A foreboding dread soured Jassyn’s stomach but he rammed into Elashor’s mind, forcing him to yield everything.What is Galaeryn planning?
A storm twisted in Elashor’s thoughts, the wrath of the Maelstrom, churning in the Cerulean Sea. Tendrils of theking’s ambitions unraveled before him, exposing their schemes—Galaeryn’s intent to use shamans to subdue the magical storm and sail to distant shores.
Jassyn’s question surged forward.Why does he want to cross the sea?
Baring his teeth, Elashor fought against him, trying to shield their secrets. But the dam broke, his memories crashing through Jassyn’s mind in an unstoppable tide.
That dormant magic will be ours,Galaeryn had told Elashor.The Aelfyn demand it.
Thoughts spiraling, Jassyn reeled, struggling to process the flood of information. The Aelfyn? The very notion defied reason—the elves’ ancestors had been extinct for millennia.
Show me how that’s possible,Jassyn ordered.
Through Elashor’s eyes, the past unfolded—the general had bound himself to the king’s cause, his hunger for power insatiable. He’d fed on Galaeryn’s aspirations, their shared pursuit of supremacy a dark alliance.
Yet Elashor had watched and waited as Galaeryn siphoned Essence over the years. The compounded magic had reshaped the king, augmenting his talents, warping his very being.
Jade eyes had morphed to molten silver, a transformation Galaeryn believed aligned him with their revered ancestors. It was then that he began claiming the Aelfyn spoke to him—distant whispers carried on starlight, urging him to harvest the world’s slumbering power.
Their ancient ancestors had failed before, their strength matched by the dragons, guardians of the earth. The Aelfyn had all but destroyed themselves in the process, leaving the skies stripped of winged protectors in a bitter act of vengeance.
Jassyn flinched as a hand clamped onto his shoulder, wrenching him free from Elashor’s mind.
“Stop,” Vesryn commanded, dragging him away from the general.
Stumbling, Jassyn blinked rapidly. His vision blurred, the past and present colliding. Regaining his balance, he shoved Vesryn off.
“I’m not finished yet,” he snapped, swiping irritably at an itch beneath his nose. Blood smeared his hand, jolting him back to the barn. His body trembled, sweat plastering his curls to his face, each breath a gasp like he was drowning on air.
The stables sharpened around him. They were alone. Vesryn’s portal had vanished, leaving only the aftermath of destruction. Scores of Kyansari’s soldiers writhed in shadows, restrained by the prince’s magic. The rest—dead or dying—were scattered across the blood-soaked floor.
Jassyn stumbled back from the general, pinching the bridge of his bleeding nose. Dismay hollowed his chest, fear of what he’d uncovered pooling within. If Galaeryn believed he could speak to the Aelfyn, then this was far worse than they had feared. The overload of Essence hadn’t just made the king powerful—it must’ve driven him mad.
“We’ll take him with us,” Vesryn muttered, sheathing his glaives on his spine. “We need to get back to the fortress. Something’s wrong. I sensed Serenna—”
A deep thrum of magic pulsed through the barn, a soundless drumbeat. The vibration rattled Jassyn’s teeth, setting every nerve alight. His heart raced as he turned toward the source.
A portal ripped through the corridor, slicing one of Kyansari’s soldiers in half. The warrior didn’t have time to scream as their body split, the severed halves falling away like a log cleaved by an axe.
Vesryn tensed beside him. The hairs on the back of Jassyn’s neck prickled as Elashor started chuckling, an ocean of power surging through the rift.
The first thing Jassyn saw was a polished leather boot, its toe glinting with a wicked crystal spike glowing with trapped Essence. His lungs stopped working as the figure fully emerged, the prince’s panic slamming into him.
Galaeryn. The king.
Silver hair shimmered with the luster of starlight, his skin pale and luminous as moonlit snow. His features were cruelly elegant, sharp in their symmetry, unsettling in their perfection—and disturbingly timeless. He looked impossibly youthful—younger than Vesryn—yet there was an eerie depth to him, the kind of ancient knowing that didn’t belong in a face so unlined. Even his robes radiated brilliance, the jewels encircling his fingers and studded into his ears humming with Essence.
Jassyn’s hearing dulled to a distant buzz as the king’s silver eyes swept over the stables, landing with chilling precision on Elashor, still kneeling in the dirt.
Jassyn frantically sent a thought to Vesryn.The king must’ve realized—
The world ignited. A blinding conflagration erupted from the king, flooding the barn with the brilliance of a thousand bursting stars.
Vesryn seized Jassyn’s arm, throwing a shield around them.
Time slowed as Essence burned through the prince’s ward, an otherworldly flame that wasn’t quite fire searing through the threads.
Incapacitated by terror, Jassyn’s thoughts spun, grasping for understanding. Illumination didn’t have that kind of power. It couldn’t—
