Page 64 of Tempest Rising

The salamander shrieked again, its molten body expanding as it fed off the surrounding fire. We were running out of time.

I swallowed hard. Then, I closed my eyes and reached—

—Not with my hands, not with force, but with intent.

Withbelief.

Heat flared in my chest, different from the suffocating fire around me. This was somethingpure. Somethingalive.

My eyes snapped open.

Golden flames flickered along my fingertips.

The salamander hesitated.

Itrecognizedthis power.

Good.

I thrust my hands forward.

"Purifying Fire!"

The golden flames erupted from my palms, not as a blast, but as a wave of radiant energy. The fire didn’t burn—it cleansed, unraveling the salamander’s molten form from the inside out.

Thalon roared above, his ownPurifying Firemerging with mine in a dazzling display of light. The salamander let out a final,echoing screech as the divine flames consumed it—breaking it down, dissolving the corrupted magic at its core.

The fire inside it flickered.

Then died.

The salamander collapsed inward, its body hardening into cooled obsidian. The glow faded from its molten veins, leaving only a lifeless, blackened husk behind.

Silence.

For a moment, I just stood there, my breath coming in short gasps. My entire body trembled, the adrenaline still coursing through me.

Then, my knees buckled.

Mason was there in an instant, catching me before I could hit the ground. His arms wrapped around me, solid and warm, grounding me in the aftermath of the battle.

"You did it," he murmured, his voice rough with something like pride.

I let out a shaky laugh. "We did it."

???

The battle shifted after that.

Seeing the first salamander fall, the other dragons and Dragon Riders fought with renewed ferocity. With Thalon leading the charge, we pushed the remaining fire elementals back, extinguishing them one by one.

Hours later, the fire was finally—finally—under control.

Smoke still lingered in the air, the scent of scorched earth thick around us. The landscape was blackened, the once-lush forest reduced to smoldering embers.

But we had won.

I stood beside Thalon, my fingers resting against his warm scales. My entire body ached—but beneath the exhaustion, something else simmered.

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