“Fenn…” Serenna’s voice was a plea, his name a lump in her throat. Her fingers tightened around Lykor’s arm as she held herself upright.
Lykor’s expression was hewn from stone, his eyes flashing with a dangerous gleam, a promise of violence. “We’ll come back for him.” Jaw tight, he shook free from her grasp and stalked toward the prince.
Serenna’s heart caved in, her lips parting in protest, but he was right—there was no time. She tried to reach Fenn’s mind through the bond, but he didn’t answer.
We’ll come back for you,she promised.
With Jassyn’s help, Lykor freed Vesryn from his bindings. As soon as the gold lifted from the prince’s skin, his agony crashed into Serenna’s senses—a tidal wave of pain.
She nearly fainted from the force of it, like he had. Fighting to stay alert, she clenched her teeth, separating his suffering from her mind.
Lykor gathered Vesryn’s limp and bloodied form. He grunted as he rose with the prince slung over his shoulders, his own legs unsteady, bare feet sliding in the sand.
Only now did Serenna wonder what the druids were waiting for. An unnatural silence had clotted around the veil of darkness, but surely they would strike.
Just as Lykor tore open a portal, the stillness shattered.
The Starshard screamed on the other side of Lykor’s shadows. Serenna flinched. Time slowed, the pitch climbing. Each second stretched as she braced herself for the blow that would end them.
“Get through the portal!” Lykor barked, his harsh command a distant shout.
Serenna stumbled toward the gateway, each step searing like she was walking on coals.
A blade of light tore through the darkness. Her stomach flipped as the rending unraveled and sunlight flooded back over them.
Serenna blinked, the female druid coming into focus in the brightness. She stood with her claw extended, jewelry hovering in the air where Lykor’s barrier had been.
Serenna stopped in her tracks.
But not because of the Starshard. Something else stole the breath from her lungs.
The druids were kneeling.
Hundreds, spread out across the sand. Wings folded tight, heads bowed low. At the forefront stood the female—the orchestrator of their torment. Slowly, she lowered her arm, her white robes fluttering in the breeze.
Disbelief clamped around Serenna’s chest. She hardly dared to breathe. Her eyes darted to Jassyn and Lykor, searching for confirmation—proof that they saw it too. That her mind hadn’t broken and fabricated an illusion.
Even Lykor had gone still, his lip curled in a silent snarl. Jassyn stood just as rigid, mouth parted as if words had abandoned him entirely.
Before Serenna could make any sense of it, the leader dropped to her knees. She unclasped the jewelry from her wrist, the Starshard and its ornaments trembling in her grip as she lifted them toward Serenna.
Lykor’s growl cut through the silence. “It could be a trap.” Shadows writhed around him, coiling like his suspicion. “We need to leave.”
“They already had the chance to kill us,” Jassyn murmured, eyes flicking over the prostrating druids.
“And we’re still stretching our necks across the chopping block by lingering,” Lykor gritted out as he hefted the prince onhis shoulders. But despite his words, he made no move toward the portal.
Serenna’s gaze swept across the druids, searching for the slightest flicker of deceit. But nothing stirred, their faces remaining downcast.
When the leader finally spoke, her voice was no longer cold—it quivered on the cusp of fear. “We are the remnant,” she whispered, her repeated words fragile yet steeped in reverence. Her eyes slowly met Serenna’s, the vertical pupils shifting to full circles. “For a thousand years, we’ve been vigilant wardens of Asharyn, this sacred city. We have awaited the New Dawn—the rise of the children of earth and starlight.”
Serenna barely breathed as the druid’s words struck her, a revelation sinking into her bones.The children of earth and starlight.The same phrase the dragon in the Heart had used when it had first spoken to her.
Those like her and Jassyn. Shaman and elf. Blood woven from both worlds.
Hesitantly, the female crawled forward, the Starshard clutched in her talons. Serenna stiffened, her heart slamming wildly against her ribs. The druid’s shaking fingers reached toward her bare feet, but Serenna recoiled, shuffling back.
The leader didn’t pursue further. Instead, her claws fell limply to the sand, her forehead touching the ground. She placed the gem before her, shoving the jewelry forward like some offering of peace.
