It crawled over my skin, as if it wanted to erase me.
When I opened my eyes, the world was red and gold, an endless horizon of volcanic peaks bleeding rivers of light. The air shimmered, thick with smoke and the metallic taste of ash.
I rolled to my side, coughing, and frost ghosted across the black sand where my hands touched it. Steam hissed up around me in angry plumes.
Zane was already standing, smoke rising from his shoulders. His eyes gleamed like molten gold, the heat loving him—claiming him. He grinned when he saw the frost. “Brother, the natives aren’t going to love that Jack Frost thing you’ve got going on.”
“Good,” I rasped, forcing myself upright. My chest ached like I’d swallowed lightning. “Might as well start as I intend to go on.” The atmosphere wasn’t that different than Berrick’s forge.
The ground beneath us thrummed—not with tremors, but with breath. The whole land was alive, and it didn’t like what it felt in me.
“What the hell is that?” I muttered to myself.
From the haze beyond the molten ridges, shadows unfurled—massive shapes with wings like stormfronts. Scales glittering, eyes molten and knowing.
Draxon.
The sight hit like a memory from another life. My blood responded, roaring in my veins—fire and frost fighting to coexist.
The largest of them landed with an earth-splitting boom, its wings folding in a cascade of sparks. Its scales burned like living bronze, and its eyes pinned us both where we stood.“Halflings.”
The voice filled my skull, deep as a cathedral bell.“You reek of mortal air and stolen flame. Speak, or burn.”
Zane straightened. “We came to find our Nexus. Reverie Hawthorne, she’s being kept in Bellona.”
“There is no Nexus in Nyberie. Only Draxon and ash.”The huge Draxon sneered in my direction.“There also is no frost Draxon in existence.”
Something inside me broke loose—a cold fury that cut through the heat. Frost bled down my arms, spilling over my fingers until the sand froze solid beneath my feet. “Then you’ve forgotten your history,” my voice deepening until it echoed with something not human. “Because I remember the truth. Iamthe truth.”
The Draxon tilted its massive head, studying me. Steam curled where my ice met its heat, neither willing to yield.“You carry cold where there should be fire,”it rumbled.“An abomination of the flame.”
Zane stepped closer to me, his hand sparking with heat that didn’t burn. “He’s no abomination. He’s my brother. Zeke’s twice the Draxon any of you will ever be.” Then he flipped them off… with both hands.
The creature’s eyes narrowed, amused. And if I’m being frank, I also detected a little confusion.“Then prove it.”
The volcano behind it roared to life—rivers of molten gold spilling down its sides.
“Enter the Welcoming Flame. Survive the fire that rejects you.”
The heat surged, a living wave that rolled toward me, bright enough to blind.
I didn’t move, nor did I flinch.
Zane’s hand landed hard on my shoulder. “You can do this—” He waggled his brows, “or I’ll be the only ginger in Reverie’s bed.”
I smirked, frost billowing from my mouth as I spoke, “That will never happen. Get ready to be amazed.”
The fire hit—and I heard Zane roar my name.
Frost exploded outward, colliding with the inferno, and for one heartbeat, Nyberie froze.
Then fire swallowed everything.
I heard a voice saying,“Frost in our cradle. Ice in our bloodline. You don’t belong here.”
The world around me blurred—the cliffs, the volcano, even Zane’s shout—all dissolved into a sea of molten gold. The flame rose higher, pressing against my skin like judgment.
Then another voice cut through the inferno, low and ancient, curling through my thought like smoke.“Let me through, boy.”
