The sun crawled toward the horizon while Gabriel positioned himself among the rocks.

The outcropping he'd chosen jutted from the ravine wall twenty meters up, hidden by an overhang that kept it in perpetual shadow. From this position, he could see the entire corridor carved between the peaks.

Perfect for an ambush.

If the wyvern used this route.

If his timing was right.

If he could actually land on a flying creature.

Gabriel pushed the doubts aside and focused on what needed to be done.

Both swords came free from their sheaths. He examined each edge, testing them against his thumb. Sharp. The Ironscale ore Tormund had forged them from held an edge that lasted.

He resheathed one sword and kept the other in hand, blade angled down so no reflection would give away his position.

Then he settled in to wait.

Across the ravine, Tess had wedged herself into a crevice in the opposite wall. High enough that the wyvern wouldn't spot her until after Gabriel made his move. Her bow was strung, a dozen arrows laid out within easy reach.

She met his eyes across the distance.

Gabriel nodded once.

She returned it.

The sun touched the peaks.

Gabriel's danger sense spiked.

He went absolutely still, controlling his breathing the way he'd been trained. Every muscle relaxed except those needed to maintain his position. His heartbeat slowed, measured, calm.

Below, shadows stretched across the ravine floor as twilight approached.

The wyvern always hunted at dusk.

Always.

A sound echoed through the peaks. Not quite a roar. Something between a hawk's scream and stone grinding against stone.

Gabriel's grip tightened fractionally on his sword.

The sound came again, closer now. Wind rushed through the ravine as something massive displaced the air above.

Then he saw it.

The wyvern emerged from behind the eastern peak, wings spread so wide they seemed to fill the sky. Fifteen meters from snout to tail, scales pure white that caught the dying sunlight and reflected it like polished diamond.

Golden eyes.

Four legs with talons that could shred steel.

A tail thick as a tree trunk.

It flew with grace that shouldn't exist in something so large, wings barely moving as it glided through the corridor.

The creature's head turned left, then right, golden eyes scanning the ground for prey.

Gabriel stopped breathing entirely.

The wyvern passed beneath his position. Close enough that he could see individual scales, could count the talons on each foot, could hear the whisper of air flowing over its wings.

He stepped off the ledge.

For a heartbeat, there was only empty air and the rapidly approaching back of a creature that could kill him with a casual swipe of its claws.

Gabriel angled his body mid-fall, both swords now in his hands, points aimed downward at the joints where wing met body.

The wyvern sensed him.

Its head snapped up, golden eyes going wide.

Gabriel's blades punched through scales and into flesh.

The impact drove him down onto the wyvern's back. His legs locked around its neck, muscles straining to maintain grip as the creature's body tried to throw him off.

The wyvern's roar was physical.

A wall of sound that slammed into Gabriel and nearly knocked him loose. His ears rang. Blood trickled from his nose.

But his swords were buried deep in the wing joints, and he refused to let go.

The wyvern's flight pattern shattered. It banked hard right, then harder left, trying to shake him off through sheer force. Gabriel's vision blurred as momentum threatened to tear him away.

An arrow whistled past his head, missing the wyvern's eye by inches.

Tess was shooting.

The wyvern folded its wings and dove.

The ground rushed up at them, grey stone and white snow growing larger by the second. Wind screamed past Gabriel's face, tearing at his grip.

Gabriel planted his boots against the wyvern's shoulders and pulled his swords free. Black blood sprayed from the wounds, warm against his frozen hands.

The creature's right wing wasn't extending properly now. The blade had severed muscle and tendon.

Twenty meters from impact, the wyvern spread its wings to arrest the dive.

The damaged wing buckled under the strain.

They hit the ground.

The impact threw Gabriel clear. He lost both swords in the tumble, his body rolling across frozen stone before slamming into a boulder hard enough to crack it.

Pain exploded through his ribs. Multiple breaks.

They healed before he could draw his next breath.

The wyvern recovered faster.

It surged to its feet, damaged wing dragging in the snow, and turned to face him with that burning with rage.

Gabriel's swords lay ten meters away, half-buried in a snowbank.

The wyvern charged.

Gabriel rolled left as talons carved through the ground where he'd been lying. Chips of rock sprayed across his face, drawing blood that froze on his skin.

He came up running, making for his weapons.

The wyvern's tail lashed out.

Gabriel saw it coming but couldn't dodge in time. The appendage caught him in the ribs and launched him sideways into the ravine wall.

The pain lingered.

Gabriel dropped as the wyvern's jaws snapped shut where his head had been. Teeth longer than his fingers scored deep lines in the stone behind him.

He scrambled beneath the creature, using its size against it. In the tight space under its body, the wyvern couldn't bring its primary weapons to bear.

Gabriel grabbed one of its legs and hauled himself up its side, fingers finding purchase between scales that were slick with the creature's own blood.

The wyvern slammed its body against the ravine walls, trying to crush him.

Gabriel held on.

An arrow struck the wyvern's shoulder and bounced off harmlessly. Another hit near its eye, making it flinch and shake its head.

Tess was still shooting, still trying.

Gabriel reached the creature's back and spotted his swords. One lay within reach if he could just stretch far enough to—

The wyvern's wing came down like a hammer.

Gabriel saw it but couldn't move in time. The impact drove him into the ground, snow and rock erupting around him from the force.

Everything went white.

When vision returned, the wyvern loomed above him, jaws opening wide.

Gabriel's hand shot out on instinct.

Red smoke exploded from his palm, a wall of crimson fog that slammed into the wyvern's face and made it recoil with a sound like surprise.

Gabriel rolled clear and grabbed his swords.

The wyvern shook its head violently, eyes watering from the smoke.

Gabriel attacked.

He closed the distance in three strides, both blades slicing through the air in calculated swings. The first cut opened a line across the wyvern's chest, parting scales and drawing more black blood. The second aimed for its throat.

The wyvern moved.

Faster than something its size should ever move.

Its claw caught Gabriel's shoulder, talons punching through flesh and scraping bone. The force of the blow spun him around and slammed him face-first into the snow.

Blood poured from the wounds.

They began closing, flesh knitting back together as red smoke evaporated from the area, while Gabriel pushed himself to his feet.

The wyvern watched him rise. Its head tilted slightly.

It knew what he was now.

Knew he wouldn't stay down.

The creature's chest expanded, ribs spreading wide.

Gabriel's danger sense screamed a warning.

He dove left as the wyvern exhaled.

The air itself froze solid. Ice formed instantly on every surface, spreading outward in a wave of absolute cold that transformed the ravine into a frozen hell.

Gabriel hit the ground and rolled behind a boulder as frost spread across where he'd been standing. The stone cracked from the temperature shock, splitting with sounds like breaking bones.

His armour was covered in ice. His breath came out as solid crystals that fell to the ground and shattered.

The red smoke that had been seeping from his skin froze and fell away like ash.

The wyvern advanced slowly, limping on its wounded side but clearly confident now.

Gabriel's swords felt heavy in his numb hands. The cold was affecting him, slowing his movements, dulling the reflexes he relied on.

Across the ravine, Tess fired another arrow.

It struck the wyvern's shoulder and bounced off without penetrating the scales.

The creature's head turned toward her position.

Gabriel saw its chest expand again, saw frost gathering in its throat.

"No."

The word came out quiet, but absolute.

He moved without thinking, crossing the distance between him and the wyvern faster than he should have been able to.

Everything went silent.

The only thing that existed was reaching the wyvern before it could exhale, before it could kill Tess.

Gabriel's eyes shifted.

Black consuming the red.

Smoke erupted from every pore in his body.

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