wore, rippled with the reckless currents of wild wind she teased. Thick eyelashes fluttered as she slid her glacial gaze to mine and her cheekbones rounded with a small smile.

A smile I'd never seen before, bitterly cold and cruel, a smile I'd taught her.

And then she unshackled her might.

It was as if an enormous toxic breath had been expelled. As if a wave of poisonous air rolled across the field, and she stood at the very heart of the ripple. Everything living and green shriveled and died and turned to ash, scattering in the wind, until there was nothing but barren earth where she stood.

Fire exploded all around her.

A raging inferno. A blazing tempest.

Like gasoline tossed onto a bonfire—pale as moonlight, chilling as the arctic—flames sprayed upward in a gust of fiery wrath, scorching the twilight sky and turning it into a firestorm of too-bright light.

Nelle winked at me.

And I had no time to wonder why, as a sea of flames barrelled straight for me—

Like a meteorite burning through the atmosphere, the deafening sound of it razored across the field—

I engaged the shield just in time.

A rush of magic erupted from the cylinder, cracking in a fizzing web to harden the air. The shield loosened a zinging hum as it held form.

In the corner of my eye, I caught my brothers shielding themselves, while my father roared, "SHEILDS UP NOW!" Chancing a fast glance over my shoulder, I watched our warband change formation swiftly. The warbands front row dropped to one knee, while the rows behind locked their shields overtop to create a testudo defense. Each man and woman protected the other, creating a powerful enclosure much like a tortoiseshell.

And then the world was reduced to fire.

Fierce flames smashed into my shield. Punching wildly against it. Slicing over top.

I couldn't hear anything but the roaring sound of the rageful conflagration. I couldn't see anything but the inferno that drowned me beneath its sea of fiery death.

Golden flames threaded with ice-shredding silver brought blistering heat and bone-chilling ice. A confliction of bitter cold played deftly against scorching heat that wanted to shred my flesh and bones.

Wave after wave of fire broke apart on the shield and washed all around me.

Gritting my teeth, sweat beaded on my brow. Bracing against the fearsome impact on my shuddering shield, I shoved back against the storm, elbowing in, the toes of my boots digging into the hardpacked earth.

And then it suddenly stopped.

The fire burned away and disappeared into black puffs of smoke.

I stumbled forward, almost pitching over.

Sucking in a ragged breath, I exhaled a sigh of relief as the ocean of fire dissipate from the warband. Everyone remained alive, if somewhat shocked as I was too.

Slowly straightening, I lowered my shield to watch Nelle warily while wondering what she was going to do next. Behind her, the raging fire undulated and shifted with her movement as she stalked closer. A hunter on the loose. One that wanted a taste of blood.

Raising my forearm, I wiped away the droplets of sweat trickling down my brow, squinting at the unholy fire behind Nelle.

There was something in the flames.

Something I'd earlier wondered about during my stay at the Wychthorn estate.

What is it, what is it, what is it?

There were flashes, like seeing broken images dancing on burning logs crackling in a hearth. A snatch here. A glimpse there.

Hellsgate!

My gaze sharpened and the air caught tight in my throat at the sudden thought...the possibility, the idea of it...

No...it isn't...it can't be...

Now I knew what I was looking for, I could see it more clearly this time. It hovered behind Nelle so faintly in the churning flames that she obviously had never realized the creature she was bonded with lived within her fire.

The words sprung from my mouth before I even registered what I was asking for.

Caidan rounded on me, bewildered. "What do you mean, Zrenyth's armory?"

I jabbed a finger toward Nelle. "Just look. Can't you see? It's fucking there!"

By the perplexity in my brother's gaze, he couldn't discern what I could. Kenton and Jett were both squinting in confusion at the rageful flames burning behind Nelle. Both of them were yelling out to me, but at that moment they were just noise.

"What the hells are we looking at?!"

"What the fuck is she?"

Not even with truesight could they see what was before us.

"We need Zrenyth's weapons. His crossbows, ropes, and chains. The grappling hooks!"

Something about what I was set me apart from my brothers. I could see pieces of it perfectly in the shimmering light of flame and I knew right then, what Nelle had never realized. Certainty washed through my blood, settling beneath my skin.

"Get them from the armory, now!" I roared again, furious Caidan was still fucking standing there.

My gaze locked with my father's. Awe and understanding shone in his eyes so dark they were almost black. He tore his gaze from me and bellowed to my brother. "Go! Bring him Leviathan!"

"Jett. Kenton—with me!" Caidan shouted, shooting me one last baffled glance before disappearing, hurtling back toward the Keep.

Jett stumbled away, his sweat-slick brow furrowed with bewilderment, but he was gone in a blur of black, Kenton on his heels.

My father roared at our warband, shouting his orders, sending them into smaller units to corral Nelle like a wild animal.

She didn't stop battling.

Soldiers were blasted aside by churning tornados—

Set on fire—

Whatever she was, whatever lurked beneath her skin, worked separately from her. While she spun squalls and made the earth tremble, great blooms of fire exploded in skin-blistering arcs from the flames behind her.

I was distantly aware of the yelling, pain-ridden screaming, men and women rolling on the earth to douse the flames from their armor. But all I could do was watch Nelle standing within the heart of all that power. She set the world alight with a firestorm of moonlight flames. Ash fell around her like fine flakes of snow. Magnificent. Otherworldly.

At the sound of engines, I blinked, coming to—unmindful of how much time had passed—the bleating sound of wounded, the baritone of my father's voice rallying our men.

Three vehicles barrelled across the field, splitting apart to take position around Nelle. Tire lines of chewed-up grass were carved into the ground as two of the pickup trucks came to skidding halts.

My brothers had returned with Zrenyth's weapons.

"Gray!" Caidan leaned outside his window as he sped past, tossing me Leviathan. As it soared toward me, its braided lash unwound like a snake.

Fearsome adrenaline coursed through my veins, pumping my heart faster as I raced forward, pounding across cracked, barren earth, springing up to snatch the whip from the air. As my fingers curled around the handle my flesh tingled at contact. Its full name was Leviathan Spinebender. Misty shadows wavered along the weapon's length and its dark energy sizzled like an electricity pylon.

It also felt right in my hand. So fucking right.

Plumes of smoke washed around me as I spun around and landed, a spray of dirt flying upward as my boots thudded upon the burnt earth. Flinging my arm back, I cracked the whip downward. The vicious sound of the braided lash cut through the air, scuffing dust.

Nelle roared, stabbing a finger at me. "Don't you fucking dare, you coward!"

Bracing my stance, I swung the lash around my head, slinging it around and around in a swirling arc, faster, faster, faster, until it hummed a low threatening note—

And let it fly—

She shrieked as it snapped toward her. Crossing her arms in front of her face she lurched backward. But I wasn't aiming for her. No, this whip forged by Zrenyth, was made purely for this creature.

The whip struck the flames, the tip of the lash cracking.

It was like lightning scoring black thunderclouds. A popping of light, rippling and skipping through the banks of flames—

A roiling curve—

A barbed tip of a wing—

A talon.

All those missing pieces in between came to the fore, and what lived within the fire finally revealed itself. Equal measures of dread and astonishment rushed through me at the awful truth I gazed upon.

It wasn't corporeal. Its form was not so dissimilar to Nelle's wraith-wolf, with wisps of smoke trailing off its undulating, fiery image. Its body uncoiled. Talons dug into the earth, upturning soil. Graceful wings, formed from flames, snapped out, spreading wide as if to take flight, casting mighty shadows across the field. And with their downward movement, sent a blustering gust of wind crashing through the battle site, tearing at my hair, shunting at my body. Its magnificent horned head reared back on its long, long neck as if the beast intended to strike.

Brought mountains to their knees.

Basked in sunshine... Moonlight...

Volatile. Obstinate. Greedy. Territorial.

Whatever lurked beneath Nelle's flesh was one of the most powerful creatures in our world. Not extinct, but extremely rare and currently hibernating in the bowels of the earth.

This wasn't the kind of wyrm my forebearers tamed. This wasn't a true living and breathing beast like Draxxon. This was something else altogether. I'd never have guessed this was what Nelle had hidden within her. She couldn't physically shift into the creature herself, that much I knew. They were separate and they were one.

I had no fucking idea how they were connected.

Mortals had bastardized our wyrm and reduced it to a limbless, wingless serpent. Wyrms weren't wingless, but they did need to spin magical squalls to aid their flight. Its long, scaled body was serpentine with a flexible ridge of plated spikes down its spine; four legs with talons and gnarled webbing between its toes to assist with chewing through the earth when it dug underground burrows; its tail ended on a narrow note, thin and sharp as a blade with a deadly curved stinger. Right now the beast had the tail held high like a snake, whiplashing it through the air.

It took a long moment before Jett took a hesitant step back and hissed, "Holy hellsgate..."

Nelle glanced up and over her shoulder. Her mouth fell open and her eyes flared so wide most of the whites were showing. She half-twisted, stumbled back a step, lost her balance, and fell down onto her ass with a startled oof.

The beast lowered its massive head. Horns, slender like an antelope's, were swept back from its scaled forehead. It tucked sleek wings to its sides as its quicksilver eyes with pupils slit vertically, slowly blinked at her and a loud purr rumbled from its chest like distant thunder.

The beast's body was wraith-like but borne of flames—not-quite-living—and I realized this was the reason why Nelle could swift.

Nelle reached out with a trembling hand to gingerly touch its snout.

And I swore I heard it speak to her inside my own mind, "Hello, tiny little thing."

Nelle's eyes snapped to mine and for one moment all our differences were put aside as it crashed into us simultaneously just what we were to one another, what it meant.

My little bird was a wyrm.

And I, as the Uzrek had said down in the catacombs, was a son of the Wyrm.

Wyrm and Tamer.

And everything fell into place, two perfect puzzle pieces aligning, clicking together with weighty finality. I understood what drew us both together. Why it had always been her and I. What the Uzrek had suggested down in the dark, dank cavern.

You don't know what you mean together.

Holy. Fucking. Hellsgate.

Hope, tentative hope, curled through me like the first appearance of spring after bleak winter months.

"This changes everything," I yelled to my father.

Everything.

Fucking. Everything!

Nelle was a wyrm, a prize more valuable than we'd ever thought. We needed to find another way to locate my mother, though I knew deep down, we'd tried every other possibility.

It changes nothing," he barked back, his gaze darkening. "Your mother needs us!"

Tabitha, Tabitha, Tabitha—

My mother.

I silently roared my fury. My heartache. The impossible choice.

I shoved it aside, all of it. The unfairness. All those feelings I had for Nelle.

My mother needs me.

I can't fail.

I won't fail.

My fingers tightened on Leviathan Spinebender. My ancestors had an affinity for wyrms. We battled alongside the beasts in skirmishes and bloody uprisings until the Final War. And like the tamers before me—eyes as black as my own appeared every so often amongst the violet.

I'd capture her. Bind her. Get her to submit.

I'd tame my little bird.