Mindlinks had been down, but he needed help.
Gav reached anyway.
Hyran's voice snapped back, sharp and strained, panic bleeding through the edges in a way Gavriel had never heard from him before.
Hyran: Are you with Serena? I cannot reach her.
Gavriel: Yes. I need backup immediately.
He tightened his grip on Elara's wrist as Serena bled in his arms and forced himself to stay precise.
Gavriel: East keep exterior, ravine clearing beneath the high terraces. Fallen oak marker.
He hesitated, not wanting to implicate Elara. It was clear as day she was fighting whatever had hold of her.
Gavriel:Elara is here as well. Critical condition for both.
Gav looked down at Serena in his arms. She was watching him, eyes unfocused but aware. A single tear slid from the corner of her eye.
His chest tightened.
He looked back at Elara. She was sweating heavily now, breath ragged, her body trembling as she fought for control.
He still had her wrist pinned in his grip. It did not take much effort to hold her, but he did not underestimate her. Not after the inhuman speed she had shown moments earlier.
"I really do not want to break your wrist, sweetheart," Gav said truthfully.
"Break it. Please," Elara gasped.
Gav rolled his eyes. "Hale would have my head. Breathe, Elara."
His dragon Solara roared.
Fire blasted from Solara's mouth, precise and controlled, aimed straight at Elara.
"No," Serena said, the word gurgling through blood.
Her eyes flared gold. A shield snapped into place in front of Elara just in time.
The scene would have looked ridiculous to a bystander. Almost comical. A bleeding girl shielding the person who had just stabbed her.
Solara halted and roared again. In the distance, other dragons answered, their voices rolling across the battlefield.
Gavriel felt his mark surge, heat spiking sharply along his arm.
Not good.
"Serena, do not use your magic unless it is to heal yourself," Gav said tightly. "Which would be great right about now, if you have not already thought of it."
A sound escaped her that might have been a laugh. It dissolved into a choking, wet noise instead.
"Do not talk," Gav said immediately. "And definitely do not laugh. Help is coming."
The mark on his arm burned hotter, sharp and urgent, and he tightened his hold on her as he waited.
✦✦✦
More dragons were descending from the sky.
Before two of them could land, their riders leapt free, shifting mid-fall and landing in wolf form.
Both wolves still glowed faintly gold with Serena's magic.
They bolted the instant their paws hit earth.
The black wolf tore across the field at full alpha speed, lethal and precise. The grey wolf followed close behind, just as determined.
A portal tore open.
Three mages stepped through, glowing gold. Hyran was first, with Archibald and Thalen close behind him.
The moment Hyran took in the scene, everything went wrong again.
Elara screamed and plunged the dagger into her own chest. She dropped to her knees instantly, coughing up blood as it spilled between her fingers.
Flareon roared, furious and opened her mouth. But instead of fire, an ice beam blasted straight into the sky.
"What on earth…" Gav said, stunned.
That was new.
Hyran moved to Serena, palms glowing gold beneath his hands.
"Sit her up," he said, face darkening.
Gav pulled her up against his chest. She coughed again, wet and shallow. Her wound began to close but then stopped.
The black wolf reached them and shifted mid-stride, becoming Dex as he slid to his knees beside Serena.
"Serena," Dex said urgently. He grabbed her hand. "How did this—"
He did not like the way Gav was holding her.
It was irrational, considering she was bleeding out and Gav was the only thing keeping her upright, but the feeling hit hard and fast.
His wolf surged, possessive and furious.
Dex shoved it back down, jaw tightening as he focused on Serena instead.
The grey wolf arrived a second later and shifted mid-stride.
"NOOO! NO, NOOOO!" Hale roared, clearly operating under the assumption that Elara was already dead.
She was not.
He skidded to his knees beside her.
Archibald was already there, calmly healing her, hands glowing, entirely unbothered by Hale's impending emotional collapse.
Hale hovered anyway, breathing hard, looking ready to either cry, fight, or throw someone.
"She is fighting something. It is hurting her," Serena gasped.
"Do not speak," Hyran said flatly.
As if the situation needed more chaos, Velkaris roared and landed nearby. He immediately aimed fire at Elara, deciding that was the solution.
"Wait. Stop," Serena said, coughing blood between the words.
Her eyes flared gold and a shield snapped into place in front of Elara.
Flareon roared in fury and opened her mouth towards Velkaris.
Elara's eyes lit silver.
Flareon stopped mid-breath.
Hyran did not turn around. "Serena," he said more forcefully, "stop speaking or using magic."
She did neither.
Dex looked up at Velkaris.
That was it. One look.
Velkaris huffed offended and abandoned his plans to roast Elara on the spot.
Serena fought to stay conscious.
"Why isn't she healing?" Dex roared.
"There is something in her," Hyran said grimly. "I need to see."
Before Dex could process that sentence, argue, or insist on privacy, Gav had already acted. He unzipped the back of Serena's training suit and pulled it down halfway so her upper body was exposed.
She was wearing a sports bra. It was fine. Technically.
Dex's wolf did not agree. It surged hard, furious and possessive, deeply unhappy that anyone was touching her and absolutely offended that she was even slightly exposed.
Or at least that's what he told himself.
And then everyone saw it.
Beneath her ribs was a stab wound. Unhealed.
And inside something was still there.
Gav winced at the sight. "Fuck."
He reached for it on instinct, the way he would with any soldier, and tried to pull it free.
But the second he touched it, it hissed and burned his fingers. He jerked his hand back in shock.
"Do not touch it," Hyran snapped, not bothering to soften his words.
"Lay her flat and hold her down. We move quickly or she dies."