It drove me crazy to sit in a tree and watch thousands of daemons attacking the city.

Laughlan’s blue lens worked to help us see, better though, and in great detail.

Dhaxanian frost did a good job of crippling their offense, but there were too many of those horned bastards and not enough of our own. However, I could breathe a little easier, as we’d all watched the shield go down.

The sky didn’t look any different. With the cloaking shield gone, it still carried its afternoon hues of pink and orange. Black smoke billowed from different levels of the mountain. Had it not been for the sounds of swords clashing, screams of agony, and Blaze’s bloodcurdling roars, this would’ve been a beautiful and tranquil afternoon.

“I know you’re anxious,” Laughlan said quietly.

I looked to my right and found him watching me intently from another branch. I replied with a shrug.

“Aren’t you?” I asked.

“Of course,” he replied. “But the shield is down. Which means that, any minute now, their people will be coming down from the sky.”

“I know.” I sighed, then let out a frustrated groan. “But we don’t know what’s going on in the city now. I don’t have Harper’s True Sight. I can’t see who’s still standing, or whether the daemon king is still alive. We don’t know anything!”

“I can see Hansa and Jax from here,” Rush murmured, taking his hood off and squinting toward the mountain through the blue lens. “And Fiona, Caia, Avril, Scarlett, and Patrik. They’re down on the third level now, headed for the fight. They left a trail of headless Maras behind them.”

“Hah!” I chuckled, my heart swelling with pride. “Knew they were hardcore,” I added, then frowned. “What about Harper?”

“She’s on the seventh level with… I think Caspian,” Amina chimed in, looking through the lens as Rush held it up for her. “He’s pretty banged up, and… Oh, no.” She instantly teared up.

“What?” I croaked, mentally preparing myself for bad news. It was bound to come. We were at war, after all. “Amina, what is it?”

“It’s Colton,” she breathed, her lower lip trembling. “He… He didn’t make it. Neither did Arrah.” She shook her head slowly, then wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s best if we don’t think about the casualties for now. Let’s get this over with first.”

Amina was the first to get down from our safe tree spot, followed by Rush.

I watched them both as they headed out into the field. The sun was setting beyond the gorges to the west. My heart was aching at the thought of Arrah and Colton gone. Arrah, especially, had suffered enough already. She deserved better.

“What are you doing?” I asked, swallowing back my own tears.

“We should move out into the open,” Amina said. “The sun is going down. Once the others come from the moon, we need to be able to spot them.”

“She’s right,” Laughlan said, then jumped off his branch and landed in the tall grass. I joined him, and we walked over to Rush and Amina.

A spine-tingling groan erupted from the mountain base. The daemons had set the catapults off, hurling large stones at the third and fourth levels of the mountain. A variety of Druid spells prevented most of the projectiles from hitting the people and some of the buildings. The shimmering sheets of gold and blue pushed the stones away—they crashed into the second and first levels, flattening entire neighborhoods in the process.

My breath hitched, and I wondered if anyone was anywhere near the impact areas when the stones came down. I had no choice but to hope that they weren’t. There was enough anguish and anxiety building up inside me, and, like Laughlan had said, I needed my wits about me.

“At least Arrah’s brother is still alive,” I murmured, following Rush, Amina, and Laughlan deeper into the field. Amina gave me a sad look. “She fought hard to get him out of there and to keep him safe. So, there’s that.”

“Arrah died a hero,” Laughlan replied. “So did Colton and anyone else we’ve lost today. We knew this would happen, from the moment we agreed to help the GASP crew. But they did it. They brought the shield down.”

I stilled, staring up at the sky. My heart jumped into my throat.

“Whoa,” I croaked, my jaw dropping. A bright light twinkled between two strips of white clouds. “I think they’re here.”

I pointed at the light, which grew bigger with every second that passed.

Laughlan produced a handful of rough gemstones from his pockets, which he tossed around us in the grass, in a wide circle. He then joined me in the middle, motioning for Amina and Rush to move back. Rush frowned, then shook his head.

“No, you Druids need energy for your dark magic,” he said. “Take some from us, if you need to. Don’t push us back.”

“I’m not pushing you back,” Laughlan replied dryly. “The spell won’t work with you in it. Oh, and thanks for offering your energy. I was going to help myself, anyway.”

Amina chuckled, then crossed her arms. “Not a fan of consent, are you?”

“Sorry,” Laughlan replied with a half-smile and a shrug. “I forget I have to say these things out loud. I’ve been locked in that damn meranium box for so long, my social skills are comatose.”

He then muttered a spell under his breath. He clapped his hands once between each sentence of the incantation. With each clap, a gemstone lit up in the grass. When the last one ignited, bright white light swallowed us as the beacon shot through the sky.

Rush and Amina glowed as Laughlan’s Druid spell drew some energy from them.

The beacon was about fifteen feet thick. It could probably be seen from outer space.

Laughlan took my hand and whispered another spell. All of a sudden, I could see him again, despite the blinding light.

“I need you to focus now,” he said. “This beacon doesn’t just draw the interplanetary spell close; it also amplifies your elemental abilities and my magic. We’ve only got a minute before Rush and Amina are drained and we miss our window of opportunity.”

I nodded and focused my senses on the winds rising around us.

Humming, I put my arms out, then aimed them both at the interplanetary spell hurling toward the surface. It was round, and it glowed white. I summoned the winds, using an internal voice to ask for their help.

Come on… You’ve done it before, you can do it again. Help me.

It didn’t always work, but when it did, I could even hear the winds whispering as they did my bidding. With Neha’s stories about the Hermessi now in the back of my head, I was beginning to wonder whether there was any truth to them.

Please, winds. Help me.

They did. They howled and swished around us, then expanded into powerful gusts that knocked both Amina and Rush down before they headed toward the light orb.

I wiggled my fingers in an attempt to finetune the winds’ direction. Each current felt like an extension of my own body, perfectly attuned to my needs and my intentions. They worked seamlessly, albeit a tad roughly for my taste.

They knocked into the light orb, stopping its trajectory in midair. They swirled around it, then bumped into it and pushed it toward us.

“It’s coming!” I shouted. “It’s coming! I’m doing it!”

I laughed. I’d never accomplished such a feat before, not at that large a scale, anyway.

I could feel the energy flowing through me, as if every particle in my body was a part of the wind—weightless and timeless. It was strange, but I couldn’t get enough of it. It filled my heart with unprecedented joy, making my pulse race and my lips stretch into a grin.

“This feels… different,” I added, moving my hands and coaxing the large light orb closer.

Laughlan watched me with renewed interest. The shadow of a smile flickered across his face.

“I’m not surprised,” he said. “You’re a fae.”

“No, this is different,” I replied. “It’s… much more powerful. It’s as if I’m connected to everything. I’m having a hard time explaining this, but I can almost hear the wind whispering actual words in my ears.”

He frowned slightly. “Do you know what they’re saying?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I don’t recognize the language. But I’ve got a good feeling. It’s positive, I think.”

Laughlan scoffed lightly. “I’m starting to think that those Hermessi stories are real. Maybe the elements are helping you. I mean, it would make sense, if you think about it. Neraka is a powerful world all by itself. The strength of its waves. The resilience of its stone. The power of its winds. The devastation of its fires. It’s all there.”

I thought about it for a while as I kept my gaze focused on the approaching light orb. I found myself nodding slowly. Laughlan gave me a soft nudge, then put his arms out.

“Legends aside now, are you ready?” he asked. “Here comes the hardest part.”

“What’s that?” I replied, slightly confused.

“Steering and landing.”

My eyes grew wide, watching the interplanetary spell sphere get bigger. It was less than a mile away, and it was coming at us extremely fast. Whether it was my wind power or its own design, the light orb was going to smash into us if we didn’t help it slow down and land.

My heart skipped a beat.

“You’ve got this, and I’m here,” Laughlan added, as if sensing my frayed nerves.

I took a deep breath and focused on the orb.

We were so close to ending this war, once and for all.