Thea's head whipped in the roar's direction. It was so loud that all of Yezahn quaked at its sound. Much like when she'd seen Aestus, Thea had to cover her ears against the sheer power of the roar. She saw many of her friends do the same, Carac cringing hardest of all and curling in on himself.
Thea met Fendrel's eyes and she saw the realization settle in him at the same time it did in her—Malum was here.
Merek shouted over the roar, "It's too early!"
No one bothered pointing out that it didn't matter anymore.
The roaring subsided and Fendrel unsheathed his sword. "Come on."
They nodded, pulled out their weapons, and took off out of Cylva's house.
Thea didn't allow her feet to stutter the way they wanted to when she first caught sight of Malum. He wasn't in the city, but instead he was looming over it. His incredibly long wings stretched along the horizon and smoke billowed out of his nostrils as he glared down at something.
As Thea drew closer she realized it was Ana. "Fendrel," she shouted and pointed.
"Shit," he hissed and sprinted faster.
When they were just yards away, they screeched to a halt. Malum's head swung to them, and it made Thea's blood freeze in her veins. Here he was, whatever everyone in the world feared most, and he was seething right at Thea. It took everything in her not to cower.
Thea saw Ana trembling on the ground at Malum's feet and sent out a little prayer of thanks that she didn't appear injured. Thea's fingers tightened on her sword's hilt.
Then she bolted toward the dragon.
She saw his tail come swinging toward her, and she threw herself to the ground just a second before it would have slammed into her. Sand filled her mouth, but she spit it out, pushed herself to her feet, and ran again.
She could feel her friends running behind her, but she didn't turn around. She couldn't; if she lost focus for even a second, she would be doomed.
Malum's tail came for her again and Thea was prepared this time. She swung her sword with all her might at it. Malum roared in anger and pain, even as her sword mostly bounced off save for a tiny knick in the dragon's scales. She allowed herself a bit of pride at that.
And it was like something was unleashed in Thea.
Gone was the fear and horror. They were replaced by precision, confidence, training. Thea stopped seeing the legendary Malum and started seeing a beast in need of being put down. And she could do that.
Thea reached Malum's talons and without a second thought, she staked her sword into his foot. Hard.
Malum shrieked but Thea pushed it down harder still. She interlocked her fingers and pounded down on the hilt, hammering it home.
She didn't see Malum's wing thrust forward until it was too late. It rammed into her with enough force to crack a rib, sending her flying through the air. Thea's stomach plummeted as she fell.
She landed hard on her back, a searing agony shooting through her every nerve ending. Her vision blurred momentarily and her breath was sucked out of her, leaving her gasping like a shored fish.
"Thea?"
Thea turned toward the voice, blinking hard, and when her vision refocused, she found Ana still lying there, staring at Thea with concern and terror.
Thea wheezed as she caught her breath. She didn't need Isolde to know great damage had been done to her insides, but she didn't have time to think about that. So she just grunted, "Sword." Thea struggled to sit up. Every breath scraped razors against her lungs, but she knew she had to keep going.
