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“We have to get across the gap,” Ezryn says. “It’ll take all of us to destroy Sira.”

A roar rises behind us. The horde is closing in.

Goblins flood the ridge we just crossed, spilling over one another in a tide of claws and rusted blades. Trolls shove through their ranks, bellowing, while harpies wheel overhead, their shrieks tearing through the sky. Sira’s abominations surge forward, faster now, as if they can smell how close we are to the heart of this.

“They’re not slowing,” Dayton says, already shifting his stance, trident spinning once in his grip.

We won’t be able to find a way across and fend them off.

“Go,” Ezryn answers grimly.

“I need you against Sira!” I shout.

“There’s no choice.”

The ground trembles with their charge.

Then—

A thunderous boom splits the sky.

The Flutterwing dips low above us, its massive shadow sweeping across the broken bridge. Cannons roar, fire and light blasting into the oncoming army, tearing through ranks of goblins and sending bodies flying.

“Move!” a voice bellows from above.

A metal cable tumbles over the railing, then Kairyn descends in a blur of black armor and flowing cape. He hits the ground hard, blade already drawn. Above, I catch a glimpse of Jack waving from the deck of the airship.

“Good luck down there!” he calls, flashing that signature wry grin.

Kairyn’s eyes blaze as he surveys the advancing horde. “Get to Castletree! I’ll hold them off!”

“There is no bridge,” Farron snaps, gesturing to the shattered span.

Kairyn doesn’t even look at it. “Figure it out!”

Another volley from the airship screams overhead, explosions ripping through the front lines of the enemy. The ground shakes with the impact, buying us seconds.

A troll barrels toward us. Kairyn doesn’t look back as he meets it head-on. Steel clashes against stone with a deafening crack, and he drives the creature back, boots digging trenches into the earth as he holds the line alone. Behind them, the army crashes forward again.

My chest tightens. “He’ll be overrun,” I whisper.

“He knows,” Ezryn says softly, eyes fixed on his brother. “That’s the point.”

Another explosion rains down from above, the airship circling tight now, cannons firing in relentless succession, cutting a burning path through the horde as it tries to flank Kairyn.

He doesn’t look back at us.

Dayton exhales sharply beside me. “We don’t waste that.”

No. We don’t.

I step forward to the edge of the broken span, wings flaring wide, heart hammering. I turn to Caspian. “How about we make our own bridge across the moat?”

He smiles at me, and for the first time in months, thorns return to Castletree. Personally, I think they’ve been sorely missed.

My golden briars and Caspian’s purple ones twine together, creating a narrow bridge. The moment they sink into the stone on the far side, something snaps inside me. My knees buckle. Caspian stumbles, his hand pressed hard against his ribs.

Rot. So much rot and death growing over there. My head spins. It pours through the connection like black sludge, curling beneath my skin.