"Second flank—press in! Tighten the net! Keep the line curved! Push them toward the forest break, now!"
Fin's commands cut through the chaos like a blade, and the Shadowclaw warriors obeyed without hesitation. Cloaks flew behind them, weapons gleaming, eyes sharp. They were outnumbered—but focused. The trap Nova had designed was working. Slowly, the enemy was being driven into the killing curve—boxed in between ridges, trees, and fire.
They closed the second portal. But more and more kept coming from the large void that kept growing.
Fin scanned the battlefield, his eyes searching—where was she? He couldn't see her anymore. His gut twisted.
Then—he felt her. Before his eyes could find her, his soul did. A warmth ignited in his chest. A surge of energy. His skin prickled, then began to glow—gold. It pulsed from beneath his armor like a heartbeat. Power stirred in his blood, ancestral and wild.
He looked up—and there she was.
Nova soared above, standing tall on Onyx's back, the wind tearing at her cloak. Her hair flowed around her like it was weightless streams of blonde and white fire.
But her hair was no longer its usual color of moonlight.
It was beginning to glow gold.
Her eyes ignited with it, the same molten shimmer. When she looked down, it felt as though the sun itself poured through her gaze.
Fin felt heat in his core. His wolf commented in his mind.
Xeon: You're channeling into her now.
Fin: I feel it. How am I doing that?
Xeon: Instinct. A bond like this doesn't need your mind to agree. Keep her in your sight.
He felt more power flowing from him into her. And she drank it like water. Power flowed easily—as if his blood had always belonged to her.
Below, everyone began to slow. Soldiers looked up in awe. One by one, enemy mages, beasts, and shifters looked skyward, expressions shifting to confusion.
Even at that height, they felt it. A pull. Gravity in reverse. A divine command written into their instincts.
A Beta stumbled. A hardened warrior dropped to one knee.
Her eyes ignited brighter, and the light caught the field in full—casting shadows where there shouldn't be any, turning armor to mirrors.
Fin breathed hard, sweat on his skin, but he felt strength like he never had before. He glowed brighter.
He didn't know what she was about to do. Fin watched, heart hammering, praying to every god who'd ever listened that it wasn't something stupid.
Then—without warning—Onyx launched her into the sky.
Fifteen feet. Maybe more. Like a comet—midnight cloak snapping behind her, gold crown catching sunlight, and silver-blonde hair whipping like fire in the wind.
A collective gasp surged from the entire camp below. Thousands of soldiers, Alphas, mages, and dragons froze mid-breath, eyes locked on the figure in the sky.
"Nova!" Fin's voice tore from his chest, panicked and raw. His entire body flared brighter—gold, searing and wild. He staggered, fists clenched, his wolf thrashing beneath his skin, threatening to tear free. The warm glow in his core intensified spreading to his whole body.
Onyx dove sharply, then surged upward beneath her falling form, his vast wings carving the air into a tightening spiral. He slid perfectly beneath her descent. She landed standing, her boots touching his scaled crown with practiced gentleness. Balanced and unshaken, she stood upon the head of a flying dragon as easily as if she had stepped onto unmoving stone.
Her hair flowed weightlessly around her, untouched by wind or speed, as though the world bent for her rather than against her.
Her bow glinted in her hand. Her crown caught the sunset.
Fin's knees gave out, and he dropped into a crouch, hand over his heart like it might stop from breaking out of his chest. "Nova… what are you doing to me…" he said through gritted teeth. "I swear to the gods, if you die up there…"
From the ground, warriors stared open-mouthed.
Alphas froze in disbelief. Mages forgot their incantations mid-chant.
Even dragons turned their great horned heads skyward, stilling in the air.
No rider had ever done this.
Not in the air. Not with any dragon. Let alone that dragon.
Not like she belonged there—as if the sky itself had always been hers.
And then the camp erupted. A roar, not of fear—but reverence. A sound that shook the ridges and echoed across the valley.
She was a weapon forged in the quiet and sharpened in the fire.
Fin's wolf spoke in his mind.
Xeon: Keep focused. I can't reach Seraphine. I think she sees something we don't.
Onyx leveled into a horizontal glide, sweeping low over the field like a shadow and Nova—standing tall on the head of a dragon. Her crown caught the light. Her cloak snapped behind her like a war banner.
And as she passed overhead all flanks across packs screamed for her.
"To the end!"
"We'll follow you through the void and back!"
"We stand side-by-side and fight!"
Steel met sky as swords were raised in unison, the roar shaking the earth.