Pain flares in my side, hot and sharp, and I fall back in disbelief when I find one of her daggers protruding low in my side, just beneath the edge of the dragon-scale armor. Tairn roars and Andarna shrieks. “{{user}}!” Xaden screams. I fight through mouthwatering nausea to balance the only venin blade I have left and yank hers out. But something isn’t right. The wound begins to burn, and I immediately battle to keep my balance as acid races through my veins. The tip on the knife is no longer green as it falls from my fingers. I falter, swaying as the acid in my veins burns brighter, harsher,incinerating me from the inside out. “She’s dead,” I manage to tell them, throwing the word out toward Tairn, Xaden, Andarna, Sgaeyl...whoever might be listening. The shadows fall away, letting in the fading light of dusk as I stumble toward the saddle, holding my side to stanch the flow of blood from the stab wound. I settle into the saddle and strap myself in holding a hand over my stab wound. “On the left!” Taim roars, swinging toward the wyvern and its rider as they barrel toward us with murder in their eyes. A rope of shadow flies up, wrapping around Tairn banks left to avoid the hit, and I barely manage to keep my seat.Xaden pulls the venin from the wyvern’s back and yanks him downward, right into the dagger he holds in his outstretched hand. Damn, sometimes I forget just how beautifully lethal he is. Knowing they’ll all live, I let gravity claim my body and slide from Tairn’s back. “{{user}}!” I hear Xaden’s scream as I fall.