Frynn.
I’d talked to him many times, but he’d never been this close to the surface. I suppose with the complete change, I'd better get used to it. “They’ll burn me alive,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
“You’re already burning,”he answered, his tone almost amused.“But you’ve forgotten—frost is just heat in reverse.”
What the fuck did that mean? The Flame struck again, a tidal wave of molten energy that should’ve erased me. Instead, Frynn roared. The sound wasn’t in my ears—it was ineverything.
Then I let the change swallow me whole.
Ice bloomed outward in fractal patterns, dazzling against the fire. The Welcoming Flame hesitated, confused—then tried to consume it.
But the frost didn’t die.
It fought back.
The fire froze midair—a storm of glass and light—and I realized what Frynn was doing. He wasn’t rejecting the flame. He was teaching it balance.
Zane shouted from somewhere beyond the haze, his voice rough and fierce. “Zeke!”
Through the glow, I saw him—wings flared, his own Draxon form breaking through. Drakk was an immense shape of burningbronze and fury. His roar joined the storm, shaking Nyberie to its core.
“Hold your ground, brother,”Drakk’s voice thundered through the flames.“Show them your strength.”
I spread my wings wide, calling every shard of cold left in me. Frost split the ground, climbing like veins up the volcano’s side. “You want to see what doesn’t belong?” I growled.
Frynn laughed inside me—the sound sharp, wild, and proud.“Now you remember who you are.”
The fire surged one final time, and I didn’t fight it. I embraced it—let it mix with the frost until steam and lightning burst outward in a shockwave that tore through the clouds.
When it cleared, the flame was gone.
The volcano had gone silent.
The Draxon who had summoned the trial now bowed his massive head.“Frost-born who conquered flame,”it rumbled.“You are no longer half. You are whole.”
Zane landed beside me, smoke rising from his shoulders, eyes blazing gold. “Well,” he said, grinning. “Looks like Nyberie just got colder.”
I exhaled, steam curling from my lips. “Let’s hope it’s ready for what’s coming.”
Behind us, the ground trembled again—not from the trial, but from something answering it. Something far older than any Draxon we’d seen.
Frynn stirred inside me, his tone suddenly sharp. “They’ve felt us. The true elders. And they’re waking up.”
Chapter 17
Oren
Ihit the ground hard enough to rattle my bones. The sand here wasn’treallysand—it was glass ground fine by fire. It hissed under me, hot enough to burn through the layers of my gear.
I rolled to my feet, every nerve alive with static. The air was thick, metallic, charged—like the moment before a storm breaks.
Nathan emerged from the smoke, coughing and smoldering. “If I ever do that again,” he rasped, “knock me out first.” Then he frowned and said in a low, threatening tone, “Don’t tell my Nexi I said that.”
“Noted,” I smirked. My voice came out raw, still buzzing from the portal. I could taste ozone, feel lightning under my skin like something alive and impatient.
Jet floated a few feet off the ground, scanning the horizon—calm,toocalm. That was his tell, I’d learned that over these past few months.
Everything about this place felt wrong. The sky was bleeding light, rivers of molten gold running through black peaks, and the ground beneath us vibrated as if it were breathing.
