Lucenna eyed each of them, and Zev knew he wouldn’t like the answer. “We will serve as bait.”
“No,” he growled.
“Only over my stiff corpse will I allow that to happen,” Cassiel said at the same time.
Rawn shook his head. “My lady, that is not—”
Lucenna rolled her eyes. “Gods, hear me out first. We will stand by the bank to draw the grindylows away from their nest so Zev may dive to retrieve the scales. I’m not concerned about the grindylows. You have seen my power. It’s enough to protect me and Dyna. With Rawn and Cassiel covering us from overhead, nothing will touch her.” Lucenna nodded to Dyna. “Your task is simple and the most important. You will be the one to lift Zev out of the water in the slight chance he’s not able to swim back to the surface.”
She stiffened. “Me? But—”
“My task will be to keep the creatures at bay. You can do it, Dyna. You have mastered levitation.”
She shook her head. “I could barely lift the log.”
“Your execution needs a bit more refinement, but I’m confident in your abilities. I have sensed an increase in your Essence.” Lucenna smiled. “You’re growing stronger.”
Joy lit Dyna’s face. “I am?”
“Yes. I know you can do this.” Lucenna lifted her eyebrows at them inquiringly. “Well? Agreed?”
Zev crossed his arms. He didn’t like it, but the plan made sense and Lucenna was powerful enough to keep Dyna safe. She practically glowed with confidence now. He didn’t want to snuff it out.
“She stays on dry land,” he said.
“Far away from the water,” Cassiel added.
Rawn released a long sigh and dragged a hand down his face. “May the God of Urn have mercy on us all.”
“Good.” Lucenna rubbed her hands. A mischievous smile crossed her lips as she glanced at Zev. “Come, Dyna. While our meal is cooking, now is the time to train some more. Instead of lifting a log in the air, you will lift Zev.”
He chuckled nervously. Well, this may be a long night.
Chapter 18
Dynalya
Dyna woke with a tired smile. Once Lucenna had taught her how to find and connect her magic to latch on to the Essence of another, she spent hours lifting Zev in the air. He had been nervous at first, but once she stopped dropping him, he enjoyed himself. Then Dyna left the men to sleep while she and Lucenna had stayed up late discussing which spell to learn next.
It was a dream really, being able to achieve not only one but two new spells and soon a third, as Lucenna promised. They were small preliminary spells mage children learned, but it made all the difference to Dyna when she’d thought she couldn’t do more than heal. Her power may not be as substantial as Lucenna’s, but she hadn’t reached her limit yet. She was growing stronger. That had to mean she could do so much more. Dyna’s body was heavy and achy, exhausted from all the power she had used last night. But she was a step above faint, and with some of Azeran’s tea, she would regain her strength within hours.
She stretched out on Lucenna’s enormous bed. The sounds of Zev’s soft snores from outside the tent reached her, the dim gray light of the dawn trickling in through the entryway flaps. Candles burned on the desk, providing soft light. Lucenna lay on the other side of the bed beneath a mound of blankets and books as if she had fallen asleep reading. Dyna sat up. From her chest, slid an open tome. On the page was a beautiful illustration of a massive ice blue bird in a snowy landscape looming before a woman with pale blond hair dressed in furs and holding a spear.
She closed it and embossed on the cover in silver was the title:Lord of the Everfrost.Beneath it was the sigil of the Ice Phoenix. The fairytale of Jökull and Sunnëva. Their union was said to have set the foundation of the Azure Kingdom. Anyone born with fair features claimed to have some ancestry connected, even if it was a mere drop of blood. The royal family were direct descendants and by law, only they could fly the phoenix crest.
Whether the story was true begged the question. But who was Dyna to say when she was also searching for fairytales?
With a tired sigh, she prepared to warm up before Cassiel rose for their daily training. Even if they were at odds, he had kept his word about teaching her. Dyna had to admit she enjoyed this part of the day the most. It was the only time they could be in each other’s presence, where nothing mattered but the blade.
She stood and stretched through a yawn, then grabbed her pack and went behind the privacy screen to change and use Lucenna’s enchanted chamber pot. The sorceress had also spelled it with a dash of Stardust, so it never had to be emptied.
Dyna muffled her giggles.Ingenious.
What else had Lucenna enchanted? She pulled on a pair of brown pants made of a thin but warm cloth that clung to her legs. Much easier to move in when sparring.
“Dyna?” came Lucenna’s confused, sleepy voice. “Is that you snickering? If not, then I should be worried.”
“It’s me.” Dyna briefly peeked out from behind the screen, flashing her a grin. She removed her chemise for a cream-colored shirt with fluffy sleeves, the hem falling mid-thigh, with four corners ending in tapered points in the front, back, and sides.
