I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow.
Her shoulders slumped. “I hate this,” she sighed as she collapsed onto a bench, resting her head in her hands. “Logically, I understand, but emotionally? I don't want you all to do something risky while I remain here, helpless.”
Storm backed away and leaned against a hedge row next to Leif, while Kalliah approached to sit next to Lana. “Your feelings are understandable, Lana, but you are the only queen here. Let us be there for you, and for Brook— Atheria in other ways. We’reall here, able and willing to do anything to ensure we come out of this the victors. While this may be our home, and you may be our queen, you are first and foremost our friend. It’s that friendship, that love, that we fight for.”
Lana smiled and placed her hand on Kalliah’s, resting both on top of her leg. They sat there for a moment, leaning into each other,sharing further unspoken feelings, when we heard rustling.
Vivienne and Cassandra appeared between the hedges; their matching lavender gowns flowing behind them. They looked so content together.
“Judging from the look on Lana’s face, I’m assuming you convinced her to stay behind?” Cassandra asked, her voice low and full of hope.
Lana scowled at Cassandra before softening her gaze when she looked at Vivienne.
Lucien pranced around a hedge into the garden and strode toward Lana’s feet. He nuzzled into her dark brown leather shoes, then rested his head comfortably on top of them. His tail wagged slightly as he took in the surrounding courtyard.
The sound of a sharp intake of air in front of me returned my attention to the seers. Vivienne stood preternaturally still. Her eyes had turned milky white.
“Lana—” I ushered her over to my side for safety, and Lucien growled as she moved him out of the way. Worry laced her expression as she stared at Vivenne.
With Vivienne’s head tilted back, she spoke. “Sacred magic twisted and scorned, all so he can be reborn. Fire, fire set it free. Fire, fire, the world will be.” Her head snapped forward, as the words hung in the air and the color returned to her eyes.
Cassandra reached for Vivienne, holding her arm.
“I’m all right,” Vivienne said softly, but stumbled the moment she tried to take a step.
Cassandra didn’t let go of her sister but looked to me. “We must forge ahead. Time is of the essence.”
“What was that?” I asked, nodding to Vivienne.
The seers glanced at each other. “We’ve been getting glimpses, flashes of things, but nothing consistent. Fate is at a breaking point now. Everything that’s happened is converging into a final showdown. Each choice that is made reforges Fate’s path.”
“So we could ruin everything with one wrong move?” Jax asked.
Cassandra’s gaze softened, surprising since most of her time here had been spent snapping at everyone. “We are trying to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“How can Lucien help us?” Lana asked, shifting the conversation back to the task at hand.
“Lucien is a pugron.” Cassandra bent down and called him over to her. Lucien lifted his head before snorting out smoke and lying back down in front of Lana, ignoring the seer. Cassandra let out a disgruntledhmpf.“These creatures always did love Evelyn the best. She had quite a way with animals. No matter how hard I tried, I never had the touch she possessed.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Lana thought out loud, clearly reconciling all the information we knew about Evelyn and everything that had happened in the Southern Forests. “If Evelyn could command the strox and the razorven, a pugron would’ve been easy, I’d imagine."
Genuine smiles graced Cassandra’s and Vivienne’s lips as they simultaneously moved closer to Lana.
“Tell us what you know of a pugron’s powers, my dear,” Vivienne said.
Everyone waited for Lana to respond. She frowned, looking down at Lucien for a moment. “Well, I’m not exactly sure. It’salways been a mystery to all of us. I mean, he breathes fire, but he also moves about the castle in ways I’ve never understood.”
“He came to me many times when I was in the dungeon,” I offered my previous thoughts aloud. “He appeared out of nowhere and would vanish into thin air.”
“Yes, that is a pugron’s major ability.” Vivienne smiled. “Lucien is a portal keeper.”
Jax snorted. “A what? A portal keeper? Come on, is that real?”
Cassandra and Vivienne were unamused by Jax’s disbelief. “Yes,” they snapped in unison.
Jax quickly shut his mouth.
“Pugrons can create portals to anywhere they, or anyone in their familial line, have been before,” Vivienne continued. “All you have to do is ask and I believe he will take you to the volcano.”
