Page 190 of The Shattered Rite
Eliryn’s throat caught. He was facing down Malric with no armor, no advantage, just raw loyalty and rage.
“Eliryn,” Garic snapped, never taking his eyes off Malric. “Go. Now.”
Malric shifted, his blade glinting. Calm. Calculated.
And Garic’s voice—steady now, resolute—cut through the air like an oath forged in iron.
“Run, Dragonrider.”
Her pulse fractured. The words hit her harder than the wound.
Vaeronth surged inside her mind.Go. He’s buying your life with his own.
“I can’t just—”
You can. You must.
The weight of it broke her.
She staggered upright. Her blood smeared the stone as she stumbled forward. She heard metal clash behind her—Malric lunging, Garic’s blade parrying. A grunt. A curse. Someone’s breath hitched in pain.
She didn’t look back.
She ran.
Every step shredded her. The pain in her side roared, hot and jagged, but she ran. Up stairs, around corners, through halls splintered by flame. Smoke burned her lungs. The world reeled and narrowed and blurred.
But she ran.
Then—wind.
She burst through an archway into open air. Smoke curled into the sky, streaked with ash. She swayed, her vision failing. The whole castle sprawled beneath her, writhing in chaos.
Vaeronth’s voice tore through her mind like a battle cry.
I’m coming.
Her pendant seared against her skin as his presence surged outward. A shadow passed overhead—a shadow with wings.
And then—
Vaeronth landed.
He crashed down with the fury of a storm, wings slamming against the air, scales blazing black and gold. He was rage made flesh, fire given breath. His claws cracked the stone as he crouched low, his great eyes locking on hers.
Climb.
She didn’t think.
She stumbled forward, collapsed against his foreleg, dragging herself upward by instinct more than strength. His scaled shoulder rose beneath her, warm and solid.
Hold on.
She wrapped her arms around the nearest ridge of his spine as he launched into the sky.
The ground fell away.
The castle—the screams, the blood, the betrayal—all dropped from her as Vaeronth’s wings devoured the wind. The air howled past. Her fingers trembled. Blood smeared his scales. Her blood.
