Acantha pointed at a red swelling on the Lamia’s forearm. “One of the insects got to her. I mean, that’s what they are, right? Insects?”

“They sound and behave like insects,” Lumi replied.

“And they’re poisonous? Seriously?” Amelia groaned, rubbing her face with shaky hands.

“They can’t see us anymore,” I said, clinging to a dangerously loose thread of hope.

“Don’t forget, they have other senses, too,” Raphael warned me. “What type of insects are they?”

Eira shook her head. “I told you, I don’t know! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“What if they’re pink water prototypes, like those Shills and Titans?” Fallon asked. “It’s not a stretch, is it?”

“It would certainly explain their behavior and venom,” Lumi said as she pushed the neck of a slender potion bottle between Nethissis’s lips, tilting the bottom to let the bright blue liquid pour straight down her throat. “Come on, sweetie, wake up… You have to wake up…”

The following seconds took a long time to pass. We all watched Nethissis, gripped by the fear of losing her. It was too soon… It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“If we don’t know what kind of insects they are, we can’t be sure the healing potion worked,” Acantha murmured.

Varga glanced down the mountain, as the winds grew stronger and colder. Snow rose around us, mercilessly pummeling us. The icy flakes bit into my skin, but I pulled my hood closer to my face and managed to resist the increasing offensive.

“They’re moving up the mountain,” Varga said. “I think they caught our scent.”

“And I think they’re not the only ones coming for us,” Eva added, her eyes widening at the sight below. Cracks violently spread toward the mountain base, the earth opening up and releasing hordes of angry Shills. All hell was finally breaking loose, while my scythe continued its increased vibrations, its glow brighter than ever. Less than a mile down, the BemHur Temple awaited. Eirexis was in there, or beneath it, somewhere.

Terror took hold of us as we huddled together, the cold relentless in its conquest.

“I need to zap us closer to the temple now,” I said.

“We’re invisible. We still have a shot at this,” Eira encouraged me.

But something caught my eye, swiftly removing my ability to react. I only heard Varga. “Crap, they’re here! They’re here!”

Nethissis coughed. “Thank the stars,” Lumi managed.

“They caught our scent.” Eira grabbed my hand, tugging, pleading with me to teleport them away, but her voice faded in my head. The black cloud of poisonous insects rose above the mountain peak, swelling menacingly, billions of stingers eager to kill us. Is this panic? Am I panicking?

I just couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything, despite the ravaging urgency of our situation. Maybe Riza could help us instead. Maybe she could take over. But as soon as I glanced at her, I understood that she was frozen, like me, stunned by the sight before us. Never before had we dealt with such violent forces of nature. This was the first time that insecurity had finally wormed its way through us, eating us up from the inside and rendering us virtually useless.

“Tae, please!” Eira’s muffled voice came through.

Time stood still, as if a button had been pressed by the cosmic forces that had been hunting us across the In-Between. Everything came to a sudden halt as I stared into the black cloud, knowing that Shills were working their way up the mountain, as well.

Is this it? Is this where my courage ends? Have I finally broken down?

Eira’s hand found my face, her fingers gripping my chin. I looked at her, my heart angrily drumming in my throat. No. This couldn’t be the end. No, we’d done too much already. Lost too many people. My dad… My dad was in a crystal casing, my mom by his side, all cried out and grieving, praying to all the gods that he may return to us alive. He won’t, unless I save him. Unless I stop this.

“We’re going,” I managed, my resolve blossoming once more.

Eira’s blue eyes were filled with tears and horror, her lips moving, her words begging me to get her out of here. How could I say no to that beautiful face, to her gorgeous soul in desperate need of saving?

Fire spread across the sky, swallowing the black cloud. Hundreds of cubic feet of insects were reduced to ashes in an instant. A bright orange flower exploded above us, then fiercely descended down the mountain, unraveling a river of flames that destroyed everything in its path—trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and Shills. They all burned. Nothing was spared, as the entire ridge was charred and barren, all of a sudden.

“Inalia…” Eira whispered. “Inalia’s here.”

My heart stopped for a moment, understanding the implications. More Shills emerged from the gaping cracks in the plain below, and ginormous roots pierced through the hardened ground, stretching upward. The Earth Hermessi, Leb, was working hard to get to us, after the insects had caught our trail. He was throwing everything in his arsenal at us, I realized, as thousands more Shills began their climb of White Peak Mountain.

The air was supercharged with electricity, lightning spidering across the sky and releasing thunderclaps so loud and so close that my ears hurt. I felt blood trickling from the left one. We covered our ears when a second round of booms tore right through us, lightning stabbing the frozen ground around us. In a split second, it got insanely hot, the snow melting away from all the electrical anomalies. Above us, dark storm clouds gathered, their wrath about to come down on us.

“We really need to go, Tae,” Varga shouted, wincing from the last round of thunder. I could barely hear him.

Massive shards of ice sprang from the eastern side of the mountain, which overlooked the ocean. They spread out and expanded like thin sheets, cloaking us in a crystalline cocoon, while the fire continued to destroy everything that came at us from the western ridge. It didn’t take long for Eira and me to understand what was happening.

“Sebbi and Leb are trying to get us, but Inalia and Acquis are opposing them,” I said.

Go, Taeral. Go down below the temple and take what you need, a familiar voice echoed through me, filling me with warmth and genuinely good feelings. How did she know we were here? We had the Devil’s Weed on, and we were invisible, too.

“Inalia?” I asked, barely able to hold back the tears upon recognizing her inside my head. “How’d you know we—"

It’s two against two, now, she cut me off. We’ll hold them off until Brendel shows up. Just go, Tae. You’ve got Acquis and me on your side… Go!

This time, I didn’t hesitate. Suddenly energized, I took hold of Eira’s hand and gave her a confident smile. “Hang on,” I said. She nodded and caught Eva, who linked us to the rest of the crew, including a dazed but still breathing Nethissis. One deep breath, and we were gone.

Inalia and Acquis had temporarily saved us, and I still couldn’t believe it.

Amelia

Taeral brought us closer to the temple of BemHur. We’d all nearly crapped our pants up there, but we clearly weren’t meant to die just yet. The four elements battled it out on top of White Peak, about two miles above us.

Fire burned violently all around the temple, forming a protective circle that stopped the Shills from getting any closer. Those who dared were instantly carbonized.

“Geez, that was… yeah, sorry, I don’t have a word for it,” I croaked, wiping the sweat from my face. We’d gone from cold to blazing hot a little too fast for my vampire nature.

Two large stone beams rose in front of us. Faded lines of old carvings were still faintly visible here and there. “These used to be the temple’s gates, I think,” Eira murmured, and looked at Taeral. “Inalia… Can you believe it?”

He gave her a soft smile. “Yeah. She came through, in the end. And your father, too.”

“How did they know we were up there? Did they just follow the bugs?” Raphael asked.

I offered a mild shrug. “Probably. The stinkers either caught our scent somehow, or someone sent them our way from the very beginning.”

“Oh, we both know Medina had a hand in this,” Herakles grumbled. “She probably didn’t know Inalia and Acquis would switch sides.”

“Ugh, guys?” Varga blurted, staring at what was left of the temple, past the two stone pillars. “We’ve got company.”

Nethissis cursed under her breath, looking at us. “That’s not the worst part,” she said, showing us the red lens in her hand. “I can see you without this.”

My blood ran cold.