Chapter 3

In the distance, towering flames stained the night sky blood red. Countless flashes of steel streaked upward, only to plummet just as fast.

Frantic with worry, I turned and sprinted toward the main peak.

I'd barely left the path on the back ridge when a figure in pale yellow burst out of the trees and planted herself in my way.

It was Elowen.

She was usually the neatest person I knew, but now she was covered in horrifying bloodstains, and even her hairpin had snapped in half.

"What are you doing? Go back!"

Her voice was sharp, and her eyes were filled with a panic I'd never seen in her before.

My eyes stung as I clung to her sleeve.

"Elowen, something's happened to the Order. I want to help you!"

Elowen shook off my hand and shoved a heavy storage pouch into my arms.

"Help with what? Your mortal flailing?"

She was breathing hard, and her words came out in a rush.

"The Order has already prepared a last escape route.

"If Master Aldric and the elders can hold off Solvar, the Ashwing King, great.

"If they can't, the weaker disciples have to get out through the secret tunnel immediately."

I shook my head hard, and the tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over.

"I'm not leaving! I'm not going anywhere!"

Seeing my tear-streaked face, Elowen's eyes filled with a deep sorrow.

She stepped forward and pulled me into a tight hug, her voice unusually gentle.

"Be good, Aurelia.

"Elder Hollis is in charge of the evacuation, and he owes me a huge debt from years back.

"As long as you go with him, he'll protect you with his life."

I bit down so hard on my lip that I tasted blood.

"What about you? What about Cassian? And Seraphine?"

Elowen let go of me and smoothed my messy hair.

"We're Master Aldric's apprentices. The Order raised us, and now it's time to pay it back."

She gazed at me for a long moment.

"Aurelia, I've seen how hard you've worked all these years.

"You've done amazing. Really."

She turned away, and her voice trembled with despair.

"After you leave, find some remote village and live an ordinary life.

"Solvar is a pure-blooded descendant of the ancient sun-birds of the Sunfire line.

"He's not someone you could ever stand up to."

With that, she became a streak of light and charged toward the blazing battlefield without a backward glance.

I stood frozen, clutching the storage pouch.

Without them, I'd be nothing more than a lost soul, wandering this world alone.

I tucked the pouch into my robe, gritted my teeth, and quietly followed her, keeping to the shadows of the trees.

The main square had become a living hell.

Bodies lay everywhere, and blood ran in streams.

Overhead, the legendary barrier was riddled with cracks.

Outside its glowing shield stood a man in a dark-gold robe.

He was simply standing there, yet the terrifying heat pouring off him made the very air around him twist and warp.

He casually raised his hand and drove a punch into the Grand Aetherfall Barrier.

The earth heaved, and the mountain shook.

On the high platform in the middle of the square, Seraphine sat cross-legged.

Her fingers flew as she poured aether into the ward plate, desperately trying to hold the collapsing barrier together.

Solvar gave another scornful laugh, and his second punch came crashing down.

This one carried terrifying power.

CRACK—

A sharp, shattering sound rang through the night.

Up on the platform, Seraphine's face turned white as paper, and she coughed up a shocking mouthful of blood.

Her Worldbinder Ward had been broken.