My skin burns as Typhon continues pushing power into me. I can feel his strain. I can even feel how he's running low on energy as the lesser wounds on Raith's body start to heal.

"That's all. Any more, and I won't be able to get us back through the rift when it opens."

"Raith?" I ask, touching his cheek.

His eyes flicker open and he smirks, teeth still stained red with blood. "Saltcrest… tell your fish I owe him.”

"Save your strength, Raith.” I turn my attention to his fire panther. “I’m Nessa and this is Typhon. Do you have a name?”

The fire elemental stands, orange eyes distrustful as its thick tail bats from side to side, leaving a trail of flames and smoke.

"He is called Pyrin," Typhon says.

"Okay, Pyrin. Are you strong enough to carry him?"

But I see the fire still leaking from the creature's side. It's wounded too, though that doesn't stop it from trying to duck its head under Raith and take his weight.

But Pyrin can't lift him. Not wounded as he is.

"Typhon, can I put him on your back?"

Typhon lets out a low, audible growl that's not in my mind. "It would disgrace me to let another human ride me."

"Will you do it for me? Please?" I ask.

"My gratitude is still fresh, human. But you wear it thin."

"Please."

He sighs, steam curling from his nostrils. But then he's using his wing to carefully lift Raith. A thin rope of water wraps around Raith’s waist and pulls him into place on Typhon’s back, where the dragon secures him in place.

Raith groans and his blood slicks Typhon's back, but he hooks one powerful arm around Typhon's neck and holds tight.

"Your human is trying to choke me," Typhon notes.

"He's trying not to fall off."

The sound of crunching branches makes me turn my head. Serena and Malakai are circling back, their elementals drifting behind them. Typhon doesn't need to tell me he's too weak to fight again. Raith is half conscious, Pyrin is wounded, Typhon's down to his last drops of power, and I'm not going to fight off Serena, Malakai, and both their elementals by myself.

"We need to get out of here," I say, looking around desperately for an escape route.

Raith stirs, his eyes opening as he shifts on Typhon's back. I see him looking at me. There's a questioning glint in his eyes, as if he's wondering why I'm risking so much to save him.

He wants to know why?

Well, he can join the fucking club.

"Later," I promise. "Right now, we need to⁠—"

"Run," Typhon interrupts, a single, magical blue strap slipping around my waist and pulling me to sit on Typhon’s back. I guess his magic is too thin right now for fancy saddles. "The rift is this way."