The siege is here. Caeloria has breached Kryntar’s walls. We have only heartbeats before the realms as we know them end.
But all I can think about is the fucking blade at my throat.
Not because I fear death.
I don’t.
I fear nightmares.
Kael stalks forward, so Vessira draws blood?—
Nightmares flood my mind.
I’m drifting between visions and reality.
The trembling crash of walls, the shatter of glass.Reality.
Seren’s lifeless body lying in the dirty, empty streets of Virellin.Nightmare.
I try to keep them separate.To remember.
But something doesn’t fit. Doesn’t make sense.
The scent of fresh bread and apples cuts through the chaos.
And it feels like joy.
My eyes snap open, because I realize?—
Ronyn.
“You’ll want to remove that fucking blade from my best friend, thank you very much,” he says nonchalantly from behind, and I already know he’s leaning casually against the wall. Kael’s mouth tilts into a smirk that can only mean one thing: violence and victory.
The fresh bread and apples soften in my nose, replaced by the scent of burning fire.
The crack of bones, the tearing of sinew, the snapping of flesh into place echoes through the halls.
Then the roar comes.
Deep. Ancient.
My best friend.
Vessira’s grip on my throat slackens, her blade clattering to the ground as the shadow of a great beast stretches over her.
Get on the floor and do not fucking move until I have scorched this abomination from the known realms.Tarrakai’s rasping command blazes through my mind, and I don’t hesitate. Neither does Kael.
I throw myself heavily to the castle floors, armor scraping like a blade grinding through bone.
But I don’t look away.
I watch in awe.
A beast made of flame and shadow bursts through the rubble—Tarrakai unleashed. His wings unfurl in the confines of the corridor, fire spilling from his lungs as he shields me, as he burns the nightmare from the earth.
The heat scorches the air. The walls scream.
But I can’t move.
