“Oooph.” Taren fought for air, squirming under Bran’s crushing embrace. “Knock it off, will you!” He tried to sound annoyed, but the smile breaking across his face betrayed him.
“No way, man!” Bran only squeezed tighter.
Suddenly, Elara jumped in, wedging herself between them, her arms straining as she tried to wrench Taren free.
“Let him go, you idiot!” Her foot hooked behind Bran’s legs, and with a swift sweep, she knocked them both off balance, sending the trio tumbling in the Phoenix’s fiery feathers. “It’s my turn!”
Kaelith watched the scene unfold, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion as the group wrestled in the glowing embers of the Phoenix's back.
“Is this how you train units in Ember Reach these days?” His tone was half-serious as he glanced at Fenn, who simply shrugged. “Where is the discipline?”
For a moment, Rynna allowed herself to believe they could have this again, that Fang Unit might stand whole once more. She gave the elder Hollow-born a playful punch on the shoulder, stepping toward Bran and pulling him into a hug.
“I’m loving the hair!” She reached out to ruffle his flaming locks but yanked her hand back almost immediately as the heat seared her fingertips. “Ow!”
“No more noogies from you two!” Bran laughed, pointing at both Rynna and Elara.
Elara chuckled along as her focus shifted to Taren.
“You’re back?” she asked, reaching up to gently grasp his chin, forcing him to hold her eyes.
Taren paused, momentarily caught off guard, then slowly removed her hand.
“Yeah, El,” he said softly, his eyes flicked toward Bran, who had stopped laughing, his expression caught between concern and hope. “I’m back.”
Silence hung in the air, thick with everything they’d endured to get here, and everything still looming ahead.
“Are we done with the hellos?” A voice danced around them, lilting and impossibly beautiful. It seemed to come from everywhere at once, surrounding them like a melody carried on the wind. “We do not have long before the horde reaches the border of Pulse Reach.”
“Is that…” Elara’s voice faltered as she looked around.
“Yes, dove,” the voice answered with a gentle hum. “I am the Great Phoenix.”
“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you, Hika?” Bran rolled his eyes.
A laugh tinkled around them like the sound of bells caught in a breeze, sparkling with life. The sound made Rynna’s heart skip in a sudden, energizing rush. It was magic itself, pure and unfiltered, untainted by the Source.
“Oh, my boy, I do enjoy your humor,” the Phoenix replied, her voice still filled with amusement. Then the flames around her wings flared, brightening the sky as she slowed her flight, keeping them aloft above the marshlands that stretched far below. “Shall we?”
Bran swallowed, his usual cockiness giving way as he walked up the length of Hika’s back, his hands trailing along her red feathers.
“You all might want to brace yourselves,” he said, the energy building behind his eyes as he pressed his cheek against the Phoenix’s neck. “It’s time to fly.”
“I thought we were flying,” Kaelith began, the words barely leaving his mouth when the world around them suddenly warped.
The air rippled, churning like quicksilver, pulling through a tunnel of bending light and shadows, the landscape ahead collapsing into a single point before expanding out again.
“Ahhhhh!!!” Kaelith’s scream stretched out unnaturally, caught in the distorted space, as the Phoenix moved.
Is she creating her own wormholes? Rynna’s thoughts raced as she held on, her heart pounding within her. To either side, Fenn’s solid arm fastened around her waist, and Kaelith’s hand found hers, fingers lacing tight, as the world fractured around them.
Chapter forty-five
Rynnastaggeredastheworld snapped back around her, the sudden shift like a blow to the head. She barely had time to brace when Fenn’s arm flexed, holding her upright.
Steadying herself, she squeezed his wrist in thanks just as the stench hit.
Her stomach turned, and she threw an arm over her face as the air closed in, thick and rancid, clinging to her lungs like mold. Above, the clouds hung bloated, suffocating the light into a sickly smear.
