A sharp sting pricked Jassyn’s fingers before searing up his arms and lodging as a barbed ache in his chest. With Fenn’s injuries closed, power swelled inside him, trapped and raging without release.
His vision blurred, dark spots dancing at the edges as his heartbeat hammered against his ribs.The pressure compounded, straining against his bones, threatening to tear him apart. He’d taken too much from the earth—far more than had been required.
Ripping his hands from Fenn, Jassyn slammed his palms to the ground. Light exploded from his fingertips, spilling into the stone.
Glowing patches of lichen bloomed at his touch, channels of emerald racing outward, spreading across the cavern floor. A carpet of green erupted, pulsing with vibrant efflorescence. Plants sprouted at impossible speed, devouring the overflow of power.
Jassyn breathed again, the tension in his spine uncoiling. Every scrap of energy drained from him, leaving his fingers tingling with a fading warmth.
Fenn’s claw flew to his chest, pressing against his healed torso. His eyes met Jassyn’s, flickering with silent disbelief and unspoken gratitude.
Still dazed, Fenn blinked rapidly as he found his father at his side. Kal clasped his shoulder, steadying him as he sat up.
In a heartbeat, Fenn’s eyes sharpened, flaring like fire. His head snapped toward the winding streets where Serenna, Vesryn, and Lykor had vanished. “I need—I need to get to my she-elf,” he rasped, limbs flailing as he struggled to find his footing, scrambling with desperation to rise.
“Wait!” Jassyn called, snagging his arm. “I should assess you. To be certain—”
Fenn’s momentum hauled Jassyn to his feet. The warrior towered over him like a mountain. Unaccustomed to craning his neck up at anyone, Jassyn nearly stumbled back.Stars, he’s huge.
Fenn wobbled, his weight shifting unevenly. Jassyn’s stomach clenched, unsure whether healing with the earth would leave behind lingering consequences. But the warrior swiftly steadied, squaring his shoulders as he regained his balance—seemingly fine, for now.
Essence pounded through the keep. Kal rose and faced the distant hum of power where Vesryn clashed with Lykor.
“I should get to the prince,” Jassyn said.
Kal’s teeth dug into one of his lip rings as his gaze drifted back to Fenn. “I’ll help where I can,” he said, clasping his son’s forearm. “Lykor sent the reavers somewhere through portals. I doubt they’ll return. Stay safe.” With a nod, he vanished into a plume of smoke, reappearing closer to the sounds of battle. He barked out a string of orders, scattering a gathered crowd of wraith onlookers.
Fenn’s claw clamped down on Jassyn’s shoulder, the weight nearly buckling his knees. “I’m in your debt.” His crimson eyes veered toward the raging storm of Essence. “But I anticipate I may have to repay that later…”
Before Jassyn could respond, Fenn disappeared like his father, emerging from shadows at the mouth of an alley. He sliced a talon through the tattered remains of his tunic, leaving the shredded fabric behind.
Heartbeat quickening, Jassyn bolted after him, weaving through rubble-strewn streets. Every step jarred his bones, exhaustion tugging at his limbs from the power he’d unleashed,but he pushed forward until he reached the wreckage of a courtyard.
He skidded to a stop, boots splashing through shallow pools on the cracked cobblestones. The scene hit like a punch as he caught his breath, struggling to absorb the chaos.
Vesryn’s form splintered into five illusions, each darting around a drenched and snarling Lykor. Kal was already deep in the fray, his magic propelling the phantoms that kept Lykor whirling, disoriented. Essence crackled through the air as the real Vesryn—Jassyn sensed through the bond—detonated a swarm of shadows, restraining Lykor in a mantle of darkness.
Face locked in fierce concentration, Serenna stood off to the side, her arms trembling as she wrenched waves of Essence from Lykor’s chest. Fenn hovered beside her, one claw steady at her back, a protective stance braced against the maelstrom thrashing around them. Scores of wraith hovered at a distance, awe and fear wide in their eyes.
Vesryn’s emotions were a wild riot of fury and desperation as he seethed into Jassyn’s mind.Get over here and help me subdue this beast.
The sight of Lykor—hollow-eyed and reduced to a thrall by coercion—lanced straight through Jassyn. Memories he wanted to forget bled through his mind. Fragments of Lykor’s past surfaced—flashes of helplessness, the king’s magic twisting him into something unwilling.
Jassyn’s chest tightened, pity mingling with dread. He knew that horror too well. Not coercion, but the powerlessness—the weight of another’s desire overriding his own.
But he had to do it again—invade Lykor’s mind, seize the control he’d recently learned to wield. Just days ago, he’d turned compulsion against Elashor, stripping the general’s will without hesitation. He could use that same power to untangle the web of magic—to free Lykor from the king.
A snarl ripped through the air. Jassyn’s gaze snapped to Lykor as he tore through the illusions, locking onto one of the Vesryns as if it were real. With a vicious burst, rending exploded from his fist, shredding Kal’s magic.
Jassyn’s focus tunneled in on Lykor—lost, mindless, thrashing in the grip of coercion. He fought wildly, his shadows hacking against the bindings Vesryn struggled to wrap around him.
A glint of gold flashed at Lykor’s feet—the dagger the prince had pulled from Jassyn’s shoulder, now smeared with black blood. A failed attempt to tether him.
A flicker of doubt whirled in Jassyn’s mind as he prepared a telepathic strike. There was no other way to subdue Lykor—coercion was the only option. But shame crept in. Wielding the dark power was as exhilarating as it was terrifying.
Sensing that the prince had ceased drawing on his Well, Jassyn swallowed his hesitation and sparked Essence. Telepathy coiled around his fingertips, a faint, colorless wisp shimmering like rising heat. Bracing himself, he sent his magic outward, slipping into Lykor’s mind as effortlessly as breathing.
Jassyn’s pulse thundered, but he didn’t falter as he burrowed through the murky layers, digging deep enough to manipulate. Seizing control, he wove a shroud over Lykor’s senses and veiled the prince from sight, shutting out anything that might feed the coercion’s wrath.
