Kaelen's world narrowed to the space between heartbeats.
Ash dove through clouds of smoke and fire, weaving between drop-ships with an agility no machine could match. Kaelen fired arrow after arrow, each one finding its mark—a pilot's visor, a fuel line, an exposed thruster. Ships fell from the sky like burning stars.
Below, the ground forces were being overwhelmed. The forest had risen—literally risen—as Eywa's network activated every creature within miles. Hammerheads stampeded through human lines. Thanators stalked the edges, picking off stragglers. Even the smallest creatures joined the fight, biting and stinging and driving the soldiers mad.
But Thorne wasn't finished.
The Commander had one card left to play. A bomber, high above, carrying enough explosives to level the entire mountain range. If it reached its target, everyone died—Omaticaya, Metkayina, Olangi, everyone.
Kaelen saw it. A speck against the sun, too high for ikran to reach, too fast for arrows to catch.
"Ash," he said, "we have to try."
The ikran screamed and climbed.