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Thronos had already gone across their border

“What do they say?” she asked, backing away

He read theot weird

THIRTY-ONE

The ht

What did that h with this bloody place! What would this zone have in store? The mention of pain didn’t worry hiony But what about Melanthe?

The sun was beginning to rise, purple clouds in the background like a halo over her black hair He’d just taken a step in her direction when he spied movement

He disbelieved his sight—not far behind her was a tank-sized beast with bloodred eyes, dripping fangs, and bony spikes protruding from its spine

A hellhound

“Freeze, Melanthe”

She did Eyes wide, she whispered, “Soave a shallow nod

The beast’s soot-colored pelt was said to be dense enough to repel swords And talons

But if Thronos could reach her and get the their scent, it let out a chilling howl When it charged theed for her

He never reached Melanthe Another beast collided with him from the side, a locomotive of force that nearly knocked him out of his boots

A second hound

Thronos crashed to the ground When his vision cleared, he found oneup, talon slashing

The strike didn’t even disturb the beast’s dense fur

“Run, Lanthe!”

She was already sprinting in his direction, as if a hound of hell pursued her—because it did She ran with a feylike quickness

Melanthe was fast It was faster

Thronos launched another strike of his wings, and another, buying ti in every detail of their possible escape route

Behind hied with moonraker trees To the west, a charred mountain peak loo for territory Their hive? They clawed the black stone for purchase and loosed great streaons took off fro in the direction of the de in the air, they tore chunks of flesh fro down

Sunrise; feed on fallen More dragons would follow

As Melanthe high-stepped past Thronos, she cried, “Stop playing with yours and kill it!”

“Why didn’t I”—he jerked his body left to right to avoid snapping fangs—“think of that?!”

If the beast’s pelt was impervious, it’d have only a few vulnerabilities As swiftly as he could, Thronos whipped his wings up, talons crossing over the creature’s face Before the hound could bite down on thes to the sides

His talons raked across the beast’s eyes, slicing through to the very bone of its eye sockets

Blood spurted The beast yelped in pain, blindly stue reptilian-looking predators snatched the defenseless hound into the shadows

With a haphazard swoop of his wings, Thronos half-lunged to his feet, stu He craned his head around Where was she—

He caught sight of her, eluding the hound on her tail He stepped forward, nearly planting his foot in resin “Watch for resin!” This pit was covered with silver reeds, al the dragons, Thronos bounded into the air He wouldn’t be able to reach her before the hound did So he pulled his wings tight and dove, ai for the beast itself At the last second, he rolled to launch a shoulder into the hound’s flank, knocking it off its feet

While it shook away confusion, Thronos snared itshis claws in Gnashing his teeth, using all the strength he possessed, he hauled on the tail as he began to rotate As if throwing a discus, he spun the beast Again And again With a bellow, he released the thing, sending it flying through the air

When it landed against the mountain, stone fractured Its limp body collapsed

Hounds dispatched, Thronos tensed to run for her; alht in ht

More of the dragons launched the toward the plateau The

Melanthe was about to run through a narrow ravine Fro toward her

“The rocks, Lanthe!”

She spotted the around, she headed back toward the field

Toward him “Hurry!”

The sky rained boulders They pocked the clearing, shaking the ground with each i an arrow-shaped boulder of charred stone If it’d hit her

Her body would’ve been pulverized He strained harder, working his wings to free his legs She would have died

A real death He’d heard of Sorceri ended by illness and by stab wounds, for gods’ sakes

She was alantic trees for cover, ni over its roots

Then she—stopped Her upper body jolted forward before she righted her balance

Their eyes met “Melanthe?”

She peered down, frowned

Sheno She couldn’t be caught in a pit “I’h the quakes had stopped, the onrush of boulders continued He could hear their deafening descent down the side of thefor Melanthe’s tree She gazed up in horror, hunching down

“No, no!” He thrashed, kicking, sweat pouring into his eyes, wings heaving Da its hold

High in the tree, a giant liht the boulder He and Melanthe shared a look of relief