My head went completely silent as I stepped off the ledge, straight into thin air. My heart lodged in my throat, but my mind was calm.

I was worthy. I would pass this test.

My foot landed on solid ice. A narrow pillar had shot up from the crevice below, creating a stepping stone for me. I stepped forward again. Another appeared.

I grinned.

Then strode across, the ice rising to meet my every step.

Isedor grumbled, his icy face scowling. He clearly didn’t want me to succeed.

Tough cookies, ice grump. I stepped onto the ledge on the other side.

Varemar inclined her head. “You have passed, Phoenix Knight.”

“That does not mean that you will succeed,” Isedor grumbled. “Or even reach the mountain of dragons.”

Ain’t that the truth. I also wouldn’t necessarily survive the encounter with Drakon. But I was worthy of trying.

I turned toward my friends. The crevasse was gone. They stared at me, each of their faces stark white.

Yeah, they weren’t pleased I’d taken the risk. But I’d had to. I turned back to the ice giants.

“Can we leave here now?” I asked.

“Yes. Should you need to return, do not come to our door again. You are worthy, thus you and your cohort may transport at will onto Svalbard.” A swirl of snow drifted off Varemar’s ephemeral arm as she pointed to the guards who had led us here. “The Icevar will lead you out.”

The gray-cloaked figures moved away from the side wall. Half a dozen of them moved toward the far wall.

“Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say to the reluctant gods, so I left it at that and joined the Icevar. My friends followed. Tension thrummed in the air as we walked.

Cass joined me and whispered, “That was iffy.”

“No kidding.” I glanced back, disconcerted to see the gods all still watching us. Isedor had a particularly dark gleam in his icy eyes. I shivered and turned toward the shadow ones. “Can we go?”

They stalked away, so we followed, walking toward the large doors on the back wall. They swung open of their own volition, revealing an icy courtyard at the back of the castle. Shadows lurked in the corners, a precursor to the threat we’d face outside these walls.

Ares stepped up beside me, his eyes searching for danger.

Wind bit at my cheeks as we stepped outside. The Icevar led us through the wide open courtyard to another large gate. Slowly, it creaked open, revealing a narrow passage bordered on two sides by towering walls of ice. They stretched so far up into the dark sky that I couldn’t see the top.

“Oh, shit,” Del muttered.

“No kidding.” I shuddered, my claustrophobia kicking into high gear.

The Icevar stepped out into the chasm. I followed, Ares behind me, with Del and Cass behind him. I glanced over my shoulder. Bree and Ana were last, with everyone else in the middle.

An ominous weight settled on the air as we followed the Icevar through the chasm. The ice walls loomed high on either side. I swallowed hard, tension tightening my muscles.

“I feel trapped,” Cass muttered from behind me.

“Ditto.”

The Icevar stalked along, leading us through the dark night. I wished we’d go faster—put any distance between us and the primordial gods. Just the memory of them gave me the willies.

When thundering footsteps sounded from behind us, my heart leapt into my throat.

I spun, peering back into the blackness. Everyone else did the same. The footsteps pounded closer.

“Giant,” Ares said.

He was right. That was the only thing that could have such pounding footsteps. The ground shook with every footfall, chips of ice raining down from the walls.

If one of the gods had changed their minds about letting us pass, we couldn’t fight them. My skin chilled.

“Run!” I cried.

Right before I turned, I caught sight of Isedor, his icy, angular form hurtling through the chasm, straight at us.

Oh shit. He’d been the meanest one.

I sprinted across the ice, suddenly realizing that the Icevar had disappeared. When the first massive bolt of ice plowed into the ground in front of me, I realized why.

They didn’t want to be caught by Isedor’s weapons.

I raced, my lungs burning. My friends’ footsteps pounded behind me as we sprinted away from the immortal ice giant. Icicles slammed into the ground all around us. I kept glancing back, trying to get a feel for where they might land. I ducked and dodged, along with my friends.

We didn’t really have the power to fight a primordial god who was also a giant. But he was gaining on us.

Running wasn’t working.

He was only fifty yards away now.

Something hard and heavy slammed into my arm. I crashed to the ground as a massive icicle plowed into the ice next to me. Pain surged through my arm as I scrambled up.

Mordaca was down, too, but climbing to her feet.

At least we weren’t bleeding, but the blunt force had rocked me. But there was no time to recover.

We had to fight.

I turned toward the giant. Bree and Ana, who’d been last in line, had turned to face him as well. They were closest, the two youngest of us right in his line of fire.

Ana threw out her hands, conjuring one of her magical shields. It blazed blue and bright, a dome of light. The magic slammed into my chest.

Damn, that girl was strong. Stronger than I’d realized.

Isedor roared, throwing a large icicle at her shield. It crashed into the blue magic, shattering on impact. Ana stumbled backward, clearly feeling the blow. Isedor threw another icicle.

She went to her knees, but her magical shield stayed strong.

Bree, who was several meters behind Ana, sprinted toward her and Isedor. She slid under the magical shield, then leapt to her feet and hurled a blast of magic at the giant.

The sonic boom exploded, blasting into his chest and throwing him backward. It was so strong that shards of ice flew off him. He was breaking apart! Around him, the ice walls shattered, huge chunks tumbling down on him.

Just then, the magic ricocheted back at us, throwing me to the ground. I slammed into the ice, dazed at the sheer power of her blow.

Sonic booms didn’t travel backward.

But apparently Bree’s did.

I gasped, trying to drag air into my aching lungs. All around me, my friends were flat on their backs.

Bree had magic the likes of which I’d never seen.

After a few gasping minutes, I managed to climb to my feet. Every part of me ached.

“Everyone okay?” The words were torture to get out.

A chorus of groans and yeses sounded as everyone slowly climbed to their feet. I staggered toward Bree and Ana, who were both still on the ground. In front of them, a huge pile of ice buried Isedor.

Awe filled me. I didn’t know what Bree and Ana were, but it was something powerful.

I fell to my knees at Ana’s side. She lay flat on her back, blinking at the sky. Her pale hair fanned out against the ice. It was longer than it had been. Her skin was nearly white, her blue eyes stark in her face.

“You okay?” I asked.

She coughed, a bit of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Panic spiked.

“Ana!” I touched her shoulder.

“Fine.” She gasped, curling over in pain. “Normal. Check Bree.”

“You mean this is normal? To be coughing blood after using your magic.”

She grimaced. “This much, yeah. Bree.”

I scrambled around to find Bree.

Ares knelt at her side. He looked up. “Passed out cold.”

Shit. I turned back to Ana. “Will she be okay? Will you?”

She nodded, the motion clearly painful. “Tapped out.”

“No wonder. You defeated a god.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, then she winced. “Shouldn’t use that much. No control.”

That much magic? I opened my mouth to ask, but her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

I looked up. My friends stood around, arms wrapped around aching ribs and faces twisted into grimaces. “Bree and Ana are out. Can you take them back, Mordaca? Get them to a healer.”

Mordaca nodded, stepping forward. She limped slightly. “Will I be able to find you again if I return?”

“I think so,” I said. “The gods said that now that we’ve gained entry, we don’t have to pass their way again. Can you transport back to Aerdeca?”

“I can.” She knelt between Bree and Ana, then touched their arms. She looked at the rest of us. “See you in a bit.”

A moment later, the three of them disappeared.

I stood, my whole body aching.

“Badass.” Del’s voice was strained with pain.

“Yeah, those girls mean business.” Cass winced.

“What are they?” Claire asked.

I shrugged, then regretted the action when pain raced through me. “No idea. They hide it.”

“And that magic.” Ares whistled.

“It knocked them out pretty hard,” I said. “They need more control.”

“But how do you practice something like that?” Connor asked. “The Order would want to know about Magica that strong and uncontrolled. I’m not sure they’d like it.”

No, they probably wouldn’t. Anyone who could take out a god was a potential threat, especially if they couldn’t reliably control their magic. It was one reason the Order didn’t like FireSouls. Not only could we steal magic, but that gave us strength that frightened them. The world relied on balance. Girls with power like Ana’s and Bree’s—or ours—threatened that balance.

“Well, we won’t speak of it,” Claire said. “That’s their business.”

“Good plan.” I nodded toward the chasm. “Let’s keep moving.”

I stepped forward, my whole body singing with pain. I gasped and clutched at my ribs. Everything hurt from the blast that had thrown us to the ground. Sonic booms—really strong ones—could pulverize bones and organs as well as hurl you backward.

Everyone else looked like they felt like hell too. Standing around and talking had been hard enough. But moving after a sonic boom with that power? No way. Hell, we’d only gotten a bit of the blowback.

“I’ve got something to help.” Connor dug into his potion bag, movement slow and face pained. He pulled out two vials and passed them around. “A sip each should do it. We need to ration.”

Cass drank first. Immediately, her features smoothed. The pain must have faded. She passed it to me. I took a tiny sip of the sickly sweet liquid and nearly gagged. But the relief that flowed through my body made me sag with pleasure.

“Amazing.” I passed the vial to Ares.

Within moments, we were all stronger. Nearly back to normal. The vials were only half empty, too, which was a real win.

Aerdeca and Roarke handed them back to Connor, who tucked them into his bag.

“Thanks,” I said.

He grinned. “Anytime.”

I turned toward the chasm exit and started forward. It was a cold, dark trek. We jogged, trying to put as much space as possible between us and the primordial god. Tension thickened the air as we waited for Isedor to climb out of the ice rubble and come after us, but he never did. All the same, sweat rolled down my spine.

When we finally spilled out onto a massive plane of snow, the aurora borealis had filled the night sky. It gleamed green and yellow as the fabulous light roiled across the sky, illuminating the field of snow below.

Ares stopped next to me. “Where to?”

I called upon my dragon sense, letting it tug around my middle and direct me. I pointed ahead and to the left. “That way.”

“Oh yeah,” Del murmured. “Dragons that away.”

I looked at her. “You feel it?”

“Like a homing beacon.” Cass rubbed her hands together. “Let’s get a move on.”

We set off across the icy snow, wind whipping across our cheeks. Mordaca joined us after about twenty minutes.

I caught her eye. “Bree and Ana okay?”

“Still unconscious but alive. The healer is with them.”

“Thanks. You okay?”

“Yeah. He gave me a pick-me-up potion.”

“Good.” I turned back and started forward again.

We hiked in silence, the aurora borealis drifting across the sky. When the ground began to tremble beneath us, I stiffened.

Isedor?

I turned.

“What’s coming?” Claire drew her sword.

I squinted into the dark, my breath caught.

When the icy figures thundered over the horizon, my mind blanked.

“Not Isedor,” Cass said.

“But what are they?” They looked like giant dogs made of ice, but when I spotted a pair of huge tusks, I gasped. “Woolly mammoths!”

“Made of ice.” Cass’s magic swelled as she gathered it to her. “We can’t outrun them.”

Del nodded. “Anything on four legs is faster than those on two.”

There were at least six mammoths running across the snow toward us. Their icy bodies glittered in the light.

“Damn, the dragons picked a good place to hide,” I muttered.

“It’s protected, at least.” Ares drew his shadow sword. It could cut through anything, but how many cuts would it need to take down a giant mammoth? You could strike the heart of a flesh and blood mammoth—but what stopped an ice beast?

“I can create a barrier,” Del said.

I nodded at her, then shouted to everyone else, “Form a line!”

We took up positions, standing in a row, ready to face the mammoths. Del used her gift over ice and snow to create three icy walls in front of us. They each stood at least eight feet tall and three feet thick.

“Hopefully that’ll slow them,” she said.

“I hope so.” I conjured my bow and arrows. I’d make them flame.

Cass leapt onto the top of the wall that blocked us. I joined her, Connor and Claire at my side. Everyone else jumped up too.

When the mammoths were close enough to hit, Cass conjured a massive fireball and hurled it at one of the mammoths. It exploded against his chest. The beast stumbled, but quickly righted itself, stampeding toward our first ice wall. Five others ran at his side.

Claire, a fire mage, conjured another fireball. She hurled it at the same mammoth. This time, he went to his knees, but still managed to right himself.

“Not good!” Claire shouted.

“Nope!” Cass threw another blast of flame.

I took up position next to Aerdeca, who also used a bow, and conjured a bucket of flaming oil and a pile of arrows wrapped with rags. I looked at her. “Use these.”

She nodded and grabbed an arrow, igniting it in the oil and then firing for the nearest mammoth. I joined her, loosing my arrows in quick succession. They plunged into the mammoth’s icy hides, flames flickering, but didn’t slow the beasts.

My heart pounded as they neared us, impervious to our weapons. Ancient magic sure was a witch to defeat.

The two mammoths in the lead plowed through Del’s first ice wall. Snow and chips of ice exploded outward. The wall slowed them, but barely. They were now only fifty feet away.

“We’re not doing so hot,” Aerdeca muttered.

If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have laughed at her wry tone.

Connor chucked an acid green potion bomb that burst against the chest of an oncoming mammoth. The beast thundered forward, silent as the acid ate away at his icy chest.

It made me feel better that these magic beasts didn’t feel pain. I mean, they’d probably stomp us to death, but still … Made me feel better.

Ares leapt off the wall and sprinted toward the oncoming mammoths.

My heart jumped into my throat. “Ares!”

He didn’t turn, just raced for a mammoth that was headed for the second ice wall. He scaled the wall, reached the top, then leapt onto the mammoth’s back. The beast bucked, rising up on two sturdy back legs, but Ares clung tightly.

When the mammoth’s front feet slammed back onto the ground, Ares raised his shadow sword high and plunged it into the back of the mammoth’s neck. The beast shuddered, then collapsed. Ares rolled off.

“Yes!” I fired an arrow, victory singing through me. My arrows might only slow the mammoths, but Ares could take them out.

But then the mammoth lumbered to its feet. It backed up, clearly intending to plow through the second ice wall.

“Well, shit,” Aerdeca muttered.

“There’s no killing these magic beasts!” Cass fired another massive fireball.

It stunned an oncoming mammoth temporarily, but the creature eventually continued forward. It crashed through the ice wall, along with the mammoth that Ares had temporarily felled. Four of its brethren followed behind, pounding toward us across the snow.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears. We were staring down death by stomping and it sucked.

They were only about thirty feet away by now. We stood on the last ice wall. We’d have to retreat.

Damn, we needed help. Some major firepower to defeat these ice beasts.

Jeff! And the Pūķi.

I called to them with my mind, having no idea if it’d work. It’d seemed to in the past, however unconsciously.

A moment later, the three dragons appeared. Jeff took quick stock of the situation, his alert onyx gaze darting around. Fortunately, he was in his large form again. As big as a car. He plunged toward the nearest ice mammoth and shot a blast of flame at the creature. The mammoth reared up on its hind legs, shying away from the fire.

Though we hadn’t managed to disable him with our paltry flames, Jeff was holding him off. The Pūķi followed suit, charging for the others.

“Run!” I cried.

We scrambled down from the ice wall and sprinted across the snow. My lungs burned as I ran, desperate to leave the mammoths behind.

“I’d kill for a ride,” Del panted.

Seconded. I couldn’t speak the words aloud, however. Too out of breath.

A moment later, thirteen massive dogs appeared around us. Briefly, my heart jumped into my throat. Then I recognized them.

I gasped at Del. “Your hellhounds!” I slowed to a jog.

“Pond Flower!” she cried.

The brown and white spotted hellhound charged for her. Pond Flower had named herself, according to Del, who had a connection with the animals and could understand them. Pond Flower looked like a massive hound dog, except for the eyes of flame and the occasional black fire that rose up from her gleaming coat.

Pond Flower barked excitedly. Her compatriots joined in.

“They want to pull us!” Del said. “Like sled dogs.”

I grinned, relief surging through me. “All right.”

We slowed to a halt. I glanced behind to make sure the mammoths were held off. Jeff and the Pūķi were doing a good job, but there were more mammoths than dragons. It was all my allies could do just to slow them. They were about a hundred yards off now, but slowly gaining.

We needed to be quick.

I turned back to the hellhounds. There were thirteen of them and ten of us. I conjured three big sleds and harnesses, hoping that the dogs were strong.

Quickly, we hitched the dogs to the sleds. I had to make some adjustments to my conjured harnesses, but we were ready to go within minutes.

Pond Flower barked from the front of her sled. Like Rudolph, with her flaming eyes so bright, she led four other dogs.

I pointed to her sled. “Aerdeca, Mordaca, Connor, and Claire.”

They climbed into the sled. As soon as they were settled, the dogs took off, shooting across the snow.

Ares whistled. “Not bad.”

“No kidding.” I glanced behind me. The mammoths were now fifty yards away, the dragons darting around them, blasting flames to slow their progress. “Let’s get in.”

Ares and I joined Del in one of the sleds, while Cass, Aidan, and Roarke got on another. I sat in the middle, between Del in the front and Ares in the back. Our dogs took off right away. They sped through the snow, their unnatural strength zipping us along. Wind tore at my hair, and the aurora borealis shined down on the hellhounds who plowed across the snow.

I looked back. We were leaving the mammoths in the dust. The dragons darted around them, blasting flames.

I almost laughed. My life was freaking scary a lot of the time, but there were perks. Like hellhound rides beneath a magical sky while dragons protected us from ice mammoths. I saw a lot of fabulous things, but this topped most of them.

The dogs pulled us across the snow, moving faster than any normal dog ever could. Within an hour, mountain peaks began to appear on the horizon. Magic thrummed on the air.

“Feel that?” Del shouted.

“Yeah!” I shuddered. It was dark magic. Drakon’s, not the dragons.

As we neared, it became possible to see the mist surrounding the top of the tallest mountain. The aurora borealis made it glow green, an eerie sight.

“That’s their mountain,” Ares said.

“Yeah.” Another thrum of magic, this one feeling like home, vibrated in my chest. It was coming from the left, in the mountain. Particularly strong in one area.

There were dragons in there. Real dragons.

I leaned around to speak in Del’s ear. “Sense that?”

She nodded. “Dragons.”

“So weird.” And amazing.

One of the hellhounds barked, excitement palpable in the sound. I glanced sharply toward it. We didn’t need any more noise. In front of me, Del swiped her hand through the air, her magic swelling. The sounds dampened.

I rubbed her arm in thanks.

We rode silently through the snow, the dark magic rolling over us. Drakon and his army were definitely here. We needed shelter. A place to hide while we plotted our next step.

I pointed toward a rock outcropping at the base of the mountain. The black rocks jutted toward the sky. “Ask the dogs to take us there.”

Del nodded. The dogs diverted their course and headed straight for the rocks. They pulled to a stop, and we all clambered off.

“Thank you,” I said to the dogs.

A few moments later, they disappeared.

“Are our sounds still dampened?” I whispered.

Del nodded. “We can hear each other, but our voices shouldn’t travel far.”

“Thanks.” I was damned glad she’d taken this power from a miserable demon.

We all huddled in the shelter of the dark rocks. Drakon’s dark magic seethed in the air. It was stronger now—either because of him or because he had a massive demon army.

“We have to scout the terrain,” Ares said.

“Agreed.” I looked toward Cass and Aidan. “Can you two pull your bird trick?”

“Sure thing.” Cass grinned.

“I wish I could see too.” Cass would transform into a bird and scout the terrain, and no doubt she’d do a good job, but I wanted to see firsthand.

“I can help with that,” Aerdeca said.

My gaze darted to her. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Hold out your wrist. Both of you. I can give you Cass’s vision.”

I stuck out my wrist, yanking up my sleeve to reveal my pale skin. Cass did the same. Aerdeca withdrew a small silver knife from her pocket, then made a small incision on my wrist. Pain flared and blood welled. She did the same to Cass, then gripped our wrists and pressed our wounds together.

“Good thing I like you,” I murmured to Cass.

She chuckled.

Aerdeca began to recite some strange words in a language I’d never heard. The world spun around me, white and black with flashes of green aurora borealis. Then my muscles sagged and my vision changed.

Suddenly I was looking at myself.

I must be in Cass’s eyes.

Damn, I needed a shower. I looked rough. Had I looked like this ever since Drakon had showed up on the scene? Yeah, probably.

“It worked.” My stomach turned. It was nauseating to see from another person’s perspective, like my body knew this was seriously off.

“Good.” Aerdeca dropped our wrists. “It should last about twenty minutes, so get a move on.”

The world bobbled in front of my eyes, and I had to assume that Cass was nodding her head. I reached out a hand. “Ares?”

He gripped mine, pulling me against him. I leaned into him. I felt blind, but not. Though I could see, the world that filtered into my brain had nothing to do with where I was or what I was actually doing. It was all Cass.

Golden magic swirled in front of my eyes. She must be shifting into a sparrow.

Then the world changed. Everyone around me loomed high above, even myself.

“She’s a sparrow now,” Ares said. “Sitting on the ground.”

My vision turned left. I saw another sparrow. Must be Aidan.

He launched himself into the air. Cass must have followed, because suddenly the world zipped by in front of me. My friends disappeared, and soon I saw the ground from above, a massive expanse of white stretching as far as the eye could see.

In the shadows of the dark rocks, I could just barely make out the specks that were my friends. And me. We were pretty well camouflaged, actually.

Cass whirled on the air, flying away toward the misty mountain. It shimmered through the mist that glinted green. As she flew, the landscape whipped by beneath her.

I swore I could feel the wind in my feathers, the cool breeze on my sparrow face.

When the army appeared in the snow, I almost screamed. I’d become so relaxed and enchanted by the surreal flight that I’d drifted into a semi-dream state.

But there were hundreds of them, demons camped out in the valley beyond. Cass kept high above them, no doubt wanting to avoid detection. It was still easy to see how many there were, though.

Too damned many.

At least two hundred. All different species from all over. There could be some dragon tattoo gang members down there, too, but it didn’t matter even if there were. We’d dispatched a lot, but there were always more who were willing to side with evil.

Cass flew, her gaze sweeping over the entirety of the valley below.

She was searching for Drakon.

But he was nowhere to be found.

An explosion rocked the night air, a sound so loud that my head rang with noise. It blasted me onto my side. Snow scraped against my cheek. Panic raced through me.

The dragons!