Page 189 of Song of Her Siren

Blaze, duck!I called to him through thought before launching a ball of black magic at the demon.

Blaze disappeared in a blur moments before my black magic hit the monster.

The magic lit up like starbursts when it hit the beast’s chest and fanned up its necks and maws. The beast cried out, its heads whipping in the air, its wings faltering before it fell into the ocean, the water bubbling as it slipped beneath the waves.

Nikkos squeezed me tight. “You did it, Shiri!”

I gasped when Isa shuddered beneath me, her wings sagging.

Isa, I called in her mind, but she didn’t respond.

“Oh, no!” I cried out. “I drained too much of her energy!”

Before I could react, Nikkos snatched off my belt and whipped me from the saddle. I screamed when Isa separated from us, falling through the sky like a bird with clipped wings.

Isa!

My heart plummeted when she hit the water with a violent splash, then I gave a start as a loud roar sounded behind us.

Move out of the way!Radnor dove on top of Isa’s lifeless body, trying to lift her from the ocean, though he struggled, with one of his front legs broken and bent at an awkward angle. It took two other dragons to help him heave her over the wall.

Tears stung my eyes as Nikkos followed them.

We landed on the beach in a spray of sand. Dragons formed a barrier between us and the worms while Radnor whimpered and nudged Isa with his snout. She was breathing, though barely. I clutched my throat while watching Radnor try to wake her. I hadn’t realized I was draining too much of her energy. Why hadn’t she warned me? We needed Tari back to heal her.

I spun around when Blaze landed behind us. “Where’s Drae?”

“There!” Blaze pointed to a lone mage on the castle ramparts blowing a stream of fire onto the worms that slithered up the walls. “The worms are trying to breach the castle!”

Cries rang out as more and more worms slithered over the Windhaven wall. There had to be hundreds, maybe thousands, of them. There was no way the mages and dragons could fight them all.

Freya and Enso flew past us, letting out excited squawks as they soared over the seawall. Where were they going?

The thunderous flapping of wings filled the sky above us, as if we’d been struck by a powerful cyclone. Thousands of wings blotted out the moonlight like one continuous black thundercloud. Freya and Enso dove toward us, flying circles around our heads while letting out excited squawks.

Thousands of wyverns descended, their sharp talons slicing into the worms and shredding them to bits, even popping the magical bubbles covering their ear slits. Warrior satyrs jumped from the backs of wyverns, shields lined up above their heads while they moved as one, slicing open worms with spears. We ran under Radnor’s wing when worm and wyvern droppings rained down on us. Elements, save us!

* * *

Tari

ASH CARRIED ME, FOLLOWINGHelian, who led the way with his sword raised. My mates sloshed through soupy water that was so deep, it almost went up to Helian’s chest. And the smell was so unbearable, I wondered if we were in the sewers. I didn’t remember this tunnel. Why hadn’t my portal taken us to the dungeon with Megaera’s mists? We had no idea where we were going, but we trusted in the fireflies that lit the way through one tunnel and down another while my mates grumbled.

I don’t understand, I projected to them.The dungeon we were in only had ankle-deep mud and no water.

There must be a reason your magic didn’t take you straight there, Helian answered through thought.If that’s where you saw the portal, it’s being overrun with Indus worms right now. You saw how many were slithering over the walls.

He was right. Damn. How would we be able to close the portal with so many worms in the way?

My mates finally sloshed their way to another long tunnel with mud that only went up to Helian’s shins.

I looked over Ash’s furry shoulder while clinging to his neck, grateful he’d carried me as two bulging, bright eyes blinked at me from the water we’d just traversed.

Was that a sewer?I asked them.

Helian heaved a groan while tightly gripping his sword.I don’t want to know if it was.

Ash followed Helian up a steep tunnel through slippery mud. Helian lost his footing a few times, apologizing when he jarred into Ash. My shifter mate grumbled every time he had to balance me with one arm and stop Helian from sliding back.

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