They escorted Monne down to the strongholds, which were quickly filling with people. Soon there wouldn't be any room left and there were still so many people trying to get in. They left the queen in the deepest part of the stronghold, surrounded by her Queen's Guard and General Yura.

Nyal and Elora ran back down through the stone hallways, pushing past the terrified citizens of Maheem. There was still no sign of Ragen or Mikhail, Elora assuming that they must have run off to fight once they escorted their last group. She hoped she would find them out in the midst of the battle.

As they arrived at the entrance to the mountain tunnels, a manticore appeared the air, the body of a guard hanging between its jaws. The people of Maheem screamed, trying to run faster down the cave-like halls. Someone ran into Elora, the sudden impact nearly knocking her to the floor. She struggled to keep herself upright, bracing herself against the wall.

The manticore roared, the guard's body falling whole down its throat. Elora tensed ready for the oncoming fight. Nyal was still next to her, water already gathered in his hands. "Move, people!" he cried, jaw clenched tightly. "Move!"

They didn't hear him in their panic, scrambling to get away from the monster at the entrance. Before the pair could do anything, the manticore snapped up a faun, swallowing them whole with a bellowing laugh that set her teeth on edge. She cursed, moving forward and gathering her own magic in her hands. Darkness pooled around her and the citizens that saw her only screamed more. If only they knew she was on their side.

She slashed at the monster, cutting off its laughter. It screamed in anger, its eyes searching the panicking crowd for her. Nyal threw and icicle at it, impaling it in the leg. The manticore fell to the ground as the icicle melting, allowing blood to pour from the wound.

It caught sight of her then, lashing out at her with its sharp claws and spiked tail. She dodged, watching the tail go slamming into the stone wall behind her and threw her darkness at it. It bared its teeth at her, and the sliver of darkness slammed into its side, showing off the three rows of razor-sharp teeth that could rip her to pieces in one bite.

Nyal was next to her in the blink of an eye, throwing ice cold water into the face of the manticore. It hissed but didn't react as the dragons had. She heard him curse but took the chance he had given her. She shot out her magic, watching as the darkness sliced at the manticore's throat. Blood poured out in an instant, splashing against the stone floor and all over the manticore. It screeched and fell to the ground, claws scraping against the ground.

It stared up at her and she stared down at it, no mercy in her eyes. It squealed again, one clawed paw reaching for her before it fell back to the ground and stopped moving. The creature let out one final pant and lay dead on the stone, blood blooming around it like a flower.

Over the top of its body, Elora finally got a good look at the scene outside the mountain. Wendigos and vampires had swarmed the first courtyards of the city, slashing and screaming at the guards trying to stop them. The people of Maheem were seriously outnumbered, and the biggest of the Zlohiel had even made it into the city yet.

The hydra was still poking over the top of the walls, staring down at the scene in front of it with what looked like amusement. Other dragons and gryphons were flying over the walls to land in the fray, the former raining fire down on anything they could see, friend or foe. Bodies covered the ground, blood splattered everywhere. It was horrific.

"Nyal, we have to go," she said, looking over her shoulder at him. "Are you ready?"

"Of course not, but we only have one chance," he answered, staring at the battle in front of him with dread and fear. She grabbed his hand, gathering her magic in her other. She pulled them out into the fray, ignoring the horrible feeling in her gut. They would have one chance, but they could do it.

She pushed her magic out, slamming it into a group of wendigos that had been running for the entrance. They went flying back, some hitting their heads on the pavement and falling still. She dropped Nyal's hand as a vampire ran for her, flipping him up with her magic and crashing him back down to the ground. It didn't make a sound as its head smashed open, blood rushing out.

A guard went flying past the pair with a scream, revealing a dragon in its full form. She could see the fire making its way up its throat. "Nyal!" she cried, ducking to the side, only to run into yet more wendigos. There was so much going on, too many creatures to fight.

She gathered her magic once more, hearing the dragon scream with pain and rage. She ignored it, battering the wendigos with all the magic she could muster. There were more than she thought and the guards nearby were quickly dropping and dying, causing others to turn and see her.

She grunted, slamming yet more magic into the creatures, but barely taking enough out for her efforts to matter. How was she meant to take her only chance if she couldn't even get past a group of wendigos? How was she meant to get to Gaizma?

A cry sounded from behind the group and the wendigos began to drop with pained screams that hurt her ears. Mikhail appeared among the crowd, raining down blows with his sharp claws. He was in his full lycanthrope form, roaring like the monsters around him. She could see Ragen nearby, his singular arm directing his magic and blowing the wendigos away.

With their help, dispatching the wendigos became a quick and easy job. All around her she could see them attacking others and she knew she needed to get to them quickly, but she had to get rid of her own attackers first. There was a break in the fighting long enough for her to catch her breath and check on Nyal.

During the time she'd been fighting the wendigos, the Healer had taken out three dragons and was fighting with a fourth. "Elora!" a voice called. She spun to see Ragen staring at her, eyes wide and panting. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head. She's been lucky enough to get away with only a few scratches.

"Thank you," she said to the pair, knowing that if they hadn't come, she would have very quickly been overwhelmed by the numbers she was facing. Mikhail only growled in response, sitting back on his back legs to catch his breath. Ragen nodded to her before his gaze moved past her.

She turned around, staring as Nyal brought down another dragon. She made her way back to him, cutting off the head of a vampire as it passed her. They had barely made it out of the mountain, and they were already being overrun. She hoped their chance would come soon because if it didn't, she was sure Maheem would fall in a matter of hours.

The hydra had finally made it over the wall when she made it back to Nyal, it's five heads picking at the guards like they were insects in its way. She heard footsteps behind her and gathered her magic, ready to strike a killing blow. Ragen appeared next to her, Mikhail on his other side, all four of them staring at the hydra.

"Any sign of Gaizma?" Nyal asked with a pant, the bodies of the dragons littered around him.

"Not yet," Elora answered, taking off at a run towards the hydra. They needed to kill it before it ate any more of the guards. She shot her magic at it, hitting one of the heads as it swooped down to eat a familiar guard. Anatoria screamed and ran, not sparing a glance at her saviours.

They barely got a chance to do any damage to the roaring hydra before someone let out a loud gasp behind her. She stared up at the wall as swarms of dragons flew over, reminding her of the sheer force of them in the first war. They landed among the other Zlohiel, fire escaping from their jaws.

Screams rang out as people burned and died, falling to the ground as burnt husks of what they once were. Nyal used the blood-drenched snow around them to create a dome-like shield to protect them from most of the flame. She could still feel the heat of it, even through all the water that surrounded them.

She gathered her magic and bared her teeth, launching herself into the air and through the safety of the water dome. She yelled, spreading out her hands and letting the magic fly to all corners of the courtyard. She heard the Zlohiel join the cacophony of screams and felt the pull of satisfaction in her gut.

The dome spread beneath her, moving like a tidal wave and swallowing the dragons that had landed nearby. The Zlohiel hissed and screamed, the water like acid on their skin. Nyal pulled the water back to cover them again as she landed, bombarding the dragons once more.

Around them, the guards were standing no chance against the dragons and the hydra. They had been trained well over the two months, but not well enough. Blood covered every inch of the ground, the snow stained a deep red. The buildings around them had caught fire, the blazing light only adding extra danger to the already deadly battlefield.

One chance, my child, her father whispered to her and for a second, she thought he sounded sad. She pushed the thought away, there were more important things she needed to focus on, like finding her one chance

A humanoid figure stalked out from between the burning buildings, red eyes locked onto the watery dome she was hidden inside. Gaizma roared, his hulking humanoid form towering over the guards as he flung them out of his way. Elora cursed, gathering her magic again. She had been wondering when the leader of the Zlohiel would make an appearance.

The other Zlohiel roared in response, their attacks only growing more ferocious now that their leader was with them. Instead of shrinking away from Nyal and his water the dragons ran for the dome, teeth bared and fire brewing in their throats. Vampires and wendigos joined their ranks, while the hydra was distracted by a group of terrified guards trying to take it out.

Elora shot her magic out, watching it slide through the water like a knife through butter and smash into the head of a wendigo. The creature fell to the ground, it's head a bloody pulp. More came and more fell in a bloody mess from Elora and Ragen's magic. Mikhail took out any that made it through the protection of the water, ripping off limbs with his sharp claws and jaws.

"Elora!" Giazma yelled through the mess of noise. "Face me!" He stood in front of her, staring at the water with disdain. The other dragons rushed through it like obedient soldiers, while he stood back. Even he was scared of the power Nyal held.

She stepped through the wall of water, ignoring the yells from Nyal. Tendrils of water followed her as she left, wrapping around her and lashing out at the gigantic dragon before her. Gaizma sneered as she came forward, scales inching their way across his skin. It wasn't long before he was in his full dragon form, snarling at her unintelligently. His scaly skin hissed where the water had hit him, but he paid it no mind.

She pushed her magic out at him, shoving him backwards. She still had no idea how she was going to kill him, he was so much more powerful than she was now, but if she could hold him off until their chance came along, all would be okay. Gaizma roared and the bombardment, fire shooting from his gullet.

She brought up a shield to stop it as the tendrils of Nyal's water shot forward. Her shield to the brunt of the flames but she could still feel the heat of it against her skin. She brought the shield down as the flames dissipated, letting out a cry when she saw Gaizma galloping towards her. Gathering her magic again, she braced for the rough impact.

Right before Gaizma could slam into her, he went flying the side, scales burning. Nyal stood there, water from the dome moving around him. The dragon crashed into a nearby burning building, toppling the structure.

Nyal nodded at her, checking her over for cuts and bruises. She could feel the cool water on her skin, alleviating the aches and pains she had realised she had. She stood by him, magic gathered in her hands, waiting for Gaizma to pop out of the burning wreckage. She allowed herself a quick glance behind her. The dome had been pulled down so Nyal could save her, allowing the dragons to swarm forward toward Ragen and Mikhail, who was barely able to hold them off.

With a quick command from her, Nyal sent water flying backwards, turning it to ice and slicing at the throats of the nearest dragons. A roar sounded from the burning building and Gaizma flew from the wreckage, hovering a few metres in the air with his huge wings spread. Another roar and he flew towards them, fire spewing from his mouth.

Elora and Nyal shot out at the same time, slamming the dragon with two kinds of magic. With a cry Gaizma fell to the ground, his huge form rolling and crushing a couple of wendigos that happened to be in the way. With a growl he stood, giant feet pounding against the stone and snow. He glared at them with piercing red eyes and jumped forward.

"Again!" Elora cried, straining with the effort of pushing her magic forward. Nyal joined her and Gaizma went rolling backwards once more. He screamed in anger, his scales sizzling from the acid-like water.

A roar from behind made her look around, her skin paling at the sight. There were more dragons than she ever thought possible, fire in every inch of her sight. Ragen and Mikhail were quickly being overrun, back into a corner near the city walls. The remaining guards were quickly falling and she saw the groups of wendigos and vampires running into the mountain halls. They were failing. Maheem was falling.

"Nyal!" she cried, unsure of what to do.

Nyal took one look at the scene and grabbed her hand. "I have an idea," he said. "But I need you to keep Gaizma busy."

She nodded, stepping away from him and towards the fallen dragon. He was starting to get back up and caught sight of Elora coming towards him. "This is between us, Gaizma!" she called, gathering her magic once more. He grinned, razor-sharp teeth glinting in the light. "Face me!"

"With pleasure, demigod," he said, fire shooting from his mouth. She dodged to the side, smacking him in the side with her darkness. He grunted, swiping at her with his claws. She cried out as one of the sharp talons embedded itself in her stomach, tearing at her flesh. Blood seeped from the wound, but she would have to ignore it for now. Nyal would heal it when they were done.

A sharp jolt knocked the pair from their feet, the ground rumbling beneath them. With a gasp she looked up at the mountain above them, watching as the snow fell away from the rock and melted into water.

Nyal stood nearby, hands raised in the air and a strained expression on his face. The water continued to fall, forming a wave as it neared the city. It would kill everyone and destroy the parts of the city outside the mountain, but it would stop the dragons. Perhaps this was the chance Yararanje spoke of.

As the water crashed into the city, Gaizma stood, glaring at her with wild red eyes. His gaze moved away from her, staring at the oncoming wave, then at Nyal. "No!" she cried, standing up to face him and gathering her magic again.

Before she could do anything, the dragon spun, flicking his tail outwards and slamming it into her gut. She went flying, rolling across the blood covered courtyard. She landed against the fallen stone of a building, her wound digging into the hard surface. She grunted, feeling tears well in her eyes at the pain.

She twisted around, trying to stand, trying to form words to warn Nyal of what was coming, but she couldn't make a sound. Nyal twisted around, his wave having already taken out half the dragon forces and gasped when he saw Gaizma.

There was a scream, a flash of razor-sharp talons, and a red smear of blood. Nyal fell to the side and the wave fell with him, becoming nothing more than a slowly flowing flood. Deep gashes covered his torso and throat, his blood mingling with that of so many others before him. His eyes were open and they were staring at her, wide and fearful.

Elora screamed.