“Yes,” Shadow confirmed. “Sacrifice into the mists is common.”

Now it was my turn. Fuck.

The others had to lift themselves up as well, Inky and Midnight doing their best to shield us all from the shooting spurts of lava attempting to take us out. Lava that didn’t bother me or my power, and knowing I might have the only shot, I darted forward, blasting Dannie with a bolt of pure energy.

We had to stop her before this army of undead reached us. They’d clearly be very hard to, uh… kill, giving her a true advantage. My power was deflected by a bolt of her own, and she countered with a strike back at me.

I’d been ready for it, swiping it aside, surprised that she did feel much weaker. We had to finish this shit before she had time to recharge, and that meant I could not stop now.

I attacked with force, and every time her power hit me, it was like a sledgehammer to my gut, but I was fueled by such anger and determination that I barely let it faze me. My determination to save my loved ones added a ferocity to my attack that she was missing.

Her movements slowed, and when she got her shield up a second too slow, I was able to hit her at full power, slamming her against the wall of the castle, the force sending feathers flying around her.

“Give up the stone, Dannie,” I shouted at her. “Give it up and have a chance at redemption.”

At this point, I noticed that Shadow was at my side, but so far, he was allowing me to take the lead in this one-on-one battle. It cost him to do so, if the tense expression on his face was any indication, but his faith in me was too strong to break his resolve.

Love. He spoke it at an expert level.

Dannie laughed, a screeching, chill-inducing sound, and I blasted her again, but she managed to slip free. She might have been weaker, but she was far from fragile, especially as her literal zombie fire creatures exploded across the land. There was just so much to unpack about what was going on here. Not time for that, though.

Shadow joined me this time, the two of us using our energy to try to contain her, all the while Dannie stepped up her game, sending out her long tail feathers to strike at us. I had no idea what was going to happen if they hit us, but thankfully, Shadow was able to cut them off before we had a chance to find out.

At one point, he managed to bind her powers—he was an expert at that after all—but she only laughed again and broke free even faster than she had when I’d held her against the wall. As she got loose, I slammed her as hard as I could, and Shadow’s power increased at my side until my skin hurt from the hot blast of his energy. But together, we were holding her. The only problem was that Len couldn’t get close enough to attempt to remove the stone. The fae was trapped in the middle of Inky and Midnight, who were shielding all of our friends from the lava and creatures. And they were almost losing the battle thanks to powerful mist-driven zombies.

It had been a mistake to bring her back to the mists, but then again, maybe she would have used the creatures against us on the island. Dannie always had ten plans to fall back on, leaving the rest of us scrambling. Not one of us had expected she could do this, though, and there was no contingency plan for her secret lava army.

“This was where she was funneling her power in the cage,” Shadow bit out, pushing more power against the phoenix. “Her army needed to rise at the same time she broke free. That fucking stone is giving her near unlimited power.”

“Hence why we need it freed,” I groaned, my words barely audible.

For the first time since my rebirth, I felt my energy waning.

“I’m here.” Len’s words whispered through our ears, carried on his fae energy. “Hold her for a few more minutes, and I’ll work my Silver Magic on her.”

A few more minutes; it sounded so short when someone said it, but the reality of holding a raging, powerful phoenix goddess was akin to a human trying to hold a bull still for a few minutes.

Impossible and deadly.

Shadow joined me in his Anubis form, powering himself up further. Dannie looked between us and let out a squawk, shaking her head. “Neither of you are natural,” she managed to say through our hold. “I broke the balance with you both. A balance I must repair.”

It was a warning that this time she would not hesitate to kill us, but who the fuck was surprised by that? We all knew she had learned her lesson in leaving threats alive. Only one side of this war was walking away today.

Shadow and I gave it everything we had to hold her, and I thought we were going to make it, right up until she drew on whatever she had left in her stone, blasting us back. I stumbled, but Shadow caught me before I could go too far.

“We need the others,” he said near my ear. “All of us have to hold her for Len.”

At that, Inky and Midnight swirled closer, bringing with them the others from our pack. The two mists raced at the goddess, slamming her against the side of the castle again, with enough force that the stone and brick shattered under her.

Our mists were not as strong as the wild and free version, but they were also not to be underestimated. Unfortunately, the moment they went for Dannie, the lava creatures went for us.

Can you form a protective barrier against the dead army? I asked Midnight. Give us a chance to get the stone?

It swelled up larger, sparks flying around it. I can hold them for a few minutes. Maybe more if Inky helps.

Do it.

The pair released Dannie, who zapped out at them with her power, but she was either too slow or off-kilter because she missed them completely, her energy shooting into the lava chasm.

Or no, wait, that must have been her plan all along because the second her energy disappeared over the cliffs and into the abyss below, a huge raging wave of red fire rose with it.

Great. Molten tsunami.

“Go!” I screamed to Midnight. “Get the barrier up so we have a chance.”

I barely got my last words out before Dannie’s power slammed Shadow and me into the ground. We hit hard, and if I had been a straight-up shifter still, all my bones would have shattered. As it was, the pain strongly pulsed through my body as she continued to press against us, driving our bodies into the crumbling and broken castle grounds.

How the fuck was she so strong? It just never ended, and even with the cage having drained her as intended, there was still too much for us to counter.

Len had warned us about the stone, and what would happen if it fell into enemy hands, and I couldn’t think of a way to win against her, not when so many of us were losing strength. Digging deeper, I searched for a way to push back again, but there was no give in her attack. No weakness to manipulate.