Woohoo! Look at the dragon go!” Zane cheered, genuinely impressed.

He resembled a kid watching an epically awesome fireworks show—only it involved over a hundred of his brethren dying in agonizing pain. Nevertheless, I couldn’t fault him for it. We didn’t take any pleasure in killing creatures, but the daemons had been consistently asking for it since day one.

We managed to climb all the way to the top, with Vesta manipulating some of the winds to aid us in conquering the large gaps between the broken stone steps. Down below, Blaze was laying waste to the last standing daemons, directed by Laughlan and Caia, who were looking through their red lenses.

A horn was blown at the base, away from the burning bodies scattered across the battered land. It brought us all to a halt. I used my True Sight and spotted Cason, shielded by his soldiers as they moved back. The horn was his, and it was incredibly loud for its size. It echoed all around Ragnar Peak, then spread all over, riding on the winds. He sounded it three times, making my throat close up with anxiety.

“Reinforcements will be here soon,” Velnias grumbled, then muttered a curse, mostly to himself.

“Come on,” I said, shaking the worry off for the time being. “Let’s get inside the fortress first!”

We followed a narrow stone path at the top, snaking through thick bushes toward the south side, where Avril and the others were—where the fortress gates were. One by one, we made it out of the dense foliage and breathed a collective sigh of relief when we found Avril and Heron sliding off the sides of the gates.

The hinges glowed gold, the rust crackling and falling off, with Patrik standing in the middle and whispering a spell, his arms stretched out. The Imen managed to push open the gates, the iron howling under the pressure.

I clicked my teeth and beckoned my horse to go first through the open gates. Everybody else followed, until all of us were inside. I got off my horse and rushed straight into Avril’s arms, chuckling and doing my best not to cry. It felt so good to see them all well, my eyes were stinging with tears.

Arrah and the Imen managed to close the gates, while Heron and Jax quickly climbed up, followed by Zane and Velnias, and brought down the massive iron and wood beams meant to keep the entrance into the fortress shut.

Scarlett came in for a group hug, and then Hansa and Fiona also pitched in. We laughed and exhaled with relief as we measured each other from head to toe, thrilled to discover that we were all in one piece, alive and kicking. Scarlett then noticed Velnias and Zane as they came back down.

“I see you’ve made some new friends,” she chuckled.

“They most certainly did,” Avril gasped, quick to figure out who the others were. “I see Maras, fae, and Druids. Delegation members?”

“Yup!” I replied, my chest filled with pride.

Patrik shook Ryker’s hand, then pointed at the gates. “Let’s do proper introductions later. Help me seal these gates up better. This place will be crawling with daemons again, and soon.”

Ryker gave him a brief nod, and then they both turned to face the gates, raising their hands in the air. Their palms lit up in an incandescent shade of amber, while Arrah and her Imen gawked at them and us, trying to figure out who the new additions to our team were.

I heard another round of screams erupting from below. Using my True Sight, I saw Blaze deliver one last blow to Cason’s daemons. Cason himself managed to escape with a handful of his guards, running as fast as their legs could go. Blaze growled, then gave up on the pursuit and flew back up to the fortress.

I followed him with my gaze as he glided overhead, past the front walls of the fortress, and landed in the main courtyard behind us with a resounding thud. As Caia and Laughlan slid off his back, giving Blaze the space he needed to shift and slip into a pair of pants, I felt my heartrate decrease slowly.

We weren’t out of the woods yet, not by a thousand miles. There was trouble brewing in the distance. I could almost feel it prickling my skin. But we were all together again, and we had control over the fortress of Ragnar Peak. Strategically speaking, it worked in our favor to be at a high vantage point. Most importantly, it worked extremely well for Blaze in his full dragon form.

“Man, do we have a lot to catch up on, or what?” Avril grinned, sheathing her sword.

“I’m so thrilled to see you all back,” Hansa replied, her lower lip trembling and her skin giving off a subtle silvery shimmer. She was working very hard to contain herself. Hansa loved us all like we were her own kids. She felt responsible for us, and she was immensely proud when we achieved something. Most importantly, she could only fully breathe when she could see us all together, healthy and ready to kick some more daemon ass. “And yes, we have a lot of catching up to do. But first, we need to set up our defensive perimeter. It’s only a matter of time before more daemons come. We’ll need to be ready.”

We all gave her a collective nod and straightened our backs, waiting for her directives. She exchanged a few words with Patrik, then kicked us into first gear, handing orders out left and right with military might and precision.

Each of us had a crucial part to play, from scoping out the fortress to selecting the highest vantage points, securing the weak spots and preparing our defense positions. Not one of us faltered as we spread throughout the fortress, energized by our reunion.

We were stronger together. I dared, for a second, to even think that we were invincible, as long as we had each other.