Page 174 of Wings of Ash & Flame
“Incoming!” Alaire spotted the telltale light but couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from. “Lean left!”
She banked hard. The tether caught, dragging Dawson sideways into her flight path. Beck squawked, wings tangling with Soflara’s. The bond yanked Kaia forward as Hadrian was pulled off course, which jerked Caius into a spiraling dive.
People are counting on you. Responsibility settled on her shoulders.Don’t let them down. Don’t be the reason someone dies today.
She forced the swirling thoughts to stop. She could do this. They could figure out the pattern. Move through the cavern. Reach the next sector.
An arrow whistled past, singeing a strand of her hair.
“This isn’t working!” Caius snarled from behind. “We’re going to kill each other before this damn trial has a chance to start.”
Alaire’s mind raced as she studied the wall slots. A faint glow always came before a volley. The arrows came from different sections, but there had to be a pattern.
“Kaia, track the intervals between volleys!”
They pressed deeper into the cavern, dodging the next wave by luck alone. The molten rivers below cast everything in a hellish red light that reminded her of the wraiths’ eyes.
Where does this end? How far do we have to go?
“One minute between volleys,” Kaia announced.
“Got it. Next wave in thirty seconds. Watch for the glow!”
“Being forcibly tethered to Hadrian and Beck is making me nauseous.Hadrian keeps trying to poke me with his beak.As if a lady of my pedigree would ever let anyone near my behind.”
“Focus,Solflara.No one cares about your behind right now.”
“Hadrian does,unfortunately.”
Alaire ignored her phoenix’s rambling, eyes scanning for the next glow. There! A section of wall brightened like coals in a forge. “Right side, high! Bank left on my mark.”
The glow intensified. “Now!”
She threw Solflara into a sharp left turn. This time they moved together, the tether helping instead of hindering as it guided their formation cleanly through the turn. Arrows streaked past their right flank, missing by a healthy distance.
We’re getting it. We’re actually getting it.
“Roll left,” Alaire commanded as the next glow appeared. Tilting her body, the others mirrored her instantly, spinning through the cavern like a single creature with four sets of wings.
The cavern blurred around them—walls of black stone, rivers of fire, the endless void above.
“Stay alert,” she called back. Her heart hammered as she counted down the seconds.
The wall ahead lit up, too many sections flaring at once.
“Dive!” Kaia shouted. “Multiple launch points!”
“Stay sharp. We move on my mark.” Alaire could almost picture Caius rolling his eyes at being forced to follow her lead.
“I can incinerate him,” Solflara offered.
“The cavern may just do that for us.”
Alaire flattened herself against Solflara’s neck, muscles bunching and releasing beneath her as they dove. The tether yanked at her ribs, trying to pull her upright as the others followed. Heat blasted upward. Sweat streamed down her face as they skimmed dangerously close to the bubbling magma.
Every time she closed her eyes, flames consuming everything she’d ever loved flashed behind them. Sulfur burned her nose. She blinked hard, forcing herself back to the present.
Then the cavern floor cracked.
