"Sexy bear and others waiting. Not safe here."

With a nod, I follow her through the forest. I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing that I hear almost nothing now. The forest is eerily still, and I don't know if we've already lost all chances of winning this thing. For all I know, Malakai's people could have hunted down everyone but our group already. Well, everyone but us and Raith. I can sense he's still alive and coming my way.

"How did you find me?" I ask as we run.

"Ambrose's bird."

The sounds of another battle reach us before we see them—the crack of elemental magic, shouts of pain and fury. We emerge from the trees into a small clearing where Beck, Mireen, and Ambrose stand back-to-back, surrounded by Malakai's people.

Beck's water bear, Uther, smashes into a group of attackers, sending them flying as blue flashes and tokens trigger mid-air. Mireen and Ollie have created a swirling vortex of water that keeps another group at bay.

But they're outnumbered. At least eight students circle them, elemental magic building for a coordinated strike.

"There!" one of them shouts, pointing at me. "It's Thorne!"

Several break off from the main group, turning toward us. Brunhild steps forward, her crab growing to twice its original size.

"I crush," she says matter-of-factly.

She charges into the fray, her crab scuttling beside her as she draws her huge, two-handed hammer. I follow, too drained of essence to do much.

"Allow me to show them what I'm capable of. It's time they knew." Typhon's voice is quiet, but insistent.

I lick my lips, taking in the situation. "Not yet. It's a last resort, okay? Only if there's no other choice."

He doesn’t complain. He just flies into battle, slashing and spraying magic at elementals, quickly drawing the attention of most of them.

"Nessa!" Beck calls, relief evident in his voice. "Took you long enough!"

"Been a little busy," I reply, parrying a strike from one of Malakai's waters who rushes me with a spear. I sidestep the attack, rapier sliding inside his guard with a blue flash as his stasis token triggers.

Typhon weaves through the battle, seemingly small and harmless, but the fierce power of his magical blasts of water are doing serious damage. The other elementals already realize he's the biggest threat and are converging on him.

"You okay?"

"I'm toying with them. Keep yourself alive, angry human. If your token triggers, it freezes me, too."

Brunhild and Beck fight well together, isolating attackers and overwhelming them with strength. Ambrose works with Akaron, occasionally reaching into the air and grabbing one of its legs to lift himself out of harm's way, where he can fire magical attacks from above. Mireen's channeling dispatches enemies with ease as she slides daggers of water around their defenses with deadly accuracy.