Page 5 of Broken Fates (Severed Flames #3)

Chapter 5

Vale

I urged the horse forward, my thighs tightening around her heaving sides. The frigid air burned through my throat, each inhale sharp and thin, every breath stolen by the wind.

Behind me, the Girovian patrol was closing in. Hoofbeats pounded against the frozen ground, mingling with the sharp crack of breaking branches as the soldiers crashed through the underbrush.

Too close. Too fast.

I gritted my teeth, leaning low over the mare’s neck, my fingers clenched tight around the reins. The trees blurred past, their reedy branches clawing at me like skeletal fingers. One whipped my face, the only warmth coming from the blood trickling down my cheek.

I had no plan—just move, run.

But the forest was too thick, the trees pressing in from all sides. The deeper we went, the more the shadows tangled, making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead.

The horse skidded, hooves sliding on an icy patch, her body lurching sideways and nearly throwing me off her back. My heart slammed against my ribs as I clutched at her mane, forcing her back on track.

That was close. Too close.

If she went down, we were done.

I gritted my teeth. We can’t keep running like this. They’ll corner us.

I needed another way. Then, through the tangled trees ahead, the land disappeared, and my stomach dropped. The ground fell away in a steep, jagged slope, the trees thinning along the edge. The drop wasn’t sheer, but it was close—too steep for a horse to take at a full gallop without breaking a leg.

I yanked her to a stop, my breath heaving, my brain racing. There was no way forward and no way back. Behind me, a shout rang out—sharp and commanding—and my blood turned to ice. They were right behind me.

I didn’t hesitate.

The moment I heard a soldier bark an order—“There! She’s stopped!”—I nudged the horse forward. She hesitated only for a breath, and then she jumped. We plunged down the embankment, sliding through snow and ice, my fingers fisted in her mane as I braced myself.

Her hooves fought for purchase, her body lurching left.

Don’t fall—don’t fall ? —

Then we hit the bottom.

Hard .

The impact ripped me from the saddle, pain lancing up my side as I slammed into the frozen ground. My shoulder crashed against ice so hard that white-hot agony exploded through my entire right side. My vision blurred at the edges, my pulse faltering in my ears. A strangled gasp wrenched from my throat as I skidded to a stop, the cold biting deep, stealing my breath.

For a moment, I just lay there. The earth beneath me felt too solid, too still, while everything inside spun like a top. Everything hurt. My pulse thumped unevenly, my limbs trembling, my entire body tight with exhaustion. Above me, I heard the patrol halt. They’d seen me go down.

One soldier’s voice drifted from the top of the ravine. “She fell. Loop around. We’ll cut her off at the next crossing.”

I barely managed to roll onto my side, my muscles burning, my breaths coming too fast, too shallow. A warm breath huffed against my face.

The mare. She’d stayed.

Somehow, through sheer instinct or loyalty I hadn’t earned, she had stayed.

A lump lodged in my throat as I pressed my forehead against her shoulder, my breath trembling. “You stupid, stubborn girl.”

Letting out a shaky exhale, I forced myself upright. My shoulder throbbed, my fingers nearly numb as I grabbed the reins. I had to move, had to keep going.

Stumbling through the underbrush, I nudged the horse forward, pressing deeper into the ravine. The shadows thickened, swallowing the pale moonlight—even the wind seemed quieter here. I forced myself to focus, one breath at a time. My chest ached, my skin burned from the cold, but stopping wasn’t an option.

Then, through the tangled branches—I saw it. A hunter’s lodge, half-buried in snow. Small, isolated, and best of all: hidden.

I didn’t think. I just guided the horse forward, lurching toward the door. The hinges groaned in protest, the wood splintering beneath my weight as I forced it open.

Inside, the air was stale, thick with dust and old wood.

It wasn’t much.

But it was shelter.

I pulled her inside behind me, forcing the door shut, wedging an old chair against it. Then I grabbed the threadbare blanket from my satchel, stuffing it along the base of the door to block out the wind. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

I was so damn tired, and so was the horse. As soon as the door closed, she lowered herself to the floor, tucking her legs under her as her head rested on the rough planked wood. She was the only thing keeping me tethered, keeping me grounded.

She wasn’t just a stolen horse anymore. She was mine.

A breath shuddered out of me. My knees buckled. The exhaustion I’d been outrunning finally caught up.

Then I collapsed as the darkness I’d been fighting swallowed me whole.

The first thing I felt was warmth.

It wrapped around me, swirling beneath my skin, melting the bone-deep ache that had settled in my limbs. For the first time in days, I wasn’t shivering, wasn’t running. I was safe.

A sharp inhale caught in my throat, my breath stuttering on a sob. The scent of fire filled my lungs—spiced smoke and sunbaked stone, molten gold, and scorched earth.

Familiar.

Home.

No...

My heart stumbled, my chest tightening as my fingers curled against the warmth beneath me.

It couldn’t be ? —

A low, thunderous rumble echoed through the air. A sound I knew in my bones.

A shadow moved beyond the ruined temple walls.

My breath hitched.

Slowly—so slowly—I turned.

And there he was.

A beast of flame and fury, his massive body stretching across the temple floor. His scales burned a deep, crimson red, like the last embers of a dying star, rippling with each breath. The sharp ridge of his spine, the lethal curve of his talons, the great arch of his wings—he was too big for this world, too ancient, too monstrous to be contained by anything but the sky.

My vision blurred. My body crumpled beneath the weight of relief. I’d thought I’d lost him forever. Malvor had told me he’d died.

Swallowing down tears, I choked out his name. “Rune ? —”

His giant head snapped toward me, and suddenly, I wasn’t warm anymore. Because his molten eyes—the color of blood and fire—were furious.

“What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you.”

The words slammed into me, knocking the air from my lungs. I choked on a breath, my relief twisting into confusion. “What?”

Rune moved—powerful, predatory—his massive form shifting as he turned fully toward me.

“I waited for days.” His voice rumbled, the earth quaking beneath us. “And you didn’t come.”

My hands shook as I pushed myself to my feet. “That’s not—Rune, I tried. I ? —”

His tail lashed, shattering what little remained of the temple’s altar. “You should have finished it.”

Finished it?

My stomach twisted. I staggered back, shaking my head. “I—I did. I broke the curse. Idris can shift. He ? —”

Rune snarled, the sound splitting the sky. “No.”

His wings flared wide, casting long, burning shadows across the ruined stone. His voice wasn’t cruel, wasn’t cold—but it shook with something deeper. Something raw. Something broken.

“You didn’t merge me with him.”

I froze.

Rune’s chest heaved, smoke curling from his nostrils. “You left me like this.”

My pulse stuttered. My breath shook. “I—I don’t ? —”

“You died,” Rune growled, “before you could finish it. You tore the curse apart, you freed him, but you left me behind.”

The breath in my chest shattered as my body swayed, my legs buckling.

Oh, gods…

I hadn’t saved him.

A ragged sob clawed up my throat. My hands trembled as I staggered toward him, reaching—needing—to feel him. Needing to know he was real. Rune let me come. Let me press my hands against the scalding heat of his snout. His scales were solid, real, burning beneath my palms.

And then my forehead dropped against him, my fingers fisting in the smooth ridges of his face. A broken breath racked through me as I sank into him.

“I failed you. I’m so sorry.” My voice cracked, a whisper of grief, of guilt so sharp it felt like I was bleeding from the inside out.

Rune didn’t speak. His massive form shifted, a low sound rumbling deep in his chest. Not anger. Not rage. But something aching. Something almost… gentle. For a moment—just a moment—he leaned into me.

Just a little.

Just enough.

Then—the ground shuddered.

Rune’s body tensed, his molten eyes snapping up, and the warmth vanished. I sucked in a sharp breath as the world darkened.

“Vale.” Rune’s voice dropped, low and urgent, his wings flaring wide.

Protective. Shielding.

A shadow crept along the temple walls, stretching toward us like a hand reaching from the abyss. My blood turned to ice. Something was coming.

The Dreaming trembled.

Rune’s fire lit the sky, the temple crumbling around us.

And then—his voice—ripped and raw—filled my mind.

“You have to find me. Find me and finish what you started. But first, you have to wake up. Now.”

The world slammed back into focus like a dagger to the heart.

I gasped awake, my body wrenching forward, my lungs seizing as though I’d been drowning and only just breached the surface. Ice-cold air burned down my throat, sharp as razors, sending a violent shudder through my body.

My heart thundered in my chest, Rune’s voice still ringing in my ears.

You didn’t finish it.

A fresh tremor racked my frame. I pressed a hand over my chest, as if I could hold myself together, as if I could keep from shattering beneath the weight of it. I wanted to go back. Gods, I wanted to go back.

To stay in that dream. To feel Rune’s warmth. To let myself believe—just for a moment—that he was still real.

But he wasn’t.

Not really.

I had broken the curse, torn the chains that bound Idris’ dragon half in place, freed the power that had been caged for centuries. Idris could shift. Rune should have been whole. He should have remained with Idris.

And yet...

A choked breath scraped my throat as I pressed the heel of my palm against my forehead, forcing back the burn of hot, stinging tears. I hadn’t finished it.

Not because I hadn’t wanted to—because I physically couldn’t . My body had given out before the merge had been complete. Before I could fully bind Rune and Idris into a single soul again. And now Rune was trapped in the Dreaming, a massive red dragon still tethered to the world of gods and ghosts.

I wasn’t strong enough.

Swallowing back my tears, I tried to ignore my thundering pulse.

I had to keep moving.

The mare huffed beside me, her breath billowing white against the cold. She flicked her ears, watching me with dark, intelligent eyes, sensing the turmoil bleeding from me like an open wound. I reached out, pressing a hand to her warm, solid neck, grounding myself.

I was still here, still breathing, and I wasn’t alone.

Not entirely.

“Guess I should call you something, huh?” My voice came out hoarse, raw from sleep and too many swallowed screams.

The mare twitched an ear but didn’t move away.

I closed my eyes, thinking. A name.

I hadn’t even realized how much I’d been holding back. Afraid to claim something as mine. Afraid to lose it. But I’d lost Rune. I’d lost my mates. I’d lost my sister. I’d lost everything.

And the mare had stayed.

A shaky breath left me as I hesitated for just a moment. Naming her seemed so final, so lasting.

“What about Vetra?” I whispered.

She let out a slow, soft exhale, blinking up at me.

It was a name from the old stories—one Rune had told so I wouldn’t be so scared to fall asleep alone on my first night in the castle. Vetra had been a legendary mare, swift as the wind, stubborn as the gods.

I ran my palm along Vetra’s neck, nodding to myself. It fit. Then the wind shifted. A sharp, unnatural gust whirled through the cabin, rattling the frost-covered branches against the patchy roof.

I froze.

That wasn’t wind. That was something else.

A hum beneath my skin, an electric vibration in the air, a shadow pressing against the edges of my mind, a presence. Not Rune, not the Dreaming.

Something older.

Something hungry.

Zamarra.

It wasn’t a voice. It wasn’t a shadow or a body. But it was watching.

My hands tightened around Vetra’s mane, my heart hammering against the confines of my chest. I forced myself to move, to pull her from the cabin and myself onto the saddle, even though every muscle ached, and exhaustion still clung to me like chains.

I guided Vetra forward, my fingers tightening around the reins as we moved through the dense underbrush.

And then—through the tangle of trees—I saw it.

The temple.

A massive, crumbling ruin, half-buried beneath centuries of frost and overgrowth. Its once-proud columns stood split with cracks, vines choking the broken stones, the ancient steps half-collapsed.

I exhaled sharply, my breath billowing in the frigid air.

It was exactly as I had seen it in the Dreaming.

A pulse of recognition hummed through me, a whisper threading through my blood, urging me forward. I didn’t know why, only that I had to get there.

It was a safe haven, a piece of the past. A place where I might finally find answers. I nudged Vetra into a gallop, the relief of being so close thrumming through my veins.

Then I heard it.

A man’s shout. Metal shifting.

My stomach dropped as I jerked the reins, twisting in the saddle, my breath seizing in my lungs.

They were behind me. Not whispers this time. Not shadows. Real voices. Real men.

They know where I’m going.

They know I’m here.

If I don’t get there first, I won’t get there at all.

I gritted my teeth, kicking Vetra harder, faster. The trees blurred past as we rode, my breath burning, every muscle screaming. The temple was so close, but so were they.

A bowstring twanged seconds before a bolt of searing blue light streaked past my shoulder, slamming into the dirt inches from Vetra’s hooves. She jerked sideways, nearly throwing me from the saddle.

Not a patrol of regular guards. Mages.

I swore, clenching my thighs, forcing Vetra onward.

Come on, come on, come on ? —

I hit the temple steps, yanking Vetra to a sharp stop, my breath coming in ragged, heaving gasps. I didn’t know what safety I’d expected, but it wasn’t there.

I twisted as they emerged from the trees, weapons drawn, cutting off every escape route.

Three. Four. Six. Ten.

Their faces were hidden beneath their hoods, but their glowing violet eyes proved me right. I swallowed as I watched their magic crackle at their fingertips.

Vetra stamped the ground, ears pinned back, nostrils flaring.

The temple loomed behind me, its entrance dark, gaping, and waiting. There was nowhere to run, no choices left. My hands clenched into fists as I let go of the reins.

My magic flared, bright as a burning star. I wasn’t giving up. I wasn’t running.

Not this time.

A figure stepped forward, his hood shadowing his face—but the smirk, the way he tilted his head, sent a fresh wave of fire through my veins.

His magic crackled at his fingertips as he studied me. “Give it up, little queen. You can’t fight us all.”

I smiled. Sharp. Ruthless. “Watch me.”

They wanted a fight? Well, they’d fucking get one.

And if I went down, I’d take every last one of them down with me.