Frantically, I looked around for a horse—the first dragon wasn’t nearby—but they were all tethered and yanking wildly at the restraints.

So it would be my own two feet the whole way.

The moment I was clear of the fighting, I turned south, toward the pull of the first dragon, running as fast as I could. A stitch grabbed at my side, but I pushed through the pain. And when Aaru’s silence began to lift, I seized power from the noorestones and yanked it into me.

Fire wrapped around me like armor, and now that I had wings giving me lift, I half flew across the desert—toward my destiny.

I moved faster than I’d ever moved in my life. For my friends, I ignored the pain of my body. For the people I’d promised to help, I counted every footfall. And for all those I hadn’t been able to save, I prayed: Give them peace, give them grace, give them enough love in their hearts.

Sweat streaked down my face, evaporating as the sun lifted higher. Salt crusted on my skin, and a deep, desperate thirst rolled through me. Still, I didn’t stop. And when a noise sounded behind me—like hoofbeats—I didn’t dare risk looking over my shoulder. I couldn’t lose my momentum, and if someone was chasing me, I needed every piece of my body focused on getting to the first dragon before they did.

Noorestone fire stretched after me, soaking into my blood and bones as deeply as possible—and then the connection snapped. The distance was too much.

But by then, I could see the first dragon. I pushed myself harder, gasping for breath as I took in the facts: the platform had been hobbled, its wheels smashed and lying on the desert floor, but the first dragon was still upright, waiting for me.

Almost there. A few hundred more strides, at most.

Then, above, a dragon screamed.

The sound sent a shiver of terror into me, and I stumbled, caught myself, and pushed onward again, but that scream could mean only one thing.

An island was about to rise.

I felt it, too. The way my heart twisted in knots, the way the earth shivered under my steps, the way my dragon soul wrenched in horror: Anahera was next.

Within an hour—faster than the others had risen once the dragons took notice—but the moons were already making their trek toward the sun. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel the weight of them on the horizon, chasing after the sun, closing in, almost there. Anahera was already preparing to rise; it wouldn’t be long before Darina pulled herself up out of the sea, too.

And then our whole world would be finished.

Unless I reached the first dragon in time. Unless I begged the gods to wait. Unless I gave up everything that made me human.

It would be worth it, if the Fallen Isles could be right again.

Another draconic scream ripped through the sky. LaLa. I’d recognize her voice anywhere, and it made my heart twist to hear her like this, aching with anxious terror and grief. Months ago, it would have destroyed me. Today, I made it strengthen me, because I knew how to help her. I could do it.