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.She swung her tail, aimed for Balin.A light flashed up in time, cracked like thunder as her tailstruck the wall of light.Damir dropped Drachenseele, threw off his quiver and jacket, and called upon the power insidehim like an old friend.His body burned hotter than ever before.Thunder crackled in the sky, blackclouds rolled in like quickly spreading bruises.Lightning pierced the obsidian horizon and struck Damir.He burst from the clouds, spinning, his wings flung out, claws extended as a mighty roar eruptedfrom his throat.Persondra hissed and raised her tail.Water rose from the ground, a deluge of ice thatslammed into Damir as he came down upon her.It cut through his scales like razors.He didn t stop.He couldn t.Not when lives were at stake.He released a blast of fire, melted the ice, and burned through the diminishing line of soldiers.Israel sent another blast of wind that spread the flames and burned through the infantry.Persondra summoned another tidal wave.The flames extinguished as the tidal wave crashed into Israeland hurled him to the ground.From the sky Damir watched Balin drive Magiertøter into General Gaius s shoulder.GeneralGaius slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the assassin s head just as Balin prepared for akilling blow.Persondra let out a terrifying roar as the general stumbled.General Gaius grabbed his shoulder,blood seeping between his fingers.Bodies sizzled around them; only a few soldiers remained standingand alive.Damir let out his own enraged bellow that shook the sky and mountains.In the distance, anavalanche could be heard as it shuddered down a distant side of the mountain.He flew at Persondra, grabbed on to her slithering body, and dug his claws in.She slammed hertail into his side, lunged forward with her jaw open, and bit into his flesh.Damir took off into the sky.He craned his head down and snapped.Balin was hurt.He wasn t getting up.Fear drove Damir higher.He squeezed his arms, wanting torip through Persondra s writhing body.The pain of the bite barely registered in his mind.All he sawwas Balin sprawled in the snow bleeding, surrounded by Zephyr and Elma. Elma! Zephyr shouted. Can you transform? From where Elma stood, a light beam shot from the ground and into the sky.Damir swerved tomiss it, turning as a ten-foot-tall woman with flesh the color of wheat and hair the color of springtimeflew up.Golden feathers tipped with rose covered her supple breasts and waist.Her feet were deadlytalons, her hands claws that could shred through mithril.She locked eyes of solid gold on Persondra asshe hurtled herself toward Damir.From her temples, two large phoenix wings extended.Elma reached down and plucked at the strings inside her hollowed-out stomach, which wasshaped like a harp.The strings were made of moonlight and sunbeams.She pulled on the magicalchords.A blast erupted, echoed a holy hymn that sounded throughout the entire mountainside.Persondraripped her head away from Damir, leaving a bloody gash, and writhed as the sonic blast slammed intoher.Elma landed on the giant serpent and raked her claws down her side, digging her talons in forleverage.As Persondra let out a pained howl, a light flashed from a pendant General Gaius brandished.Damir released the serpent.Elma flipped off Persondra and hovered in the sky.Persondra slammedinto the ground.As Damir poised his talons for a final strike, the light pierced him.He instantly shifted back andfell to the earth.Elma caught Damir s body as he plummeted. When she touched ground, Elma dropped Damir and flew back from a blast of light.Persondraglowed as she lay unconscious several feet away from Damir.Damir could feel his mind swim in andout of consciousness.The world filtered in on such brief snippets that he could barely piece anythingtogether. Retreat! General Gaius called to the remaining men as he lifted Persondra s frail form into hisarms.Only three were left to follow him.The small battalion airship that had carried General Gaiusand his men took off.The larger airship had vanished during the battle, no doubt to escape damage.Damir struggled to push himself up, weak with fatigue and blood loss.He crawled across thesnow, leaving a trail of blood as he inched toward Balin.He was able to stretch his hand out to graspBalin s sanguine-stained locks before he collapsed. Chapter ThirtyStaff of MetatronDamir slowly opened his eyes and groaned.His vision was blurry, his eyelids heavy as if MountHelikon rested upon them.Light streamed in through his narrow gaze, blinding.It was like the firstray of sun after a long moonless night.Where was he?His body was stiff, but beyond a dull throb in his side, he was fine.Shouldn t he have been sore?What had happened?Damir could feel exhaustion pulling him down.He remembered Elina s smiling face.It hadwelcomed him, called him forward as she d beamed down at him.He wanted to open his arms, feelher embrace once more.His heart screamed for it.He couldn t, though.He couldn t go into that silky light.Why?Why hadn t he?Amber.Damir s eyes snapped open. Balin! He shot up.His head swam through a swamp of memories, the cacophony of blades and screams,and the battle cry of ancient scions as they were summoned.He squeezed his eyes shut and swalloweddown the roll of nausea
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