But there was no pain. He didn’t feel anything as darkness poured in and claimed him in full.
CHAPTER 45
SERENNA
Serenna jolted awake, a gasp scraping against her parched throat. Arms stretched high above her head, she dangled half-suspended, toes barely skimming the ground. Her muscles ached, strung so tightly that they threatened to snap.
The world was too bright, too hot. Sand blistered beneath her feet as her body roasted. The sun blazed at its zenith, a merciless inferno knifing into her skull. Had a full day passed?
Sticky with grime, she clenched her eyes shut, recoiling from the glare. Sweat carved trails down her face as the heat crushed her, wringing out every drop of moisture.
Serenna tried to swallow, but her shriveled tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Weak and heavy, her head lolled back, colliding with unyielding stone. The strike of pain ricocheted down her spine, tearing her eyes open despite the sun’s blinding wrath.
Vision swimming, she blinked up at the red pillar looming behind her, the rough sandstone scraping her bare skin raw. Chains yanked her arms high, her shoulders throbbing at the punishing angle. Gold shackles seared into her flesh, branding her with heat.
She was naked and tethered—helpless and bound.
Scattered memories surged forward in waves. Flashes of Fenn facing an ambush, of shadowed forms shifting at the edges of her sight.
But she’d been poisoned. Too weak to lift a hand, unable to fight.
Serenna’s breath came shallow and quick, refusing to reach her lungs. With every ragged gasp, her lips cracked further, sticking against her gums.
Fenn.The tether left behind a void where her bonds should be.Where is he?
Summoning the scraps of her strength, Serenna forced her head up. Agony ripped through her neck, every tendon shrieking in protest. Gritting her teeth, she fought to bring her senses into focus.
Sound took shape first. A violent clang of metal striking against stone rang out to her right. Squinting, Serenna turned her head, each inch a battle.
Her eyes landed on Lykor, stripped bare and bound to a pillar, just like her, but blood was crusted on half of his face.What is he doing here?
Enraged, he snarled a storm of curses between sawing breaths. Thrashing against his restraints, every muscle bulged and quivered beneath sun-blistered skin. Blood glistened along his wrists where the metal had split flesh, the rest of him covered with sweat and dust. A rabid animal caged, he writhed with fangs bared, attention riveted on something beside him.
Serenna followed his gaze, her heart lurching up her throat.
Head slumped forward, Jassyn hung limp against another pillar. Unmoving but breathing, with dried blood crusted across his face.
Panic spiked, sharper than before, solidifying Serenna’s marrow to ice. Her pulse pounded as she twisted her neck to herother side, pushing past a lance of pain that shot through her spine. She had to see. Had to know.
Vesryn.
Like Jassyn, the prince sagged in his chains, suspended by the cruel links. Silvery hair clung to his face in damp tangles, his chest barely stirring. His skin gleamed with sweat, every bare inch of him red and welted from the blazing sun.
Shapes came into focus as Serenna squinted and scanned the circular crater that trapped them, a cage of sand. Red stone walls towered, reaching skyward, sealing them within a crucible of heat and light.
Fenn wasn’t here. Serenna’s thoughts fractured, more frantic now.Where is he?
Beyond Lykor’s snarls, a distant roar built to a crescendo.
Serenna lifted her gaze. Her eyes burned as she peered into the glare, the air shimmering with distortion. Dark silhouettes hovered against the molten sky.
Shadows. Withwings.
Hundreds of them, flapping and swooping into the yawning mouth of the pit, gliding down to perch upon tiered rows of stone seats that wrapped around the perimeter of this sinister furnace. Black scales on their arms glittered, drinking in the light as though they thrived on the very heat that was scorching her.
Serenna’s breath snagged, each thunderous wingbeat hammering against her skull. A crushing weight of understanding wound tight around her chest, her heart drumming a frenzied rhythm.
These had to be druids.
