“We have a place to start,” Jassyn said.
Fingers splayed, he reached toward the map. Threads of Essence unwound, refining Vesryn’s illusion. The jagged range of the Maw flared into focus, one mountain rising higher than the rest—the leveled peak that spat lightning into the clouds, a place only he and Lykor had seen beyond the threshold.
“There,” he murmured. “Where the lightning begins.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Lykor caught Jassyn turning toward him. When he finally tore his focus from the map, that gaze was already waiting—steady, intent, unbreaking.
Lykor’s pulse struck hard against his throat as memory surged. The thunderless storm. The collision of lightning. The way Jassyn had watched him then. The same way those amber eyes held him now, even as he began to speak.
“Lykor discovered that flame can redirect the lightning,” Jassyn said, the turquoise illusion carving light along his jaw. For a heartbeat, he didn’t look away. Then he turned, addressing Kaedryn and the other guildmasters. “If your scalebound would lend their fire as a diversion, we might stand a better chance of holding the storm while we search for Skylash.”
A wave of agreeing murmurs stirred through the circle, but Bhreena was already shoving to her feet.
“And what of us?” she demanded. “You promised we’d raid the mountain prisons and find our families. That’s why we’re here. Right, Daeryn?” she asked, fury lashing the question. “How long do we have to risk their lives and wait?”
“This is the best lead we have on Skylash,” Jassyn said, every word steady. “With the king’s forces already on these shores, we have to move now to free her first.”
Bhreena’s laugh splintered out of her, stunned and disbelieving. “Was this your plan all along? Lure us here with promises, stall us with false hope whilechildrenlike my sister are buried in the dark?”
Lykor’s spine locked as he bristled, temper flaring to meet hers. “Where was that fire when you marched for the king?” he growled, lip curling. “You followed Galaeryn’s orders until they didn’t suit you, and now you want blood yesterday?”
“Don’t you dare,” Bhreena hissed. “I crossed those stars-cursed mountains to keep heralive.”
She stepped over her cushion, boots scattering the illusion’s light beneath her heels. “Forget this Skylash. What if we’re already too late for our own?” She flung a hand at the map. “What if the king kills them out of spite? For us daring to defy him? That’s why he took them in the first place!”
Jassyn exhaled slowly, raking his fingers through his curls before lifting his eyes to Bhreena’s. “We can’t lose another dragon. Rimeclaw warned us that Galaeryn has already bound one deep beneath the earth. And if he claims Skylash, if he subdues three Wardens…”
Cinderax chuffed, and a low growl rumbled straight into Lykor’s skull. Kaedryn spoke next, giving voice to the dragon’s words.
“If Skylash falls,” she said for Daeryn and Bhreena, “this usurper will command sea and storm and we’ll be left fighting with fire while he drowns the world.”
Bhreena’s jaw worked, but she said nothing after Kaedryn went silent.
“We haven’t forgotten your people,” Jassyn said, steady but fierce. “Wewillfree them. But if we don’t move toward Skylash now, we might lose the chance to strike back with her at our side.”
Bhreena’s nostrils flared, her silence stretching taut beneath Jassyn’s gaze.
Lykor ground his fangs. He knew how he’d handle this kind of insolence. Strike with shadow or his fist. Crush the argument before it festered. Make any tongue too bold regret it ever flapped. If Bhreena had a problem, he’d dump her back into the Wastes. Let her freeze or starve. He didn’t care which.
“This is Jassyn’s fight,”Aesar murmured off to his side.
So Lykor bit his tongue. Watched Jassyn sit there, so scorching calm and unflinching. Commanding the tent withoutmagic or threats. And stars help him, the composure of it scraped against Lykor’s pride.
Finally, the fight dimmed in Bhreena’s eyes and she sank back onto her cushion.
“If we tie ourselves to your cause,” Daeryn said at last, severing the silence, “if we join you and bleed to find Skylash, I’ll want more for my people than a place behind yours.” He studied the guildmasters, their folded wings. “We could use your druid gifts to fight.”
“Prove you are with us in this war first,” Kaedryn relayed as Cinderax’s eyes flared beside her. “Then Cinderax will judge who is worthy of his flame.”
Bhreena’s lips thinned, but Kaedryn spoke again before she could protest.
“Even if we free Skylash,” she said, “Cinderax warns us not to expect gratitude. Stormstrikes are as volatile as their lightning. He can’t predict what she’ll do.”
Lykor exhaled through his teeth as the risks mounted, one upon the next. “We can’t delay any longer,” he said. “We organize our forcesnow. Fly to the Maw with Serenna and Jassyn. Start the search at dawn.”
Across from him, Bhreena sniffed, her gaze settling too long on Jassyn and Serenna. Lykor caught the calculation in her eyes. While Daeryn had bargained for his people’s place, Bhreena wanted a seat—like them—at the heart of it.
Lykor almost admired the gall.
