The Darks took a step back in unison.
Caleb stared down at me with wide eyes.
I grinned at him, even though he couldn’t see it. “Hey. Hi. How are you? Gauntlet, wouldn’t you know. Made of dragon scales. A gift.”
“How did you—”
“Get here in front of you in the blink of an eye? Here’s a hint: magic.”
He nodded, drawing the sword away, squaring his shoulders. “You’re going to regret the intrusion. Whoever you are.”
I stood up slowly. “I haven’t decided yet.”
He squinted at me. “Decided what?”
“If you’re gonna walk away from this. Oooh. Holy shit. I just gave myself chills.” I glanced back at Brant and Katya. “Did you guys get chills? Because I did.”
They both shook their heads, then seem to change their minds before nodding.
I frowned. “Well, this is awkward.”
“Get him,” Caleb snarled.
The Darks raised their hands, and their magic began to gather, wild and untamed. Lightning crackled from the Darks I’d met long ago on the road, crawling along their fingertips, and I almost laughed at them.
Instead I said, “Flora Bora Slam, mothercrackers.” I barely had to push.
There was a sharp crack before a hush fell over the cliffside.
“Huh,” I said. “That was easier than I thought it would be. I’m so good at this.”
Caleb turned slowly to look behind him.
Four stone statues stood there, hands raised, fingers spread wide.
“Can’t argue with the classics,” I told him. “So, wanna surrender, or should we do this the fun way?”
The sword fell from his hand, sticking upright in the soft earth. “You’re good,” he said quietly. “But unfortunately for you, I’m better. I will deal with you myself.”
“The fun way, then. I’m down with—”
He moved then, almost quicker than I could follow, hands coming up, twitching dangerously. There was a rush of a magic, a sick and infected yellow, knocking into my chest and trying to wrap around my heart. I was lifted off my feet and flew up and over Caleb and the stone Darks, then landed on my back on the other side of them. Katya cried out near the cliff, but I didn’t have time to focus on them. Caleb was stronger than I expected him to be. I underestimated him.
I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
I tilted my head back in time to see the statues of the Darks begin to break apart under Caleb’s magic. It shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did that he was sacrificing his own men. I’d heard the stories, of course, from Dimitri, about how the Darks had descended upon Verania, but nothing they had done so far had matched this level of brutality. I had never been turned to stone before, so I didn’t know what it felt like. I almost hoped the stone Darks weren’t aware of being broken apart.
I pushed myself up off the ground as the last bits of the statues broke apart and spun lazily around Caleb.
“Okay, I can admit, that looks pretty cool,” I said. “It’s kinda hard-core for my tastes, though. I mean, those are chunks of people, dude. I could have totally turned them back.”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “Do I know you from somewhere? You sound familiar.”
“We’ll get to that in just a moment. First, I need to—oh, that was a distraction.”
Caleb was moving even before I finished speaking. I didn’t have time to think, much less come up with a counterspell. The stones slammed into me, starting with my feet and legs, wrapping themselves around me, fusing in place. They rose up my legs, past my knees to my thighs and hips. They hit my hands and arms, my stomach and chest, and my heart beat thunderously as the stones rose to my shoulders and neck.
“No,” Katya whispered behind him. Then, “Stop it! Leave him alone!” Brant held her back as she tried to rush Caleb.
“Any last words before you suffocate to death buried in rock?” Caleb asked me, a twisted smile on his face.
“Yeah,” I said, submerging myself in gold and green. “You shouldn’t have betrayed me.”
The skin under Caleb’s eyes twitched.
And then I detonated.
The lightning burst out of my heart, crawling along the treelike scars on my skin until I was completely electrified. The rock around me begin to split and crack until it shattered into so much dust and filtered to the forest floor. I took a step forward.
Caleb came after me. I had to hand it to him—his tenacity was truly impressive, especially in the face of such long odds.
But I’d spent nearly a year in this forest, deep in the wild. I knew its secrets, the way the trees whispered in the wind, their leaves and limbs rattling together like bones. I knew the ground beneath my feet and the canopy above.
I was part of the Dark Woods now.
I felt Caleb’s infection hurtle toward me. It was time for a demonstration.
He got maybe three or four steps before I raised my own hands in response.
He barely faltered.
That was fine.
He would see what I was capable of.
A branch from a large oak tree whipped down and wrapped around his left arm, jerking him to a halt.
His mouth dropped open.
Vines burst through the ground beneath his feet, wrapping around his legs, forcing him to his knees.
Another tree limb—maple, this time—snaked around his other arm, holding him in place.
It was over in seconds.
I barely had to move.
I breathed with the forest.
Caleb struggled against his bindings, glaring up at me. “That level of magic isn’t possible,” he snapped. “We would know if something like this existed. How are you doing this? Where do you come from? Who are you?”
Oh my gods. This was going to be so rad. I had to get it just right.
I took a step toward him. “All interesting questions. I can do this because of what my mentors have taught me, all three of them. I come from the Dark Woods to bring an end to you and yours. And as for who I am, well. That’s the best thing of all.” I reached up and slid the hood from my head. The exact second he recognized me was probably one of the top three moments of my life. I grinned rakishly at him. “I’m Sam of Dragons.”
And, just like we’d practiced, the dragons of Verania arrived.
First, a serpentine red creature burst through the clouds, landed behind Katya and Brant, and coiled his body underneath him, wings flapping furiously at his sides. “Rawr,” Zero Ravyn Moonfire said. “Which is so freaking lame. I didn’t even want to do this. I was in the middle of writing a poem lamenting my black soul, which no one understands.”
Godsdammit.
Two blue-and-white dragons came next, landing on either side of Katya and Brant, the ground shaking beneath us. Their feathers rattled as they stretched their wings, eyes flashing. “Oh dear,” Leslie said. “Zero, you know I told you that I would help you with your poetry.”
“You wanted to write about bunnies.”
“I do love them,” Leslie agreed. “Also, bunny rhymes with funny and sunny and honey, all the things sweet and lovely and—”
“You can’t write about the lamentations of my soul with sweet and lovely!”
“And I told you that poetry was not a sustainable skill,” Pat growled. “You need to do something that actually contributes to society. Like woodworking.”
“You old dyke,” Leslie said, sounding unbearably fond.
Godsdammit.
“Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Kevin shouted as he landed behind Caleb. “’Tis I! The Beast from the East. Lord Dragon of the Dark Woods. I have returned to rule over my subjects so that they may cover me in their golden showers.”
“That’s so gross,” Zero moaned. “Why do you say things like that? Adults are the worst.”
“I meant their shinies and pretties, little bro! Not their urine. I am not into piss play. Sam! Sam. Tell my little brother I don’t like being urinated on. Well, not that I’ve actually tried it, so I can’t say for sure. Never mind, Sam. Don’t tell him anything yet. I must further explore my kinks before I can say one way or another.”
Godsdammit.
And then he came, like a moon crashing into the earth. He dwarfed everything else.