The world seemed to collapse around Rhaenys as her eyes followed the dark shadow plunging into the churning sea. It was Vhagar—the mighty ancient dragon—falling in flames, dragging her beloved rider Lannael into the abyss.
A cry ripped from Rhaenys's throat, raw and broken, echoing across the battlefield:
"No—!"
It was not simply a shout, but a sound filled with despair so deep it pierced the clouds above. The grief tore through her chest like a dagger. For a heartbeat, she forgot the battle. She forgot the fire and the storm of wings. She felt only the sinking of her own heart, as though it too had been dragged beneath the black waves along with the old dragon.
But for Rayder, perched on the broad back of Black Dragon Im, the scene meant something else entirely.
As he watched Vhagar tumble like a burning mountain into the sea, an almost ecstatic smile curved his lips. Triumph surged through him, hot and intoxicating. He had slain another ancient dragon—no, more than that. He had cast down Vhagar, the warlord of the skies, a beast older than dynasties and feared across the realm.
Victory coursed through his veins like wine, making him lightheaded, his body thrumming with the cruel joy of conquest. Rhaenys's anguished scream did not touch him. He had heard too many wails in battle to care.
Yet even in the swell of his triumph, another sound cut through the smoke and fire—the piercing roar of another dragon. This one was filled not with death but with desperate fury.
Rayder's head snapped upward. Above, Red Dragon Yigen twisted and struggled, its wings thrashing as it fought against not one but two foes. Descending from the heavens like twin avenging gods came King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne, riding Vermithor and Silverwing. Their movements were flawless, their dragons circling and striking as one, overwhelming Egon's beast with relentless fury.
Yigen lashed out, claws raking the air, but it was clear that the coordinated assault was too much. Though not yet defeated, the great red dragon faltered, caught between fire and claw, its rhythm broken, its form battered.
Rayder's exultation soured into dread. His heart tightened as he realized the danger. Egon's downfall here would unravel everything. Without hesitation, he leaned forward, prepared to command Black Dragon Im upward to aid Yigen, to burn the king and queen from the skies before they tore his ally apart.
But he was too slow.
From the corner of his vision, a streak of crimson flame came hurtling at him. Rhaenys, eyes blazing with madness and grief, had cast aside all reason. With a scream of fury, she drove Meleys forward like an arrow of living fire, aiming straight at him.
The Red Queen was a vision of vengeance, her massive wings beating furiously, her long serpentine neck stretched forward, maw open as if to swallow Rayder whole.
Rayder cursed, his triumph evaporating. There was no time for strategy. He jerked on the reins, forcing Black Dragon Im into a sharp roll, barely dodging the suicidal charge.
But fate was cruel.
Meleys's path was not her own. Clinging to her tail like a shadow was Kidora, the three-headed demon dragon, still tearing viciously into her flesh. The constant wrenching of her body threw off her trajectory, and instead of colliding with Rayder himself, Meleys smashed headlong into Black Dragon Im.
The impact thundered through the sky.
Im, seizing the moment with ruthless instinct, twisted his great head downward and bit savagely into Meleys's left wing. His fangs, long as swords, ripped through scale and sinew. He shook his head violently, like a hound with prey, seeking to tear the limb free.
Meleys shrieked, the sound raw and agonized. Her wing shuddered under the force, blood spraying in arcs that hissed as it struck the flames and sea below.
Above, Daemon watched from Caraxes's back, his eyes blazing with a fury to match Rhaenys's. Yet his mount still faltered, its body sluggish from the strange lightning wound Kidora had inflicted. The paralysis clung like chains. Desperation seized Daemon.
In a single, brutal motion, he raised the Dark Sister—the ancestral blade he had clung to since the battle began—and drove it into Caraxes's back.
The dragon roared in pain, wings spasming, as steel bit deep into its flesh. But Daemon's strike was precise. He avoided organs and bone, piercing only muscle, inflicting agony but not ruin. The pain jolted Caraxes like a bolt of fire through its veins, ripping it free from the paralysis.
Yet the lightning within its blood did not vanish. It surged into Daemon himself. Without the saddle's protection, the current seared into his body, filling him with a thousand stabbing needles. His muscles locked, his jaw clenched until his teeth bled, and every nerve screamed.
Still, he did not release the sword.
Shuddering, barely able to form words, Daemon roared:
"Go! Help Rhaenys!"
Caraxes, though maddened with pain and hunger for vengeance against Kidora, obeyed. Its loyalty to its rider outweighed its fury. With wings beating raggedly, it plunged toward the melee where Meleys struggled.
The Red Queen was moments from ruin. Her left wing shredded, her tail mangled by Kidora's triple maws, her body reeled in agony. Rayder's dragon pulled harder, dragging her downward. The sea loomed like a black grave below.
Then Caraxes struck. With a guttural bellow, it slammed into Black Dragon Im, jaws snapping, claws raking. The sheer force forced Im to release Meleys's wing at last.
But freedom came at a price.
With one final wrench of his neck, Im twisted downward, dragging Meleys's broken wing into the sea's pull. The Red Queen shrieked as her balance gave way, and in an instant, she was falling—spiraling out of control, tumbling toward the ocean like a falling star.
Rhaenys clung to the saddle, the icy wind ripping her hair, her heart frozen with the certainty of death.
Kidora released her at last, folding its wings and soaring back toward Rayder, vigilant as ever. Its golden heads roared triumphantly, their maws crackling with the light of gathered energy.
Caraxes, bloodied and weakened, now faced Black Dragon Im alone. The larger beast bared its fangs in what looked like a grin. With terrifying speed, it lunged, its jaws snapping onto Caraxes's already wounded neck. Flesh tore, scales split, blood sprayed hot across the sky. Im wrenched, seeking to rip Caraxes's head clean from its body.
Daemon clung on desperately, Dark Sister slick with blood, his vision blurring.
But then—light.
A blaze like the sun itself crashed down from above. A torrent of pure white Dragon Flame seared through the heavens, brighter than lightning, hotter than forge-fire.
Vermithor.
King Jaehaerys had broken away, and now, riding his bronze colossus, he descended from on high, aiming the deadly torrent not at the dragons but at Rayder himself.
For the first time, fear clawed at Rayder.
"Damn it!" he snarled, yanking on the reins. He had no choice. He could not face the fire of Vermithor head-on.
"Im—let go! Evade!"
Black Dragon Im obeyed, releasing Caraxes and rolling aside just as the white flames tore through the air where Rayder had been. The heat singed his hair, his armor scorching against his skin. One heartbeat slower and he would have been ash.
But the chaos did not end there.
High above, Yigen had staggered under the twin onslaught of Vermithor and Silverwing, but now saw his chance. With a roar that shook the clouds, the great red beast twisted free from Silverwing's claws.
Then, like a comet, Yigen hurled himself at Silverwing. His jaws clamped down on her tail, teeth driving through flesh and bone. The queen's dragon shrieked, thrashing, but Yigen was merciless. With savage fury, he whipped his neck and hurled her body aside.
Silverwing slammed into Vermithor with a thunderous crash, the two massive dragons tumbling together, their riders thrown into chaos.
For a heartbeat, the sky itself seemed to shatter under the weight of so many titans clashing.
And in that chaos, Rayder gritted his teeth, rage and triumph warring in his eyes. The battle was far from decided, but the skies burned with fire, lightning, and blood, and none could say who would fall next.
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