Or’myr spits out a curse as a Mage on dragonback veers toward us, gray eyes glowing bright. The Mage lifts his wand, and I’m assaulted by an aura of dark trees aflame with gray fire.

“He’s an Earth and Fire Mage,” I snarl over my shoulder.

Or’myr murmurs a spell, his purple aura contracting inward with lethal force. He flicks his wand out the same moment the Shadow Mage does, a gust of iridescent violet wind blasting from Or’myr’s wand as a silver-dark blaze of fire flies from the Mage’s. Or’myr’s gust slams against the Shadowfire, driving it back in a spray of violet sparks. The Mage’s dragon splays out gray wings as Or’myr thrusts his wand arm out again, hurling a bolt of purple lightning that forks all over the Mage’s silver-flashing shield.

The corrupted dragon screeches as Or’myr’s lightning pierces its shield. Raz’zor swings us sideways to avoid a collision just as the Mage and his dragon erupt in an explosion of purple flame.

The blast ringing in my ears, we level off, soaring over the Shadow-tide-enveloped First Tier, then zooming over the Vo River. Shadow dragons streak through the sky as they swarm Voloi and battle Noilaan’s sparse forces, explosions detonating, the Wyvernguard Islands’ ladder of connecting walkways collapsed and hanging like broken branches from its surviving North Island.

A fresh rush of Yvan’s Wyvernfire floods my lines, flashing gold through my graying vision, my heartbeat quickening with urgency. Two more Shadow Mages close in from the left and right, alarm sparking through my nerves as I realize they’re zooming in too quickly for us to prepare a counterstrike. They level their wands, dark lines of earth magery whizzing toward us.

Raz’zor retracts his wings and drops into free fall.

I jerk my head up just as the Mages’ vine spears collide, their dragons shrieking as their magic punches into each other. Raz’zor splays his wings out, halting our rapid descent and narrowly avoids contact with the color-muting Shadow tide.

Heart thundering, I glance over my shoulder to find the two Mages and their dragons tangled in vine-netting and pinwheeling toward the Shadow-coated river.

A cyclonic fog aura suffuses my mind and I whip my head around to find another Shadow Mage closing in, his foggy magic shot through with dark lightning.

“He’s got air and fire...” I manage just before the Mage swirls his wand and draws up a portion of the Shadow tide to envelop us in a dark haze. Or’myr’s diaphanous amethyst shield spits purple lightning then vanishes, a slithering rush of Shadow coursing over my skin.

“Elloren,” Or’myr gasps as he holds up his wand hand, tendrils of the Shadow smoke snaking over it.