Nightbane (Lightlark, #2)(115)

Shadows and ash erupted across the Mainland and were met by lashes of fire. Wind swept down from the sky. Metal clashed against metal. Screams, cries, bellows—

“Tomorrow,” Oro said, pressing one final kiss to her lips. Then he jumped into the air, straight into the battle.

His effect was immediate. Isla watched in awe as Oro’s fire became a wave that washed over dozens of Nightshade soldiers. As he pulled water from the sea and flooded an entire unit, washing them right off the side of the island. He made a sword of Starling sparks and began fighting, and anyone who dared approach him died.

Lynx knelt, and Isla pushed the ground beneath her to propel her onto his back. She slipped into her saddle. “Let’s go,” she said, and he raced forward.

A group of Nightshades stepped into their path, but before they could draw a single shadow, Lynx plowed through most of them and tore the rest apart with his mighty fangs.

From his back, Isla had the perfect vantage point. She turned in both directions, her arms moving wildly, burying some Nightshades in the ground, and covering others in a sea of poisonous plants. The flora she had created previously also fought back, almost extensions of herself, stabbing with their barbs and thorns.

Near the coast, Isla saw what looked to be a moving wall of water. It was Calder. He swept across the land inside a massive wave with a dozen serpent heads coming out of it. They each lashed out, swallowing Nightshades, drowning them. Calder looked deep in meditation. It seemed contrary to his peaceful nature to kill, and she knew every death would haunt him afterward.

Nightshades fought back with relish. Unlike Calder, most of them seemed to enjoy the killing. Darkness was everywhere, ink turned over, just like in her vision. She watched a Sunling turn to ash. A Skyling was sliced in half by a ribbon of umbra. His pieces fell from the sky, landing amid the barbed brush.

She shot her arm to the side and sent a line of Nightshades hurtling toward one of the Starling shields. Their bodies broke against it. She propelled another group into the center of her poisonous plants. Their screams quickly turned to silence.

No sign of the dreks. Not yet.

Perhaps she had been wrong. Maybe Grim hadn’t found a way to use the sword. Maybe the dreks wouldn’t be a threat. They would be in battle by now, wouldn’t they?

In a flash, the world went sideways as Lynx was struck. Isla just managed to encase them both in a shield of energy, and together they slid across the Mainland, raking through all the plants in their path.

“Lynx!” she yelled as soon as she was on her feet. She raced to the leopard. He was on his side. He wasn’t moving.

She threw herself atop him, guarding him with her power.

No. If he was hurt, if he was—

He made a sound of irritation below her, as if annoyed that she was scrambling to feel for his heartbeat.

She buried her face in his fur, relief cold through her blood. Shadows had eaten through part of his armor. If he hadn’t been wearing it, that would have been his skin.

They could have killed him.

Rage shot through her veins—energy filled her limbs. Oro’s voice was in her head, telling her to calm down. Telling her that being emotional would make her lose control.

She tried to breathe through the anger, but it only intensified, until her power was so saturated, she could feel it like a weight in her chest.

Before she could stop herself, her hand struck the ground before her, and the island shattered. Its terrain rippled, swallowing any Nightshade in its path, until they were buried beneath rock. More of them rushed forward, and she almost smiled, something wicked uncurling inside her chest.

They called their shadows?

She called her own.

They streamed from her fingers, and she gathered them up just like she had in her training with Remlar.

“Get down,” she told Lynx, and he ducked just as she turned her stream of shadows into a scythe that cut all the Nightshades around her down.

She was panting. She had used too much power too quickly.

But all the enemies around her were dead now.

More were joining them.

Skylings shot powerful gusts from above, forcing Nightshades toward the center. Sunlings created walls of flames. Grim’s army was slowly being boxed in, Lightlark’s legion advancing from all sides.

Now, she thought, grabbing her starstick from its place along her spine. “I’ll be right back,” she told Lynx, who bowed his head, before she portaled to Sky Isle, where her own legion was waiting.

“It’s time?” Singrid asked as soon as he saw her, grinning, clearly eager to join the battle. The Vinderland stood ready behind him, hundreds of warriors clattering their weapons together. Nearby, Remlar watched with curiosity, along with his people and the other night creatures she had recruited.

Their plan was simple. Oro’s armies would surround the Nightshade forces. Trap them. Keep moving them to the center of their battlefield. Then, Isla would portal the second wave of warriors right into the middle, so Grim’s forces would be enclosed in all directions.

“It’s time.”

Isla drew her puddle of stars as large as she could make it. And, with all her remaining strength, she kept it open as the hundreds of soldiers rushed in. She was the last to fall inside.

Battle cries pierced the air. Nightshades were now being smothered. Sunlings, Skylings, Vinderland, and night creatures all fought side by side.

Isla marveled at them. Enemies, united.