Timothy realized what was wrong at the same moment that Liana cried out.

An explosion of a terrible power had taken place below him.

A power that was like nothing he’d ever felt. It was an outburst of fire—but fire that seemed to sizzle with a terrible power.

The element of fire.

No one had controlled the fire element for hundreds of years. But it seemed that all of their fears had been right.

The fire dragons were led by a new elemental dragon. And whoever it was had at last decided to join the fight.

Instinct made Timothy beat his wings to race straight towards the suddenly appeared cloud of fire and smoke, which had almost swallowed Jared.

The griffin shifter was frantically beating his wings. He’d just barely escaped the billowing flames—and there was something struggling in his claws.

It was the body of a man. He’d grabbed Braeden just in time.

Relief filled Timothy.

No matter whether Braeden had tried to betray them or had just chosen the worst possible moment to try and go for a walk, they could talk about that later.

First, they’d have to get out of here. Together.

Timothy gathered all of his power, still racing straight towards the hissing flames that had shot up from a large crack in the earth. Meanwhile, Jared was beating his wings rapidly, trying to outfly the flames.

As soon as he was close enough, Timothy opened his jaws. He breathed a torrent of water right into the heart of the fiercely burning flames, while Jared soared towards safety.

A cloud of steam rose up, the fire beneath them hissing and dying away.

For a moment, Timothy hovered in the air.

Was that all? He’d felt a terrible energy he’d never felt before... But where was it now?

Was their enemy hiding? Had he given up?

Without warning, a dragon burst out of the large crack in the earth. He was red from the tip of his tail to his jaws, every scale gleaming as if it was glowing from within. And there were strange shadows moving all over his body, tendrils of darkness that mingled with the flames.

Timothy felt a surge of the same strange energy he’d felt when the earth had cracked open.

The master of the fire. It has to be. I’ve never felt that sort of energy from a fire dragon before.

The dragon was close to Jared. Too close.

With horror, Timothy watched how the fire dragon’s jaws opened. A moment later, a huge jet of flame exploded out of his mouth—and despite Jared’s frantically beating wings, he was too close to escape the fire.

Without thinking, Timothy opened his own jaws, concentrating on the energy that was thrumming within his chest. A lance of water shot forward. It hit the fire, turning it into harmless steam just before it could engulf the griffin.

Jared and Braeden were safe—at least for now.

But on the other hand, now Timothy had attracted the attention of the fire dragon.

And Liana was still on his back...

He spread his wings, then began beating them with powerful strokes. Instead of rushing towards the ground, he now began to rise again. But was it enough?

He could hear the angry roar of the fire dragon below him. Then there was a moment of silence.

And a second later, an impossibly hot gust of air hit his wings. It was the only warning Timothy received—and it came just in time for him to summon the energy of his element.

The song of water filled his heart, at the same moment as he willed a bubble of water around them into existence.

He was still rising rapidly into the sky, trying to carry Liana to safety.

And then a huge ball of fire hit his water shield.

Water sizzled and turned to steam. Timothy roared in challenge as he felt fire and water fight for dominance. His shield was strong... and the fire was surprisingly weak.

Was this truly the master of the element of fire? Maybe they’d been mistaken...

A moment later, something pierced his shield of water and singed the tip of his wing. At the same moment, another attack pierced his chest.

Impossible, he thought in terror even as he began to sink like a stone, the agony so strong that he couldn’t keep in the air.

He tasted fire on his tongue, felt the acrid scent of it fill his nostrils.

Flames... No. Not flames. Smoke and shadows. Darkness...

“Timothy!”

It was Liana’s terrified cry that brought him back to his senses.

His body hurt. It hurt to move his right wing. And every time he breathed, his chest ached fiercely.

Still, he couldn’t give up now. He had to protect his mate.

Liana didn’t have wings... And right now, they were surrounded by enemy dragons.

With a groan, Timothy forced himself to rise up higher into the sky. The fire dragon was still somewhere below him. From the corner of his eye, he could see that their enemy had turned around again, going after the griffin shifter once more.

Timothy bared his teeth. He’d never abandoned a friend in need before—but how could he endanger Liana?

And then, from out of nowhere, a storm seemed to rise up.

Clouds appeared, and with them came a distinct smell of ozone.

Seconds later, a flash rent the sky, accompanied by the deep rumble of thunder. And when Timothy looked around, he saw that the dragons of the storm and the earth had arrived at last.

Gregory and Damon had swept in with all their elemental power. Strong gusts of wind held the small army of fire dragons at bay. Every time a flash illuminated the stormy sky, Timothy saw a fire dragon fall towards the earth.

Meanwhile, Damon had rushed straight towards where the griffin shifter was still trying to escape together with Braeden.

With the power of the earth at his command, Damon was an expert in invisible shields as strong as diamond. He threw up a shield just as Timothy saw the fire dragon breathe another gust of shadow-flecked fire.

And this time, neither fire nor smoke broke through the shield. Jared and Braeden were safe.

Which meant that all Timothy needed to focus on now was his own mate’s safety.

I’ve got you, he thought desperately.

He was still hurting fiercely. He prayed that she’d feel his reassurance through the fragile mate bond.

The storm was still raging all around them. He hadn’t managed to rise as high as he’d hoped—with his right wing injured, it took more strength than he had left just to keep them both in the air.

And then the wound in his chest began to burn.

It wasn’t fire. He was the master of water; fire was unable to touch him.

But it still felt as if something was eating away at him, and it hurt. It hurt so much that he could feel the edges of his vision go dark with agony.

They were still in the thick of the fight. There were fire dragons all around them now—fire dragons thrown back and forth by the storm, but still dangerous.

And Timothy was wounded. He needed to carry Liana to safety. He needed...

Another of the smaller fire dragons was hit by lightning. The dragon dropped from the sky like a stone—and he careened right into Timothy, colliding with his already wounded wing.

Another groan of agony escaped Timothy. Darkness was closing in on him fast. His wounds burned in a way he’d never experienced before.

But he couldn’t give in. Not now. He had to protect Liana...

Dimly, he could make out the valleys and hills below him.

Forest stretched as far as the eye could see. He was very low to the ground now—but his right wing was nearly useless. How would he be able to land like this, without injuring Liana?

He soared on the current of wind for as long as it would carry him. It carried him across one forested ridge and over another valley. When they crossed the next hill range, he was so low that he could almost touch the trees.

The wind carried him over the next valley as well—and then, when they’d nearly made it across to the next hill, the wind suddenly died away.

Trees rushed up to meet him. With all of his remaining strength, Timothy forced himself to beat his wings.

Red-hot agony pierced his senses, but he clenched his jaw against the pain and forced the injured wing to carry him.

Just in time, they made it over the trees on top of the hill without crashing into them.

Timothy’s heart was pounding in his chest. His pulse was as loud as a drum in his ears, drowning out all other sound. He could barely make out the green valley opening up before them. Everything was turning dark before his eyes.

He saw a meadow spreading before them. He was in too much pain to think. Instinct made him lower his wings, and new pain tore through him.

The last thing he felt was his feet touching the ground. Then everything went black.