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Among the shouts and the weapons clashing, and dragons roaring, she heard Thane call to her again. This time she looked for him in the fighting and chaos. What if he needed her? But she found Dax and a sleek black dragon—Varlett clawing and biting at each other in midair. A sharp sting seared Layala’s thigh, and she nearly dropped from the shock of it. Only the gold hilt of the dagger showed, and the blade must have struck bone. She gasped at the wave of pain that suddenly washed through her and leaned all her weight to the left. Tenebris got up and ran toward the Void.

With a roar through her teeth, she jerked the blade free, and a wave of nausea hit. It hurt more to pull it out. “You’re not getting away, Tenebris!” She took off after him, pushing through the pain and blood pouring down her knee over her shin. A throwing star to the back of his thigh made him arch and cry out then he dropped to his hands, crawling now. Crawling like the worm he was.

With no care as to how much it would hurt her injury, she caught up to him and kicked him hard in the ribs, dropping him to his side, gasping for air. “Wait, wait don’t kill me,” he begged. Blood flowed down over his left eye and the swelling had already started from her hits. “We can make a deal. Thane can have the throne. You can be queen. I’ll—I’ll go away, far away.”

Angry tears burned her eyes. She imagined her parents might have asked for him to spare them and their pleas fell on deaf ears. With her sword raised and the point angled at his chest, she said, “This is for my parents, for Reina, for all the people you’ve hurt and murdered, for Thane, and—for me.”

“Layala, look out!” Thane bellowed only yards away now.

Varlett’s dragon form careened toward her at the speed of a shooting star. Black talons shone in the sunlight, her mighty roar pierced Layala’s ears, so loud she thought her eardrums would burst and bleed. Instead of plunging that blade through Tenebris, she turned to bring up her magical shield, but the hit was like a mountain falling on top of her, driving her into the grass and dirt, whisking the air from her lungs, then those ebony talons wrapped around her body, and she was in the air, rising faster and faster. Her fuzzy mind whirled. The dragon’s grip was so tight around her she couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. She gripped her sword’s handle, laying on her chest, like it was her last line of survival.

She willed her magic to set her free… where were her vines, her shield… anything? “You forgot I know more about magic than you, Layala. You can’t hurt me.”

“Why didn’t you let me kill him!” Layala screamed and her throat burned. “Why!”

“Oh, did I steal your moment? My apologies,” she crooned. “But you have more important things to do.” Red slashes covered her chest and neck area, gaping wounds that could only be from Dax’s talons. But what happened to him? She peered down and his giant body lay off in the field far away from the ongoing battle. When he slowly rose, she sighed in relief.

“I was going to go to him on my own!” She was wracked with an involuntary shudder giving in to his words from her dreams.“Come to me,”he’d said and now she was.

“So you can kill him? I don’t think so.”

Layala’s tense body went limp—defeated, flying a hundred feet in the air in the clutches of her enemy. She watched Tenebris grow small, and Thane looked up at her with terror. Why couldn’t this one thing work out? Why was that wretched elf always sparred?

The black mist swirled in the wake of Varlett’s whooshing wings. The black bogs, the stink, and the waiting groups of pale ones littering the ground made her stomach turn. She was in the Void and there was no turning back now.

It only took moments for the landscape to change. As if a desert oasis grew out of seemingly nowhere, thick trees with wide tropical—redfronds, shoots of tall bamboo, kapok trees but with thick maroon leaves and massive branches… so unusual. She could hardly believe it. Was it a magic trick? A full red jungle, not devoid of life like everyone thought. She’d never heard of anything like it. But strangest of all, rising in the center, was a single, white brick tower. Its pointed roof peaked out of the canopy of the jungle. She’d expect it to be dark and menacing if anything, but it was—quaint, almost inviting. It reminded her of the mage’s tower in Doonafell.

Varlett’s great wings beat rapidly as they lowered to a massive clearing at the base of the tower. She opened her paws several feet from the surface and Layala dropped, freefalling until she smacked into the soft dark-brown earth. Facedown on the ground, she spit dirt and leaves, and swiped the back of her hand across her mouth. The pain in her thigh throbbed but she was thankful the forest floor was covered in thick foliage and reddish moss or that drop would have been excruciating. She slowly pushed herself up, struggling through the stiffening and tingling in her leg and shoved Lightbringer back in her scabbard. The scent of jasmine wafted on the thick, humid air. Lifting her head, she spotted the small white flowers and their green leaves, growing all around the single door in the tower. And that door was covered in—lavender butterflies.

Sharp talons scraped loudly against Layala’s back armor then the dragon gripped her left arm and jerked her up. “Move.”

The stab wound radiated pain as she limped forward. A small part of her wanted to rely on Varlett’s assistance but she tore her arm away. With a shrug, Varlett strode ahead and took hold of the gold ring on the door, the butterflies scattered taking to the air by the hundreds. Layala watched them circle around her in a whirlwind then disappear into the jungle.

She found it odd there were no birds here singing in the trees. Insects hummed and the wind rustled the tops of the red leaves but no familiar bird calls. With a quick glance around the trunks and foliage, she found gleaming eyes watching from the shadows. A pale one leaned out from behind a tree and stared back at her. She jumped, ready to pull Lightbringer again but the creature didn’t move to attack, didn’t screech, or holler like they’d always done before. He simply watched.

With a deep breath she searched the skies one last time, with hope that Thane and Vaper might show, or Piper and Prince Ronan. She found only the sun peeking through the dark misty haze.

Layala touched the dagger on her hip, and Lightbringer on her back, ensuring they were there and stepped through the entrance.

Mathekis waited in the shadows. His black eyes gleamed in the dark until he stepped into the light. He looked her up and down and his black lips twisted down. “I suppose there’s no time to make you presentable.”

She didn’t know what about her appearance he didn’t approve of, but she couldn’t care less what he thought. The small foyer led directly to a set of stairs, short ivory candles lit in small alcoves in the stone walls, but there were no windows to provide light. A wood handrail lined the left side of the wall; she grabbed hold and started her ascent, skin crawling with Mathekis so close behind. A feeling crept over her that the Black Mage would be at the very top. This would be a painful climb.

The first hundred or so steps were like fire searing her bleeding thigh, but soon numbness took over, diluting the pain to a dull ache. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t hear Varlett. The wench was probably already waiting.

She finally reached the top floor, and the smell of jasmine trickled into her senses, again. She stilled. Why did it remind her of… something? She didn’t know what. It was like a known but forgotten name on the tip of her tongue, and all she needed was a reminder.

Varlett leaned against the wall, inspecting her talons as if the wait vexed her. “About time,” she said.

“Well, in case you didn’t notice, I’ve been stabbed.” If she thought she could beat her in a fight, they’d have it out right then. But until she found a way to break through Varlett’s magical shield, that would have to wait.

“Didyoustab her?” Mathekis accused.

“I haven’t touched her,” Varlett growled.

“No, youjustalmost crushed me into the ground.”

A single torch burned, giving off a low orange light. Layala snatched it off the wall and angrily strode by. At the end of the empty corridor waited double doors. He was in there, wasn’t he? She swallowed hard, moving forward, slower now. This had been the plan since they left House Drakonan, but Thane was supposed to be with her, and being here was much different than imagining it. She almostfelthim, or a sense of longing, something pulling her that way.It’s your blood connection,the goddess said.Ugh,she wanted to vomit the closer she drew.