Page 575 - Fourth Wing

doesn’t seem to care as its claws dig into Deigh’s underbelly, like it’s

willing to mindlessly die to make the kill.
“It’s going to be all right,” I promise Liam, wind stinging my cheeks. It

has to be all right; even though the ground rushes at us, closer and closer

each second, it just…has to be.
Deigh screams again, the sound weaker and higher-pitched than the last.

It’s a cry.

“We have to pull up!” Tairn warns.
“He’s dying!” Liam lunges across Tairn’s back, reaching for his dragon as

if so he can touch the Red Daggertail one last time.

“Just hold—” I start, but Deigh’s shriek of pain closes my throat,
strangling the words. He’s being eviscerated, and there’s nothing we can do.

The wyvern roars in victory a heartbeat before they crash into the hillside
with a sickening thud. The wyvern limps away on its hind legs and the

talons that tip its wings.

Deigh doesn’t move.
Liam’s raw scream shatters my heart, and Tairn flares his wings, banking

hard to keep us from the same gruesome fate.
“DEIGH.” Tairn’s grief blasts through my body as he streams fire at the

wyvern’s retreating back, and Andarna’s cry fills my head.

No. If Deigh…
“Is he—” I can’t bring myself to finish.

“He’s gone.” Tairn reverses course, barreling for the hillside outside the

city walls where Deigh has fallen.
No. No. No. That means…

“Liam!” I grab for my friend as we land at speed, Tairn’s claws digging

into the ground to stop us close to Deigh’s body.
“You only have minutes,” Tairn warns.

“Deigh,” Liam whispers, falling limp against Tairn’s back.
“I’ll get you to him,” I promise, already fumbling with the strap’s buckle.