Her weeping over the abandonment by her mate.
Her screams when she woke from her nightmares.
Her schemes.
He had heardeverything.
Including the secret of Tavin’s dormant magic.
“He knows…” Dyna said in horror. “He knows!”
Snapping the reins, Tarn galloped down the side of the hill with Tavin.
Cassiel cast out a wave of blue flame, instantly melting the ice. Throwing out her Essence, Dyna cleared a path through the fire. Klyde and Von charged ahead. The Raiders rode to meet them on horseback. A battle broke out on the hill, magic, fire, and steel clashing. Zev tackled his targets, teeth and claws slashing through flesh.
They easily broke through the barricade of Raiders, but it wasn’t meant to hold them. Only to stall.
Von and Klyde made it over the hill by the time Dyna made it to the top. And she was once again struck with dismay.
Further past the bottom of the hill in another field were Sai-chuen and Lumina. They stood beside an Elder Tree. The pink light of Lumina’s Essence gleamed in her eyes. The moon shards on her wrists glowed with her rising chant, and the gateway glowed with a spiral of light.
Klyde and Von were nearly at the bottom, but too far to stop them.
“Oh, Gods,” Lucenna gasped when she and Rawn reached the top. “He’s going to get away.”
“No, he won’t.” Dyna kicked her heels, and they galloped down the hill after them.
But it was too late.
Tarn and Tavin rode through the gateway. His Xián Jing spy and Magi Master strode in next.
Klyde and Von raced side by side across the field for the Elder Tree, galloping so fast they appeared to fly on will alone. They were only a few feet away.
“They’re going to make it,” Dyna said breathlessly, clenching the reins in her shaking fists. “They will.”
Light exploded with a roar and tore everything away.
The force threw Dyna off her horse. Her body slammed into Cassiel’s arms as he caught her and Lucenna. They hit the ground hard. The blow wrenched the air from her lungs. She gasped, staring up at the smoke billowing in the sky.
“Lev sheli, can you hear me? Are you hurt?”Cassiel’s voice sounded dull beneath the ringing in her ears.
I’m all right…She assured him. With his help, Dyna sat up, and her vision slowly cleared. Smoke and clusters of flickering flame spotted the scorched field.
Lucenna sat up where she had been thrown beside her, and her eyes widened with terror. “Klyde!” She scrambled to her feet, vanishing into the smoke.
“Oh, no.” Dyna stumbled to her feet, clutching Cassiel’s arm as she frightfully searched for the others. “Lord Norrlen? Zev? Where is Keena?”
“She was with Von…” Cassiel said, his eyes widening.
And Von had been right at the Elder Tree when it exploded—along with Klyde.
Dyna shook as she continued searching for her cousin. “Zev!”
“Here!”
Dyna ran toward the sound of Rawn’s voice. She found him kneeling beside a black wolf, motionless in the grass.
Rawn looked up at her, his face distraught. “He was right in front of me when it blew, my lady. He took the brunt of the blast.”
