Back at the fortress, the heavy fighting had abruptly ended. Eagle carcasses littered the foothills, while the last few White Devil Eagles scattered in panic, leaderless.
Soldiers steadied themselves among the smoldering rubble, patching wounds and collecting salvage.
It felt surreal—hours earlier, they'd prepared to face certain doom, only to be rescued by a creature they had long feared or misunderstood.
Standing on a partially collapsed wall, Zack Reed beamed at the sight of the diminishing serpent. "He really came," he breathed. "For years, we suspected the stories of a serpent god might be half myths. But now we know. He saved us."
Next to him, Victor Hale had just returned from a brief flight, battered and fatigued from battling the Silver Dome Lord's subordinates.