“Then I’ll do something!”
Serenna cast her perception out to the surrounding fountains, grasping for any leverage she could seize. Water bubbled louder as she poured her mind into the decorative fixtures, tracking the current’s flow. Tunneling deeper into the fortress, she yanked at the streams hidden in the veins of the earth, hauling them upward.
Water geysered in an explosive surge, shattering the stone fountains. Power buzzing along her fingertips, Serenna flungthe torrent at Lykor. The waves slammed into him from every direction, trapping him in a churning vortex.
Lykor hurled lashes of shadow, but Serenna twisted the water to deflect his magic. His power raged through the cobblestones, fissures spidering outward with a grinding groan.
“You realize you’re just pissing him off, right?” Vesryn growled beside her.
“It’s the coercion, not him. If you would get out of his line of sight, this would be over.” Serenna spared the prince a quick glance, but he’d set his jaw. Logic wasn’t working. But she had one idea left.
Flexing her fingers, Serenna heaved on the water encasing Lykor, drawing out every last thread of warmth. Fog rose as she transferred the heat to the puddles collecting on the ground.
Lykor’s limbs twitched as the column bound him tight. His thrashing slowed as frost crept over his armor, crystallizing into a prison.
Beside her, Vesryn let out a disbelieving laugh when Serenna sealed Lykor in a block of ice.
“I can’t keep him like this for long without hurting him,” Serenna panted, bracing her hands on her knees.
Vesryn nodded, shoulders sagging as he drew in labored breaths.
For a moment, everything held still.
Then the ice shattered.
A blast of force sent shards flying through the air, knocking Serenna backward. Flung across the courtyard, she slammed into a stone wall. Her head bounced, pain blazing down her spine.
Vision spinning, she stumbled to her feet. Beside her, Vesryn clutched a golden dagger in his fist.
He barely had time to raise it before Lykor warped.
CHAPTER 3
JASSYN
As Serenna disappeared down the streets toward Vesryn, Jassyn exhaled sharply, releasing his grip on his Well. Instinct demanded that he cling to his power, but Vesryn needed every last scrap of Essence to endure the merciless coercion.
Impaled by too many arrows, Fenn lay deathly still beside his father. Kal. The name drifted through the fragments of memory Jassyn had gathered from Lykor’s mind. Even in ideal conditions, injuries this severe would stretch his skill. But with Vesryn siphoning his Essence away, mending was impossible.
Jassyn studied the faint green shimmer lingering beneath his skin—a trace of power borrowed from the jungle. Not nearly enough. Throat tightening under the pressure, his fingers hovered over Fenn’s wounds. His thoughts raced against the seconds ticking by, each of Fenn’s dying heartbeats a fading countdown.
But a familiar pulse thrummed through the earth, a deep reservoir that was his to draw on. Clusters of mushrooms and lichens climbed the cavern walls, glowing with veins of life. He knew taking this power must carry a price, but it was one he couldn’t yet measure—a cost he’d have to worry about later.
Drawing a steadying breath, Jassyn cast his awareness outward, attuning himself to the surrounding cavern. The world blurred then sharpened, the elements blazing. He sensed wind whispering through cracks in the keep, water flowing levels below, and fire churning deep within the volcano’s heart. But he steered his perception toward the vibrant hum of life.
Jassyn reached out, ripping energy from hanging moss, from every scrap of lichen, from every glowing spore, funneling their power directly into his grasp. The cavern plants flared with each surge, so bright it became blinding.
Kal stiffened, jerking his hands away from Fenn as ribbons of green light streaked toward them from every direction. Streamers webbed out from the volcano’s slopes, pulsing in hundreds of strands.
Determination drove Jassyn further. He bled the power from the roots twined through rock, their threads of life stretching taut, dimming as they snapped one by one.
A storm slammed into Jassyn, tearing through his veins before spilling over. The stolen vitality blazed beneath his skin, fractured light searing through every pore. Pressure built in his skull, a warning he forced himself to ignore as he channeled everything into healing.
A living conduit of light, Jassyn poured the energy into Fenn’s wounds. Gone was the familiar, delicate way of mending. This was a torrent, life raging through his hands, raw power glimmering against the cavern’s dark. Each burst pounded into Fenn, commanding his heart to beat and his lungs to draw in air.
Fenn’s chest jolted, a shuddering gasp tearing from his lips as his eyes snapped open, shining wildly. His torso lurched as he expelled a rattling breath, the quarrels embedded in his body bursting free, clattering against stone.
Through Fenn’s shredded tunic, Jassyn watched transfixed as torn muscle and skin knit together in rippling waves. Eachpass of green light sealed wounds, leaving behind unmarked flesh—aside from the patchwork of old scars.
