“We have company,” he growls, primal and raw.
His strong hands wrap around the haft, as he drops low and animalistic in his stance.
The others fan out, stepping over the trunks that surround the fire, blades rasping from sheaths, backs to the fire. An organized unit of warriors.
Magic crackles at my fingertips—available, ready, hungry—but it flickers weaker than it should, like it’s remembering how to live after Kryntar.
A rough, calloused hand encloses around my wrist, and my first instinct is to wrestle it free.
It’s just me. Kael’s voice rushes down the tether.I thought you might want this.
An object wrapped in cloth presses into my palm, and with my walls down, I feel it.
The Starforged Bladecalls to me.
I unwrap the cloth and let it fly.
I’ve carried it with me every moment we’ve been apart—waiting for you to return.He says down the tether, voice thick with emotion, though his eyes still scan the trees that surround us.
I palm the blade, dropping into a fighting stance, and something about it feels like a return home. This blade, these people, this place.
A twig snaps.
Every muscle in the camp goes taut.
From the treeline, a figure staggers forward—slow, dragging one leg, breath a hollow rasp.
The fire crackles, and the shadows split across his face in quick flashes of light and dark.
Weapons rise.
No one speaks.
The jungle holds its breath.
Another step, another. The scent of blood reaches us—copper and sulfur—and something cold coils in my gut.Venomshade? A Marked guard?My grip tightens on the Starforged Blade, the edge gleaming like a sliver of Starlight.
He steps closer, the fire catching his features.
Eyes. A mouth. A smear of dirt across a too-familiar jaw.
My heart stumbles.
No—it can’t be.
One more step and the light reveals him fully. Chestnut hair. That damned, lopsided grin that used to drive me mad.
I drop my blade. The sound rings out like a bell.
“Ronyn?” The word scrapes from my throat like a prayer half-believed.
He throws his arms wide, grin widening through the grime.
“I’d say I come bearing good news—but it’s even better. I come bearingme.”
For a heartbeat, the world forgets how to move. Then I do.
I run.
