“Why don’t you come search for the Heart with me?” Serenna asked, breaking the quiet. She scanned the tangle of trees, the activity in the glade obscured by the greenery. “Unless the rangers need you?”
Vesryn glanced at Naru, now curled in the grasses, a massive mound of scales and feathers rising and falling with the steady rhythm of sleep. The prince’s sigh sounded more defeated than anything else. “Zaeryn can organize the next hunt. There’s no hope of waking Naru without risking a limb.”
Serenna’s lips twitched. “Not even with a few rabbits?”
For the first time since they’d been reunited, Vesryn chuckled softly. “If we stumble across any, you’re welcome to tempt him yourself.”
His humor faded as he studied the dense underbrush of ferns, reaching out to rub a serrated leaf between his fingertips. “But I doubt the jungle holds anything beyond plants and insects anymore. Aesar and I found nothing that suggested otherwise when we explored…a century ago.”
Serenna sensed the ache of the past still engraved in Vesryn’s thoughts, a haunting echo trapped in the corners of his heart. Even with his brother returned, the veil of mourning lingered,sorrow for a future lost. Serenna laced her fingers with his, offering what comfort she could.
“Did either of you have any guesses as to how this jungle came to be?” she asked, gently tugging him along the winding pathway back to the glade.
This pocket of life defied reason, flourishing where only ice should prevail. Cradled in the snowy mountains, far beyond the reach of warmth or rain, it thrived—impossibly alive. Just like the wraith fortress, something unseen shielded it, magic beyond their perception.
“I’ll spare you Aesar’s long-winded explanations,” Vesryn said with a dry snort, coming back to himself. “Ask him sometime if you have hours to spare. But his favorite theory?” He pursed his lips, lost in thought before waving around the jungle—what remained of one of the ancient druid cities. “The Wastes weren’t always the frozen desolation we know. Perhaps this whole mountain range was once a vibrant jungle and the fabric of the world was altered.”
Serenna slowed mid-stride, her footsteps skipping over gems embedded into the paving stones, each one shimmering with a strange, captive light. “The druids had such power?” The Wastes stretched far beyond her imagination—as vast as the realms combined—if Lykor’s grumblings held any truth.
“Maybe they didn’t shape the earth alone,” Vesryn said, brushing aside a cluster of hanging vines. “There could’ve been an alliance with shamans and dragons—forged to shield humanity on this side of the world before their races fell. Whatever happened, no one alive knows the truth. Too much has been buried by time.”
Even if the ancient races had sacrificed everything—lives, legacies—it hadn’t been enough. The Aelfyn had navigated the sea and defied the Maelstrom’s wrath, risking everything to reach mortal shores. In the end, it was the elves who’d survived.And now, they seemed determined to finish what their ancestors had started.
Serenna stepped over gnarled roots with her hand in the prince’s, her heart growing heavy beneath the shelter of braided branches.
But the dragons ended up in chains. If the druids reclaimed some of the Hearts, why did they never free them?Perhaps it hadn’t been that simple. Or maybe their race vanished before they had a chance.
There was so much they didn’t know—even with the shaman power she and Jassyn possessed. The limits of their connection to the earth were still being stretched. She clung to the hope that uncovering more of her abilities would tip the scales in their favor.
Serenna drew a deep breath, the humid air heavy with the hum of verdant life. “Jassyn did something I’d never even considered with our elemental power,” she mused, tracing the intricate fenestrations in a gargantuan leaf as they passed by. “He somehow harnessed and transferred life to heal Fenn—”
Vesryn’s hand stiffened in hers, killing the rest of her words. The name struck like flint on steel, igniting something dark in his expression. He drew to a halt at the treeline, the bustling camp coming into view.
Tents dotted the bank of the stream like wildflowers, smoke curling from cookfires into the sky. Unexpected laughter rippled through the activity as a horde of wraithlings splashed in the shallows, warping as they chased one another through the water.
“My brother said that wraith watched over you,” Vesryn all but gritted out, a prickle of jealousy stabbing her like a thorn. “That heprotectedyou.”
Serenna tamped down the surge of irritation rising at the prince’s contempt. A heated defense wouldn’t soften him. It would only drive the wedge deeper. She wanted Vesryn to seeFenn as she did—steadfast, loyal, a pillar of strength—rather than a rival. But even she could admit, Fenn wasn’t making that easy.
Serenna packed her lungs full with a fortifying breath, willing herself to stay calm.I got myself into this.
“Fenn is important to me,” she said gently.
The prince’s annoyance flared, bright like a star streaking across the night sky. His fingers twitched before withdrawing from hers, the sudden absence carving distance between them.
The rift between them stung sharper than Serenna expected, but she couldn’t blame him. She knew that bitter twist of envy all too well—and hated howheractions were now the cause.
Vesryn’s jaw flexed as he studied the makeshift settlement, though his thoughts seemed to drift far beyond it. Kal, his band of warriors, and a group of magus emerged through a portal, ushering through another load of supplies.
“Aesar respects him,” Vesryn finally mumbled, each word dragged up like a stone from the depths of his frustration. “And he holds an affection for him like he would a son.” A muscle feathered in his cheek. “I don’t like that wraith—or even want to—but…” He exhaled sharply, resignation in the sound, and continued to avoid her eyes. “I’m glad you had someone watching your back when I couldn’t.”
“Fenn didn’t replace you,” Serenna said quietly, her heart twisting for the hurt she’d inflicted on the prince. Bridging the gap, she rested a hand on his arm. “You’re important to me too.”
Vesryn didn’t respond at first, didn’t seem to breathe as he tensed under her fingertips. Finally, he cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from the camp, his eyes landing back on hers.
“I know this isn’t the time or the place to figure out whatever this is, or could be, but…” He suddenly captured her shoulders with a fierce tenderness, hauling her against his chest. “If thesemoments are all we get,” he murmured, brushing the crown of her head as he rested his chin there, “then I’ll take them.”
Serenna sank into his embrace, resting her cheek against the worn leather of his tunic. His heartbeat thrummed a steady rhythm through his ribs as he squeezed her close.
