Fenn strode into the clearing next. His steps were steady, but his hand kept reaching to his mouth, fingers testing the new fangs. He stopped beside Rynna, his gaze flicking once to Kaelith still lounging at her feet.
“Looks like we all have some adjusting to do.” He winced slightly as his tongue grazed against the sharpened tips. “Assuming we live through this.”
“Oh, for the love of—just leave it alone.” Rynna rolled her eyes and caught his hand, bringing it to her lips with a soft kiss. “You’ll get used to them.”
Fenn’s arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close as his lips captured hers, the kiss deepening with a low growl rumbling in his chest.
“So long as I still get to do that,” he murmured against her mouth.
“Elements save me.” Taren buried his face in his hands. “Can we all just focus, please?”
Rynna pulled away, though the touch of Fenn’s hand trailing down her arm lingered.
She turned toward Taren, cocking an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
“Sorry, you’re just grossing me out.” He took a long swig from his water skin. “But more seriously, how is Bran supposed to find us? From what I’ve gathered, we’ll need the Great Phoenix. It’s the only thing that might get us close to where Skarn fled.”
“Lady Takara didn’t give specifics,” Fenn replied, pulling out a crumpled letter they’d received by crow back at the Third’s encampment. “She only said that he’d find us before we got there.”
“And you’re sure Skarn went back…there? Where you…found me two weeks ago?” Kaelith’s expression tightened.
Her hand fell to his shoulder. “It seems that way. The spot is completely blacked out from the far seers, and they can’t see him anywhere else.”
“Skarn was headed that way before I lost him,” Taren added with a short nod, his thumb and forefinger drifting to his chin as he rubbed it in thought. “But killing Skarn won’t end this. We need to find whoever is pulling the strings.”
“Whoever is powering the dead?” Fenn folded the letter and tucked it away.
“It’s not just about the dead,” Taren said.
Rynna crossed her arms. “If you’re sitting on something, now’s not the time to be coy.”
“It’s just… Everything I uncovered about the pre-Source Hollow-born and about how the Source first emerged—it all points to something bigger. Whatever’s out there, it’s worse than the dead. Worse than anything we could even imagine.”
Fenn’s brows furrowed. “I’m having a hard time imagining something worse than a world overrun by the dead.”
“It is.” The young man’s fingers wound through his long ponytail before gripping tight.
Kaelith snorted, casually tearing into a piece of dried meat. “You’ve already shared that theory. The Source is evil and must be destroyed, blah, blah, blah. We’ve been over this. When you were killing me.”
“One of my favorite memories.” Taren glared at him before facing Fenn again. “The Ember Reach Elders murdered my parents for having that information. And I spent the last five years searching for anything that confirmed whether or not it was true.”
Not even Kaelith had anything to say to that, and a hush fell over the group as they considered Taren’s words.
“But I didn’t tell you everything, snake,” the young man finally continued.
Kaelith traced absent patterns up Rynna’s calf. “Distracted, I imagine, by all the stabbing and whatnot.”
“You think this enemy, whoever they are, is tied to whatever created the Source?” Fenn connected the dots. “That would track with how they’ve weaponized the Void.”
Taren shook his head. “No. I think the original enemy is still here. And once it has the Great Phoenix, it will have enough power to finish what it started.”
Kaelith sat up taller, arching a brow. “And what would that be?”
“Devour the world,” Taren said quietly. “Leaving nothing but ash and debris behind.”
Rynna’s stomach twisted. If Taren’s theory was right, it certainly explained why she’d been sent here. A mundane war on its own would never have been enough to justify her extended support, a thought she’d diligently avoided these last eight years. But, somehow, this sounded even worse than her usual Missions, though she couldn’t put her finger on why.
“That seems impossible,” Fenn said, crossing his arms.
