It felt like only the blink of an eye.

I found myself transported to the field, about a mile away from the mountain.

“Harper!” My mother’s voice cut through my consciousness. “My baby!”

Before I could register what was going on, I was wrapped in my mother’s and my father’s arms. I burst into tears as soon as I saw their faces. They, too, were crying—mostly with relief and the joy of having me close again.

“Sis!” Serena yelped and joined in the group hug.

I laughed. From the bottom of my heart, I laughed. Phoenix’s long arms seemed to bring us all even closer, tighter than ever. Despite the hole in my soul, I was happy. I was free. I was with my family again.

We stayed like that for a while, while more of us appeared out of nowhere—both from our team and from our allies’ ranks. Corrine, Ibrahim, Shayla, Arwen, and the Daughters did a stellar job of rescuing everyone we needed from Azure Heights. Adlets and Manticores, Dhaxanians, Imen townspeople and rebels, surviving Exiled Maras, and Peyton’s fighters, too.

All of a sudden, we’d all been transferred off the mountain and into the field, while the daemon army continued to push through the city.

“You’re okay! Thank the stars that you’re okay,” Mom breathed, covering my face with feverish, loving kisses.

“You know me, Mom. I’m not easy to kill.” I chuckled, resting my head on my father’s shoulder. I then gave Serena and Phoenix a warm smile. “Now I know how you two felt when we found you in Luceria.”

“Best feeling in the world, isn’t it?” Serena asked, grinning like the Cheshire cat. She came in closer, holding me tight.

“Thank you for this,” I murmured, holding up the medallion for her to see. “It definitely helped. Nothing like the vivid memory of your loved ones to keep you going.”

“You’re okay. It’s going to be okay,” Serena replied.

I nodded slowly, then glanced around once more. We’d all made it back.

Fiona was sandwiched between Yelena and Benedict, as expected. Lucas and Marion held Avril in their arms, while Pippa and Jeramiah showered Scarlett with loving words and kisses. Vita, Bijarki, Grace, and Lawrence had Caia, and Jax, Hansa, and Patrik were all surrounded by their people.

Blaze had flown away from the war zone and had just landed in the field, just twenty feet away from Heath and the other dragons. They all rushed to greet him. Heath was beside himself, as expected. My heart swelled to three times its original size once the last batch of Dhaxanians was brought back from the mountain.

Nevis, Tobiah, and Sienna were severely injured. Neha and Pheng-Pheng were okay. Peyton and Wyrran, too. We’d lost plenty of people out there, but we were now surrounded by some of the most powerful supernaturals to come out of The Shade, and Eritopia, as well.

Derek and Sofia were with us, too, going around from one group to another, to hug us and to express how grateful they were that we were still alive. Rowan and Farrah were restrained, as were the other Exiled Maras we’d captured from different levels. There was an overall feeling of weight still pressing down on our shoulders, though.

“We didn’t know,” Derek said as soon as he reached our side. “We had no idea this was going on.”

“You couldn’t have,” I said. “I know, don’t worry about it,” I added, then nodded at the mountain. “What about them? It won’t be long before they figure out we’re all gone.”

Derek glanced over his shoulder, then gave me a confident smile. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We brought dragons.” He winked and shouted at Heath. “Come on, you grumpy old lizard! Get out there and show these daemons who they’re dealing with!”

Heath scoffed, the shadow of a smile fluttering across his face. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, then looked at Blaze, who’d already been given an extra pair of pants. “You ready to let loose, Son?”

Blaze smiled. “Thought you’d never ask,” he replied, then gave Caia a brief wink.

The dragons lined up on the edge of our group, slipping out of their clothes and stretching their arms, as if getting ready to run a triathlon. My cheeks caught fire at the sight of so many naked butts, but I couldn’t look away, as the ice dragons were the first to shift and fly out.

“What are they doing, Grandpa Derek?” I asked, watching the majestic creatures cut through the early evening sky.

“Well, first we need to isolate the daemons and stop them from getting off that mountain,” Derek replied.

We all gathered behind him, as if we were about to watch one hell of a show. Knowing the dragons’ flamboyant theatrics in battle already, I knew we were in for a treat. Caspian stayed back, still unconscious and in the care of Corinne, who’d already started applying some of her proprietary healing potions to speed up his recovery.

“You know we’re going to have to talk about him at some point,” Mom said gently. She, too, was watching Caspian while Corrine administered some of the good stuff in her healing arsenal. Mom could read me like an open book, anyway. It didn’t come as a surprise that she’d already figured it out.

I rested my head on her shoulder, then sighed. “Soon, Mom. Soon.”

“I know, baby,” she replied and dropped another kiss on the top of my head.

We were all still on edge, somehow. It was as if none of us could rest and relax until the mountain was purged of daemons. There were still thousands of them, now roaming freely through the city’s levels. I used my True Sight to follow some of them around. They were looking for us, for the Exiled Maras and the allies. Their red eyes glimmered with the hunger for violence. They wanted us all dead, after all. They’d been indoctrinated to the point of no return.

“Rush, Amina, Laughlan, and Vesta have brought us up to speed,” Derek said, keeping his gaze fixed on the ice dragons as they approached the mountain. “They told us everything, from the beginning of the daemon and Exiled Mara alliance to the present day. Based on their accounts, we’ve concluded that the only way for us to push the daemons into submission and force them to agree to a peace treaty is to beat the fear of GASP into them.”

“Therefore, we need to set an example,” Field added, standing next to him and Sofia. “The remaining daemon cities will now see who they’ve messed with.”

Zane chuckled softly, lying on his side in the tall grass. “They’ve been asking for it for millennia. It’s about time someone put us back in our place.”

He briefly exchanged glances with Fiona, who was just ten feet away with her parents, before they both resumed watching what was about to unfold.

“First, we need ice,” Derek muttered.

The ice dragons flew around the mountain base and riddled it with billions of ice shards. They raised a thick and extremely tall wall around Azure Heights and extended a mile-and-a-half stretch around the base, as well. It sealed the daemon army in.

I could see the confused and fearful looks on the daemons’ faces as they realized what was happening. Some of them rushed toward the base and tried to get off the mountain but couldn’t. The ice was thick and sturdy enough that not even their catapults could break it. They did try, though.

And they failed miserably. Soon enough, panic struck them.

Blaze, Heath, and the other fire dragons flew out next, while the ice dragons returned to our side. Thousands of daemon soldiers were stuck in Azure Heights. They could see the fire dragons coming their way. Blaze had obliterated the Death Claws in the early stages of the siege. Their ballistae were partially disabled. There were too many fire-breathers this time.

I could see the daemons’ expressions change as they understood what was going to happen next. They were pale and wide-eyed. Some tried to hide. Others hit the ice wall with their hatchets and swords even harder. But nothing would stop the ensuing inferno.

The fire dragons converged on the mountain and released thick showers of flames. Fire engulfed the mountain from top to bottom. Nothing and no one was spared. Within seconds, the whole of Azure Heights was burning. Orange flames licked at the evening sky. The mountain had turned into an enormous torch.

The daemons screamed as they were burned alive. The pit wolves we hadn’t managed to rescue from their ranks were lost, too. The bodies we hadn’t been able to recover were suddenly given a funeral of sorts.

Zane stood up, watching the mountain as it burned. He walked forward and stopped in front of us, facing the inferno. He sighed, then put his arms out.

“Forgive them. They knew that what they were doing was wrong, but they’ve paid the price now,” he muttered. I wasn’t sure who he was praying to, in particular, but someone did need to say a few words, anyway. I felt sorry for the daemons, despite everything they’d put us through. They’d been so brainwashed and taught to hurt and feed on the innocent, that there wasn’t much of a way back out of the darkness for them. “Welcome them,” Zane added. “For they were innocent and did not deserve to die like this. Spare us. We’ve tried to restore the balance. Guide their souls into yourselves, Hermessi. Welcome them into your arms. Tomorrow, they will flow with the rivers, they will grow with the trees, they will fly with the winds, and they will grow with the flowers.”

Only when he mentioned the Hermessi did I realize that Zane had started to believe in them for the first time since he’d heard the legends. He’d seen what had happened to Shaytan. He’d heard me talk about Ramin. He’d understood that the elements were real and indeed powerful on Neraka.

Maybe that was a good place to start Neraka’s healing, in a way—with the forgotten forces that still animated it, that gave life but also took it away.

We all stood there, quietly, as the dragons torched the entire damn mountain, from top to bottom, until not a single scream could be heard. All the daemons were dead. Everything was gradually turning to ashes as black smoke billowed and stretched above it.

“And that’s the end of Azure Heights,” I whispered.

“The end of a pretty-looking hell,” Fiona added.

Part of me couldn’t believe it.

After everything we’d been through, it was finally over. We’d experienced a lengthy and intense nightmare over the past couple of weeks—which, by the way, felt more like years. In the end, it had brought us closer together. It had put us through incredible trials and tribulations. We’d walked out of it all still breathing, albeit a little roughed up.

There was a hole in my soul.

But hope was blossoming in my heart again.