Page 135 of Ecliptic

Before I had time to look at Rowen, I painfully slammed back into my body.

Erovos realized what I had done, and his long nails dug into my skin. “You think you’re clever?” he snarled. “Look around you. Your army is dying. You are losing. My Voro-Kai are overwhelming you.”

What he said was true. I had saved Rowen from one Voro-Kai only for him to be attacked by another. For every ten demons slaughtered, one hundred more took their place.

The claws of darkness hovered and closed in, burying us alive.

I knew I wouldn’t survive this battle, but now, it looked like none of us would. Both Wyn and Viltarran blood would stain this earth forever.

Suddenly, a blinding light pierced my eyes.

Was this how it ended? In red-hot flames?

The air here was cold and dead, and I closed my eyelids, welcoming the lick of flames on my skin.

If it was all to end in fire, I hoped the scorched earth would one day beget new life, but first, we would all have to burn.

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The flames weren’t scalding. They were warm and comforting.

My eyes opened in confusion.

It wasn’t a world-ending fire as I had suspected. It was the sun: bright, vibrant, and full of life. But how? The sun never reached here. Erovos made sure of that.

I squinted through the blinding glow, and as my eyes adjusted, a giant, red arch appeared through the rays of light.

The Eye of the Sun!

I peered closer, not believing my eyes. Was I already dead, returning to the Eternal Sun Stone?

But I wasn’t the only one who was stunned. The entire battlefield twisted in shock at the colossal arch.

A choked sob erupted from my throat as thousands of Hara-dune soldiers marched through the haze, gleaming in golden armor. The Eye of the Sun framed the cerulean sky and never-ending dunes like a painting, stark against the barren and bloody battlefield.

The sun was shining through the arch, which meant it was the evening here, but the sky was so shrouded in a grey haze, it was impossible to tell.

I almost broke down when I realized we’d been battling all day. And just as all hope was extinguished and we bravely faced our deaths, reinforcements and daylight broke through the clouds.

Rayal led the charge, dressed in armor that looked molded to her body as if she’d been dipped in gold. She’d pulled her braids into one long twist down her back, revealing every strong and determined plane of her face. She must have taken control of her city, now leading her warriors in a cavalry charge.

“Grab an Ever-burn weapon!” Alvar commanded, gesturing to the carts filled with star-forged steel. The elven warriors picked up arrows, spears, and blades with a coordinated speed and charged into the fray.

“Destroy them all,” Erovos roared, and I almost blacked out from the sonic boom of his voice.

Suddenly, a grinding of stones sounded in my ears. My gaze darted up to see a giant hawk flying through the arch. Its wings folded in before sweeping out to soar over the battlefield. Three more hawks followed suit, filling the sky with avian warriors.

It took me a moment to realize they were the stone statues perched high above Hara’dune. The Sunshades!

Even though they must have weighed a ton, they drifted through the air as if they were weightless.

My eyes searched for the elve commanding them, and sure enough, I found Thaydril. His arms flourished through the air as he puppeteered the stone beasts.

The hawks flew over the weapon racks and filled their talons with Ever-burn spears. They tucked their wings and dove into the fray of demons.

The Wyn and Viltarran soldiers cheered as the birds barreled into the Voro-Kai and sliced them to death.

Erovos dropped me to the ground as his jaw unhinged and his deadly eyes focused on one of the majestic hawks.

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