“Pull yourself together!”
Jassyn’s eyes snapped open, the weight of Lykor’s commanding presence ramming his focus back into place, drawing him in even as his instincts screamed to push away. Of course Lykor wouldn’t give him a moment to breathe.He couldn’t decide which emotion burned hotter—fury or humiliation.
Lykor’s lip curled over his fangs as he growled in Jassyn’s face, “The only reason you’re here is because you’ve got a job to do.”
Denied any more time to recover, Lykor ripped him out of Serenna and Fenn’s supportive grip and spun him around. Heart hammering an even wilder rhythm in his chest, Jassyn only now noticed the roaring across the frozen lake. He’d completely forgotten about the massive creature that had emerged from the glacial depths.
“Slip into that thing’s mind and stop it,” Lykor ordered, his voice sharp enough to leave no doubt—it wasn’t a request.
Hundreds of paces away, the beast towered like a mountain, its form twisted with something reminiscent of a monstrous arachnid. Numerous frost-encrusted legs, thick as ancient trees, gouged the ground with massive claws. Translucent spines of jagged ice bristled along its hunched back, a fortress of frozen armor.
But its head was the true nightmare—grotesque jaws splitting its face nearly in two, rows of teeth glinting like shattered glass. Instead of eyes, a single crystal was embedded at the center of its face, flashing as it reflected the sun.
Beside him, Fenn mumbled something about “an icy golem with too many legs.”
Lykor’s snarl cut him off. “It doesn’t need a fucking name.”
Jassyn frantically searched for Vesryn, sensing him across the valley. When he finally spotted him, a fresh wave of fear surged.
The monster was closing in on the prince, moving with unnatural speed, each step defying its massive bulk. The impacts of its thunderous strides shook the frozen lake, sending fractures rippling outward across the ice.
“What is he doing?” Jassyn croaked, sensing the prince’s frustration crackling through the bond.
Swords spinning in a blur, Vesryn darted between the eight colossal legs, shadows whipping in every direction. Darkness struck the icy armor only to dissolve on contact, vanishing against the monster’s hide.
Impossible.
“There’s a Starshard absorbing his magic!” Serenna gasped.
Jassyn didn’t have time to look back at the behemoth’s face. Lykor snatched the front of his cloak and barked, “Can you control it or not?”
“C—control it?” Jassyn stammered, Lykor’s demand hitting him like a blow.
He became acutely aware of the narrow space between them, Lykor’s incinerating gaze scalding him. For a moment, their eyes locked. Too long, too intense. Something more than frustration charged the air around them.
He must be desperate,Jassyn realized,if he’s asking me to use coercion.
Eyes blazing, Lykor’s fangs flashed inches from his face, dangerously close. “If you can controlme,” he hissed, “you can controlthat.” He flung a gauntleted finger toward the beast. “Subdue it. Or get that lackwit back here before he gets pulverized so we can portal.”
It took some effort to tear away from Lykor’s searing glower, but Jassyn forced his focus back toward the rampaging colossus. His chest tightened with a swell of worry as he reached for Vesryn’s mind, sending a desperate thought down the bond.We need to leave. Now.
Dodging around the hulking legs as they impaled the ice, Vesryn didn’t respond, his attention locked on the behemoth. Shadows lashed at the icy armor, but the magic disintegratedas the crystal on the golem’s head went darker than night, siphoning the prince’s power like parched earth swallowing rain.
Serenna’s voice pitched higher. “Tell him to stop throwing rending at it before it channels his magic back at him!”
Too far across the expanse to be of any use, they all helplessly watched the prince.
Jassyn pushed harder, urgently barreling into his cousin’s mind.You need to get out of there!
Vesryn shoved a thought back against him.It has one of those Starshards!
What does that matter?Jassyn snapped.You—
A massive leg scythed toward the prince, its claw hammering into the ground with a thunderouscrack. Snow and ice erupted in a spray as Vesryn dove through a portal, reappearing behind the beast.
Jassyn’s heart leaped into his throat, every muscle locking.Whatever you’re doing isn’t working!It was too strong. Too fast.
Get everyone out of here while I have it distracted,Vesryn ordered, more determined now.I’m not leaving until I get that crystal.
