Page 188 of Wings of Ash & Flame
Alaire’s heart sank. Her gaze darted to Dawson—still slumped and unconscious.
A yeti’s roar split the air. Beck braced, but with Dawson on his back he was defenseless.
“Go toward the cave,” Solflara commanded
“No.” Alaire’s voice broke. “We fight together.Always.”
“Not today.” Solflara’s amber eyes locked onto hers, burning with love and resolve. “He needs you.”
Her phoenix strode toward the oncoming yetis, wings spread wide. Golden light bled from her feathers, molten fire growing brighter with every heartbeat until she was incandescent—raw, unyielding power given form.
“Solflara, please!” Alare bellowed.
“GO!” Solflara thundered down the bond, leaving no room for argument.
Every instinct screamed against it. They were partners, two halves of one soul.
But Dawson was dying—and Solflara was giving them this chance.
Tears blurred Alaire’s vision as she clenched her jaw and forced herself to move. Her hands trembled as she tugged Beck’s neck, urging him forward. He resisted, muscles bunched in defiance.
“She’s doing this for us. For Dawson. We have to honor it.”
Beck hesitated, then cast one last longing look at the phoenix before trudging on.
“Just a little further,” Alaire whispered.
They reached the cave’s threshold just as the yetis closed in. Alaire turned, heart pounding, helpless.
The beasts lined in formation, massive fists beating their chests, unleashing an ear-splitting war cry.
And Solflara stood alone on the mountainside, a figure of devastating beauty and fury.
The yetis charged.
She waited. One heartbeat. Two.
Come on, Solf.Please.
On the third, Solflara became fire itself.
Not the careful flames she’d wielded before, but her true power—an inferno that exploded from her center that turned the snowy sky into blinding light. Heat rippled the air; the yetis’ roars twisted into screams, then silence.
The mountain answered. The ground split. Fissures tore through stone and snow, racing outward from her blazing form. Boulders the size of houses sheared loose from the cliffs above.
“Solflara!” Alaire screamed.
The mountainside collapsed around her phoenix. The ground shuddered violently, every fissure widening toward thecave, reclaiming the ashes of those who dared to stand against her phoenix.
Solflara held the line, weaving through falling stone, her fire a barrier that let nothing pass.
“Hurry,” Alaire urged down the bond, desperation choking her.
“In.The.Cave.”
Alaire dodged falling debris, lungs burning with dust.Come on, come on.
Finally, Solflara broke away, flames dimming, exhaustion written in every flicker. Behind her, the entire mountainside gave way in a roaring landslide.
