These mages wereEliteEnforcers. Her heart raced as her power heated beneath her skin.
“There you are, little sorceress,” one said as he stepped forward.
Lucenna recognized his voice before Ignatius pulled off his hood, revealing his long scarlet hair tied back in a series of braids. His amber eyes flamed as the sun fell over him. “We’re taking you back where you belong.”
“I’ll die,” she hissed as purple light flared in her palms and ran along her arms in winding trails, “before I surrender.”
The mages tightened the circle and the crystals on their staffs glowed with the color of their Essence: indigo, deep crimsons, orange, black, yellow, light blue, and muddled green.
“It’s daytime, Lucenna,” mocked the sun mage as he lazily leaned on his staff. An onyx crystal woven in the wood at the top thrummed with power. He waved at the others, mages of the Sun and Earth Guilds. “In the middle of the forest. We’re much stronger than you right now.”
They were in their elements while her power was at its strongest at night.
“All you women are so stubborn and stupid,” Ignatius continued. “I don’t know how you escaped us for as long as you did, but you were always going to be caught. It’s bad enough you think you have any genuine power. You’re of the Lunar Guild, the weakest of them all.”
“Weak.” Lucenna laughed. “Yet my father sent ten of you to subdue me.”
The moon may be the major element of her guild, but more than one element fed her power. She looked at the open sky and electricity cracked in her palms as thunder rolled overhead at her call. Thick, dark clouds shrouded the sun, darkening the field. Pillars of lightning struck the field with a violent crack, sending a powerful charge through her veins.
Lucenna gave the mages a harsh smile as her body blazed with purple light. “Let me show you how powerful a woman can be.”
Chapter 3
Cassiel
Cassiel chased his shadow into the horizon, letting his wings carry him high in the morning sky. Pushing through the thin veil of clouds, he flew into the sun’s glare and closed his eyes as the bitter wind stung his face. It numbed everything but the pang in his chest where Dyna’s despair had settled. When he saw the hurt in her emerald eyes, he didn’t know what to say. Even with how kind and accepting she was of him, he expected her anger, but not her despair. Not the embarrassment or her need to run away from him. He would have preferred she scream at him or hit him, anything but wanting to escape him.
The air thinned as he pushed onward. His wings pumped harder, straining as he continued further than he should go. He wanted to leave the atmosphere and reach Heaven’s Gate, even if it meant there would be no return.
When he reached the top of the world, Cassiel let go. He spread his arms, tucked in his wings, and let himself fall. He was weightless. For a moment, the heavy burden of his cursed existence lifted off his skin. His sullied half-breed blood seeped out of his pores. The fault of the bond. The guilt of killing humans. The hate of his kind. He left it behind in the skies as he plummeted back to earth.
Without it all, he was on his own. He had always been alone. Among the Celestials—among his kind in Hilos—he didn’t belong. There wasn’t anything for him in that place, not since his mother left. There was a reason why he followed Dyna.
How could he have forgotten?
Cassiel dropped through the clouds and snapped open his wings. He twisted sharply, righting himself again. Riding the wind idly, he looked toward the west, where he imagined the enchanted treasure island lay. He had disobeyed his father and risked the secrecy of the existence of Celestials to go on this mission. This infatuation with Dyna had gone far enough.
I will not repeat your mistakes, he had sworn to his father. A man was nothing if he couldn’t keep his word.
When had he let himself become so disillusioned? Dyna was brave and hopeful, always striving to find the good in people. Every moment spent with her, he found himself forgetting what he was. The line between simple acquaintances had blurred. It was time he rectified that. Somehow.
Cassiel circled and flew back in the camp’s direction. It wasn’t safe to fly out during the day, lest he risk being seen by a passing traveler. A flash of lightning snapped him out of his thoughts. Thunder cracked and storm clouds rolled in out of nowhere, darkening the sky in a thick shroud. Before he could question it, he dodged a spear of lightning, missing him by a fraction. He cursed, wings banking right. He needed to return to land. If he got caught in the storm—
A flash of color came from the east. He frowned and focused on the canopy of trees on the horizon, and he saw it again. A brief flare of blue light, followed by a flare of red, then purple. More blazing lights came, accompanied by the distant sound of explosions. Another blast speared through the air. He arced sharply to the left, only for another to hit him with a brutal force, stealing every breath and thought.
Then he dropped out of the sky.
Chapter 4
Dynalya
Thunder boomed, making Dyna’s heart jump in her chest. As she and Zev reached camp, a shroud of dark, surging clouds rolled across the sky, concealing the sun. Lightning flashed and a rumble followed.
“Strange,” Rawn said, rising from where he had been sitting by the campfire. “There had been no sign of rain.”
But a droplet splashed on Dyna’s cheek, regardless.
“God of Urn, Cassiel is up there!” She searched the skies. He flew through a pocket of clear blue before it was quickly snuffed out with storm clouds. Lightning cracked, and Cassiel deviated, scarcely evading the bolt. Dyna flinched and covered her mouth. His alarm flooded through her.
