As if her flames knew before she did, the stream wavered and guttered, collapsing into smoke.
Beside her, Vesryn’s talons sputtered, fire scattering thin and useless. What had begun as a joined inferno died against the impenetrable door.
“That’s humbling,” Vesryn mumbled. Talons twitched toward his ear and he smacked the claw aside with a curse before dispelling his wings entirely.
The door could be breached—Serenna was sure of it—but not like this. The thought of retreating, of returning to Asharyn with nothing but failure clenched in her hands, scalded her pride. But Kaedryn’s cryptic advice echoed through her mind again.
If Essence could unlock the path, Serenna knew of nothing more ruinous than sunfire, the destructive tier of illumination. But she hadn’t forgotten what it had cost the prince to wield it at Cinderax’s prison. How close the blaze had come to incinerating them all.
“What about sunfire?” Serenna asked hesitantly. “Maybe the Aelfyn couldn’t summon it without burning themselves away. But we have the druid gift now—Kaedryn’s scales protected her when you channeled it before.”
Reckless light flared in Vesryn’s eyes, dimming almost at once. “Essence will just unravel against gold.”
“What if sunfire doesn’t need to touch it?” Serenna pressed. “Fire burns what it strikes, but wefeltsunfire’s scorch just standing near when we freed Cinderax. If it truly carries the power of the sun, shouldn’t it be able to melt the gold?”
Vesryn went still. Then a half grin returned, sharp with dare. “Do you want to summon it with me?”
Her throat tightened. “I…”
She still didn’t trust the magic. The sunfire hadn’t only seared flesh—it had raged through Vesryn, nearly disintegrating his body into raw starlight.
But Serenna didn’t retreat as he moved behind her, the press of his chest to her back quickening her pulse. His hand brushed hers, threading their fingers together.
“Follow my lead,” he whispered at her ear, raising her arm with his. “Channel illumination outward. We’ll shape it together.”
“What if the sunfire flares out of control again?” she asked as he angled them toward the golden seal. “In the chamber with Cinderax—”
“I won’t unleash it the same way,” Vesryn said, sparking Essence between their palms. Then softer, his breath caressing her cheek, he added, “Not with you. I know exactly what I’m holding.”
His words should’ve steadied her, yet Serenna’s heartbeat skipped—snared between the peril of sunfire and the certainty warming his voice. She shut her eyes, chasing focus, but it slid away. He was too close, pressed along her spine. Reckless and rising, her magic clawed toward his, begging to ignite.
Desperate for control, she turned inward, syncing to the steady thrum of Essence pulsing from his Well. Each time Vesryn twisted more into illumination, she matched him, a resonance swelling as they gathered power.
If they’d been fully bonded—like she was with Fenn—she wouldn’t have had to strain to read the shape of his magic as he honed it sharper, stronger. She could’ve followed the pattern as if it were her own. Because itwouldhave been. Instead, she bent her illumination to echo his, leaning into trust.
“Want to make it interesting?” he asked, lifting their joined hands higher, guiding the stream of light that wound around them like liquid starlight. “See if you can keep up?”
Serenna glanced over her shoulder, half dismayed, half disbelieving, though she already knew better than to expect restraint from him. “Isthisthe best time?”
“A little competition helps me focus,” he said, perfectly serious before the grin ruined it.
Her mouth twitched despite herself, but she faced forward again. Narrowing her attention on the golden seal, Serenna curled her fingers tighter around Vesryn’s. She tracked the flow of his magic as it whirled around them—the way he bent the current, honing illumination until it burned hotter, brighter.
She angled her own light to follow, tentative at first. The strands met, twined, and wove together.
Then she delved deeper, gathering more power.
For a heartbeat the illumination rebelled, threatening to splinter apart as she pushed.
Serenna threw open the floodgates and plunged fully into her Well. Illumination flared beyond its limits, rising into a higher blaze.
Her breath tore loose in a gasp as Essenceruptured.
Heat slammed into her, burning brighter than if the sun itself flooded her veins. Scales rippled up her arms, plating beneath her leathers to shield against what they’d unleashed.
Sunfire burst from their palms in twin currents, twisting into a single beam—a spear of radiance so focused it seared the air like metal ripped from a forge.
Vesryn’s forearm flashed with the same mirrored sheen. Scaled and braced, his limb locked to hers, his body an unyielding pillar at her spine.
