Unleash the Storm Read Online Free

in the impenetrable darkness. The night dragged on, broken only by their brief, infrequent rest stops. Ash, Raum, and the boys could fly for long stretches without breaks but the women couldn’t. Coby was already struggling, her pregnancy far enough along that she probably shouldn’t be exerting herself so much. Ivria had to carry Yana, who was too frightened to ride a dragon with someone else. Jezel didn’t have a lot of stamina either. The only one who looked capable of keeping up with the guys was the mysterious Mahala.
    Piper’s whole body ached with tired stiffness by the time a line of light lit the right side of Periskios, a razor-thin crescent in the black sky.
    Raum began to descend. Zwi glided through dark oblivion, following Raum’s tiny light. Jagged peaks appeared all around them as more sunlight slipped around the dark shape of Periskios, revealing the string of flying draconians and dragons, their wings beating tiredly. She twisted to look back at the distant shape of Ash guarding their backs.
    Raum descended toward the side of a steep mountain, the terrain clearly unsuitable for a camp. As the sheer rock face blotted out all else, he banked to the left and glided down between the main peak and a smaller offshoot. On the other side, a sheltered dip in the rock created a large, empty bowl, invisible from every angle but directly overhead.
    They all swooped down into the bowl, landing with the sound of rushing air and beating wings. The dragons chuffed and groaned in relief, folding their wings the moment their passengers dismounted. Raisa jumped to the ground, her usual bubbly energy diminished but not entirely gone. Piper slid off more carefully, her legs stiff and weak. She was feeling the exhaustion even in her daemon form, which meant it was time to switch back and recharge. Though using up her magic exhausted her, her human body didn’t handle the demands of dragon-back travel in the sometimes harsh Underworld weather very well.
    Kiev, Teva, and Ash drifted in last. As soon as they landed, the two draconians pulled the packs off the weary dragon. Teva transformed back to his dragonet form the moment he was free of his burden and jumped onto Kiev’s shoulder, hanging limply.
    “Couldn’t have found something a bit more comfortable, Raum?” Coby asked, looking around the bowl of rock with a glum expression as the brightening sunlight revealed just how barren it was. “Rock beds aren’t the most comfortable.”
    “We had a good reason for selecting this spot,” he replied. “Come see.”
    He strode toward the farthest end of the bowl, where the rock walls rose to the towering summit, and disappeared into a crag. Eyebrows shooting up, Piper exchanged a look with Lyre and they hurried after him, the other draconians following curiously. Her legs ached but she traipsed into the crag and discovered a winding path that steepened as it curved between sheer-sided rocks. Huffing, she climbed up the last of the incline and reached level ground.
    Raum stood a few feet away, waiting. Beyond him, a large pool of water emitted white steam that rose in lazy spirals. Water cascaded over a short waterfall into the pool and another dozen plumes of steam marked other hot pools higher up the slope.
    “Hot springs!” Seiya gasped. “Raum, how did you find this?”
    “We spotted the steam while we were scouting our route.”
    “I forgive you, Raum,” Coby said magnanimously, staring greedily at the hot water. “This is far better than a soft bed.”
    Talking excitedly, the women started back down the path, assigning tasks to set up camp as quickly as possible. Piper listened to their voices grow distant as she walked over to the edge of the pool and knelt by the damp rocks. Hot steam washed over her face. The smell of sulfur was faint but enough to warn it was not drinking water. She dipped her fingers in and closed her eyes. Ah, the temperature was perfect.
    “You okay?”
    Piper jumped in surprise, looking