She drove her shoulder into his chest and broke free, swinging again.

  He blocked. She blocked back. Neither yielding.

  Anthony’s eyes gleamed with interest now, not mockery.

  “That’s it,” he said quietly, almost encouraging. “Stay angry for me.”

  Above them, the bats screamed in anticipation, circling tighter, still waiting.

  Ava tightened her grip on her axe, chest heaving, eyes blazing.

  She hadn’t broken. She wasn’t going to.

  And Anthony knew it.

  Anthony’s eyes flicked past Ava.

  Just for a second, but that is all it took.

  He lifted two fingers and tilted them slightly to the side, like redirecting music only he could hear. The bats responded immediately.

  A cluster peeled away from the circling mass, wings folding as they dropped in a coordinated dive toward Kyo, Broderick, and Miles.

  “No,” Ava snarled, lunging.

  Anthony caught her axe haft again, stopping her short with effortless strength. He leaned close, voice warm and pleased.

  “Eyes on me, pet.”

  The air screamed.

  Kyo barely had time to register the shadow before Broderick moved.

  The wyrm shifted his body between the dive and the boy, metal plates locking as his tail tightened protectively around Miles. Wings snapped open, angling to shield as claws scraped across his armor in a shower of sparks.

  “Threat escalation detected,” Broderick stated evenly. “Defensive posture maintained.”

  Miles gasped.

  Not a scream this time.

  A sharp, shallow pull of air that didn’t seem to reach his lungs.

  Kyo felt it against his chest like a fist closing around his heart.

  “Hey,” he said quickly, dropping to his knees beside Broderick’s coiled tail. His voice shook despite his effort to steady it. “Hey, look at me. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

  Miles’ skin had gone pale, lips tinged blue as his breaths came fast and thin, eyes wide and unfocused. He clutched at Broderick’s plating with trembling fingers, gasping like the air was just out of reach.

  “I can’t,” he choked.

  Another bat slammed into Broderick’s side. The wyrm twisted, jaws snapping shut on wing and bone, tearing the creature apart midair. Blood spattered across the ground as it fell.

  Kyo flinched but didn’t move away.

  “Don’t look up,” he told Miles urgently, one hand hovering near his shoulder, careful not to overwhelm him. “Just listen to me. Just me.”

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  More shadows dropped.

  Broderick reared slightly, tail tightening just enough to keep Miles secure without crushing him.

  “Calm respiration advised,” Broderick said, voice steady and mechanical. “Match breathing pattern to mine.”

  Kyo swallowed hard and forced his own breath slow, exaggerated, even as his vision blurred and pain flared behind his eyes.

  “In,” he whispered, drawing the breath deep despite the burn. “Out. Like this. You’re doing good.”

  Miles’ chest stuttered.

  Then pulled in a fraction deeper.

  Another bat shrieked and dove. Broderick lunged forward, intercepting it with his shoulder, claws raking as it spiraled away screeching.

  Kyo’s hands shook. Across the clearing, Ava saw it.

  The way Miles’ knees buckled inside Broderick’s hold.

  The way Kyo hunched protectively over him, pale and shaking, light blue aura flickering weakly around his fingers before dying out again.

  Her roar ripped out of her.

  Anthony smiled.

  “You see,” he said softly, tightening his grip on her weapon. “You can fight me. Or you can watch them break.”

  Ava yanked her axe free with a violent twist and stepped into him, fury blazing.

  “No one touches them,” she snarled.

  Above them, the bats screamed and dove again.

  And Anthony lifted his hand, ready to conduct the next movement.

  Baxter moved first.

  He broke from the edge of the clearing and charged toward Broderick, mace already swinging as a bat dove low. The hammer head connected with a brutal crack, sending the creature spiraling away in a spray of blood and bone.

  Ace followed a heartbeat later.

  He ripped his cloak free and wrapped it tight around Sable’s side, knotting it fast and hard until the bleeding slowed to something survivable. Sable lay still beneath him, chest rising shallowly, eyes glassy but open.

  “Stay,” Ace muttered, keeping pressure. “Just stay.”

  Another bat screamed as it dropped too close for comfort.

  Miles’ head snapped up inside Broderick’s protective coil just as the shadow filled his vision.

  His breath hitched,then his eyes rolled back and his body went slack.

  “No,” Kyo whispered.

  The bat lunged.

  Ace’s bow snapped up in one smooth motion. The arrow flew true, punching cleanly between the bat’s eyes mid dive. The creature hit the ground hard at Broderick’s feet.

  But it didn’t bleed, it dissolved. The body unraveled into wisps of shadow and ash, scattering across the dirt as if it had never truly been there.

  Kyo froze.

  They weren’t dying.

  They were being dismissed.

  Rage surged through him anyway, hot and blinding, drowning pain and exhaustion alike. He forced himself upright, eyes flaring unevenly as he turned toward Ava.

  One eye burned silver.

  The other stayed gray.

  The strain showed in the tremor of his hands.

  “AVA!” he roared. “LET’S END THIS!”

  Ava twisted at the sound.

  For one suspended heartbeat, their gazes locked across the clearing.

  Kyo, barely holding his technomancy together.

  Ava, eyes bright green and blazing with fury.

  The world chimed.

  PARTY SKILL ACTIVATED

  DUAL SOUL LINK

  When Kyo and Ava fight within 20 meters of each other, their magic and physical attacks merge, gaining elemental amplification and shared defensive bonuses.

  Kyo’s aura spiked violently.

  Blue light flared around him, power flooding his system so fast it stole his breath. He staggered, realization hitting hard.

  He wasn’t generating this alone. He was pulling from Ava.

  And she was already moving and vanished.

  One moment she was across the clearing.

  The next, she stood inches from Anthony’s face.

  Phase stepping.

  Slivery blue code swarmed her form, threading through her muscles and along the edge of her axe. Kyo’s magic. Seamlessly hers.

  Anthony’s smile faltered as bat screeched overhead.

  Kyo tore his gaze upward, finger lifting as his focus snapped into place. Code igniting as the sky churned.

  Thunder rolled low and furious as clouds twisted overhead, lightning crawling through them like veins of fire.

  Bolts came down in precise, controlled strikes five at a time.