Obsidian scales gleamed as the pressure of magic hung around them. The light seemed to falter near Cinderax, his midnight frame devouring the chamber’s glow.
Kaedryn was the first to move, rushing forward. Every scale that had emerged to protect her from the prince’s sunfire melted seamlessly back into her skin. She dropped to her knees at the dais, wings tight against her back, claws trembling as they folded over her heart.
Serenna’s breath hitched when Cinderax’s eyelids fluttered open. Twin coals fanned to life as a second, translucent veil swept over his eyes before retracting.
Cinderax lifted his head, shaking off the slumber of a millennium as ripples coursed down the scaled frills lining his skull. Blinking slowly, he scanned the chamber.
The hairs along Serenna’s arms lifted as his eyes met hers. Vertical pupils contracted, thin as blade edges, his nostrils flaring as if catching a scent.
For a single breath, shefeltsomething—a recognition, a thread that had stretched between them long before this moment.
She knew, without knowingwhy, that he wasn’t one of the dragons she’d spoken to through the Heart. Her pulse quickened the longer he watched her, the weight of his presence pressing against her ribs, searching and knowing.
“Cinderax,” Kaedryn whispered, eyes drenched with hope.
Talons scraped against stone as the dragon uncoiled and rose. He stretched with the languid grace of a feline—just as Lykor had scornfully likened him to earlier.
Serenna stepped forward, Vesryn and Fenn flanking her. Jassyn and Lykor moved in beside them, closing in around Kaedryn. The druid nodded before rising to her feet, something unspoken clearly passing between her and Cinderax.
Lykor’s eyes narrowed. “Is anything running through that lizard’s mind or is he just going to stare at us all day?”
Serenna shot Lykor a warning look, but he ignored her. Was he incapable of spending five minutes without antagonizing their allies? Oranyonefor that matter?
Over her shoulder, Kaedryn pierced him with a glare that was sharp enough to draw blood. “We scalebound can commune with dragons,” she said. “I’m informing Cinderax that youare the ones who freed him. Unless, of course, you’d prefer incineration over his gratitude.”
Cinderax shifted, a low rumble building in his chest before a plume of smoke curled from his snout.
Lykor barked a dry laugh, crossing his arms over his armor. “Yes, we’re all thoroughly awed by your prowess.”
He stepped closer, his patience clearly spent. Serenna knew exactly where this was going—he’d held back long enough and now his interrogation would begin.
Kaedryn’s claw shot out, barring his path, the talons on her wing tips clicking together as she swiveled to face him.
Lykor’s sneer slashed across his face, but he didn’t push past her. “Does he at least know where the other dragons are? Or is this what we should expect from all of them?”
“Lykor!” Serenna hissed.
Cinderax’s eyes blazed. Without warning, he vaulted off the platform, wings snapping open to glide over their heads.
Maroon light filtered through the thin leather, the color unexpected against his obsidian scales. Landing at the chamber’s edge, he lashed his tail once before padding into the tunnel.
Kaedryn swiftly followed, skewering Lykor with another glare. “Cinderax wishes to see the sun and sky,” she called over her shoulder, ignoring Lykor’s question. “And to reunite with the other scalebound before weighing judgment on you.”
“Judgment?” Lykor’s snarl crashed through the chamber as he stormed after her, boots slamming against the stone. “We freed that winged weasel and he dares to passjudgmenton us?”
Kaedryn tossed her claws up, but she didn’t slow, flowing up the stairs without a backward glance. They all fell into step behind her, following the dragon to the lake’s surface.
Serenna exhaled slowly, only now registering the toll Vesryn’s sunfire had taken on her—on all of them exceptKaedryn. Beneath her burns, something inside her felt…unsteady.As though the magic had left its imprint deeper than scalded flesh, altering something vital. An unnatural twist churned in her middle, Vesryn’s power clinging to her like heat to stone long after sunset.
As they ascended, Jassyn extended ribbons of mending light. He started with the prince, whose wounds ran the deepest. Vesryn offered a weary grin, the edges worn with exhaustion, but he ruffled Jassyn’s curls.
Returning the favor, the prince sparked his own talent. Jassyn’s lips thinned, but after a beat, he conceded, allowing Vesryn to mend him.
Serenna breathed a relieved sigh when Jassyn’s healing light sank into her next, the strange pangs receding. His gaze was distant, brow furrowed with fierce concentration before he shook his head, murmuring something to himself about internal damage.
While Jassyn moved to mend Fenn and Lykor, Serenna reached for Vesryn’s hand. “Next time you summon sunfire,” she said, squeezing his fingers, “maybe start a little slower?”
Vesryn snorted, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. “You know that’s really not one of my talents.”
