The Amberhold Skydocks shook as the ruined skyship struck the southern docks. The surviving pieces exploded into fireballs, sending burning bodies and wreckage raining across the shipyard. Secondary explosions ripped across the pier as mana cannon cores detonated, shooting plumes of smoke and mana into the air.

But all that was just sparks. With a deafening roar, the skyship core itself ruptured, sending a wave of superheated air and compressed mana rippling across the mountains. The forests ignited, trees crackling as they went up like candles. I shielded my eyes against the glare, flinching as my wards flared around us. The blast left a ringing in my ears and a haze of chaotic mana that scrambled my senses.

Screams echoed off the callous mountains, joining the roar of fire as it burned across roofs, towers, and people. Hundreds of soldiers lay dead across the courtyards and bridges, blood running from every orifice, their organs liquified by the blast.

"Xiviyah..." R’lissea breathed, her voice full of awe and fear.

I nodded, scarcely able to speak myself. Just how much mana had they stuffed into that skyship? It seemed Emlica wasn’t the only one innovating on their designs. At this point, it was practically a bomb, capable of devastating an entire city on its own. If the skyport hadn’t been so high above the rest of Darkreign...

I shuddered, not daring to imagine the collateral damage. Even third-level soldiers had perished thousands of feet from the crash. It was too much.

Just one more reason to fear skyships.

The other two skyships were in ruins. One had been blown off its pier before it could launch, and now lay at the bottom of the cliffs, broken into a dozen pieces. The other had managed to make it a few hundred feet into the air before the blast had thrown it against the mountain. It now rested on a rocky ridge, leaning to one side, its hull cracked and leaking mana.

Borealis cried out triumphantly as he circled the smoldering ruins of the skydocks, no doubt taking credit for the kill. I looked down, my stomach flipping again.

"Do you think he...?"

R’lissea shook her head. "That wouldn’t be enough to kill him, not even the him I knew."

I nodded, letting out a short breath. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

"At least we crippled the skyships," I muttered. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

She nodded. "Yeah. I just hope the others are alright. We didn’t drop them that far."

"They’ll be fine." I reached out, trailing my hand through a thick current of displaced mana. "Their job might even be easier now. There’s so much discordant mana in the air its practically a slurry. I doubt anyone weaker than sixth level could manage holding a circle together for a few seconds. The mana cannons might not even work."

"Filthblood!" A scream rent the air, tearing through the smoke and ash with enough force to register to my wards. I bit my lip, tightening my grip on my staff. The heroic aura was back, but even stronger, now. Hot and angry.

"We could leave him. Our mission’s done," I said half-heartedly.

"And let him rejoin the battle against Luke?" She shook her head. "They made a mistake putting Ronin up here. He gets stronger the longer and bloodier the battle. We have to hold him here before he has a chance to scale."

My tail curled, but I nodded. "Alright, I just..." I shuddered.

She placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a brave smile. "I know. I still can’t believe I forgave him for what he did to you that day. But it’s okay. I’ll make it up to you."

Her man stirred, and translucent green wings burst out of her back. I caught her hand, my tail going stiff.

"Wait, you can’t do it–"

She pulled away, gently, but with a strength I could never match. "Wait for me, Xiv. This land is filled with your ghosts, but it also holds mine. Please, I have to do this. For me."

My hand curled into a fist, and I bit my lip. "Just...promise me you’ll be safe. We don’t know how strong he’s gotten."

"I think it’s him who should be worried about that. He probably thinks I’m still just a useless healer."

I couldn’t help the smile that rose in response to hers. It was small, but hers widened in relief.

"Be strong," I whispered, waving my staff, enfolding her in the strength of my wards. "May fate guide your spells."

She nodded and then blurred, transforming into a streak of green light that shot toward the center of the skydocks. The flames parted before her, revealing a figure dressed in gleaming silver armor, untarnished by the cinders. His cold, ruthless gaze pierced me across the distance. There was no heart crest engraved on his soul. His hatred was real. I could only pray R’lissea saw that, too.

R’lissea appeared before him, hovering like a verdant angel. His face twitched, his eyes widening slightly, but his grip on his sword tightened. I could see their lips move, their expressions shift. He gestured to himself, thrusting his hand at her vigorously. Her soul lit up, but she gave no indication of it. She shook her head, clasping her hands together. Whatever it was she said caused his eyes to narrow again, and his sword to come up.

R’lissea fluttered back and released her gathering mana all at once. Ronin stumbled as the mountain trembled, resonating with the titanic magic circle she called overhead. He stared at her in a stupor, his mouth hanging open. By the time he recovered, it was too late.

"Clever," I whispered, settling some of the restlessness in my chest. She was too earnest to fight without trying to reason with him, but she’d come too far to trust in that.

Ronin lunged at her, leaping off the ground in an arc that left afterimages behind. R’lisea had already pointed her staff, a second magic circle blooming on the ground beneath the zenith of his trajectory. Vines erupted from the ground, lashing up so fast they cracked like whips. They intercepted him mid-leap, one entangling his leg, the other snapping around his outstretched arm.

Just as quickly, she flicked her staff down, and the vines responded, dragging him from the air before he could react. He smashed into the courtyard hard, cracks spreading across the scorched cobblestones.

Ronin was quick to his feet, releasing a burst of blood-red mana that withered the vines and freed him. Thin lines of blood ran down his leg where thorns had pierced his flesh. The wounds were already beginning to knit together.

The light gathered around him in a light halo, and he tensed, gathering his mana. He swung his sword at R’lissea, releasing an arc of mana that left small spatial fissures in the air. She tensed as she sensed the impending threat, but kept her staff raised, her eyes focused on the magic circle.

The arc hit her in the side, and Ronin cried out, his anger slipping to fear for a single heartbeat. But his attack, a peak seventh-level technique, broke against a faint shimmer of starlight, dissolving into the gold. I breathed deep as power flowed into my soul, replenishing the mana I’d spent on R’lissea’s wards. Ronin’s face twisted in anger.

But the vines and my magic had done their job. R’lissea’s staff emitted a pulse of power, whipping the air into a frenzy. Ronin gripped his sword in both hands, facing her warily as she slowly turned, a hint of exhaustion on her face. But beneath it was relief. And triumph.

"Primal Guardian." I couldn’t hear her whisper, but I didn’t have to. She’d spent months mastering this spell under Selena’s tutelage.

The mountain shook as her spell resolved, releasing its mana into the ground. The mountain moved, surging like a crashing wave. Stone, earth, fortification, and burning forest all converged on Ronin, forming a massive, grasping hand. He dove out of the way, slashing at it as he rolled between its fingers. His blade was a little more than a sliver against the thumb, tearing a gash that wasn’t even noticeable against its bulk.

The hand sank into the ground again, and he grinned, gathering his mana for a counterattack. I could only shake my head. Naive. Had he never faced an eighth-level spell before? Surely he couldn’t think that was it.

His arrogance faltered as the ground didn’t stop moving, and he glanced behind him, freezing as the hand rose again. This time, instead of swiping at him, it shot out of the ground, dragging the beginnings of a forearm after it. It landed on a ridge, easily a hundred feet across, and gripped it. Solid rock bluffs shattered under its titanic fingers. The rubble froze mid-fall, then flew to join the hand, fusing into its bulk.

The mountain groaned as the arm strained, pulling more of itself from the earth. Not just out of the earth, but from the earth. Cliffs fell, peaks collapsed, and valleys rose to it. The forests flowed across its forming shoulders into a mane of fiery hot bristles.

When the elemental rose, freeing itself from the ground, it towered seven hundred feet tall, its head scraping the clouds where Borealis flew. The walls and towers of the skydock now lined its oversized fists in jagged ridges that still bore their strengthening enchantments. Its hulking figure framed R’lissea’s small form like the mountain it had just been born from.

And there, reduced to an ant before the colossus, was Ronin. His sword shook in his hand, his face pale.

I felt no pleasure in this war, but my lips tugged into a smile.

"Get him," I whispered, urging Borealis higher. I had to. We were still too close. After all, only a few people on the planet knew how unsafe the entire mountain range was about to be.