Page 3 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

~Kai~

I jolted awake from what felt like a bolt of electricity, sucking in frantic, ragged breaths.

Blinking, I looked to see Vorzyr crouching over me, blowing out a breath of relief. His palm was lit with his red magical flame. He closed it and snuffed it out, then reached out and wrapped his arm around me, easing me into a sitting position.

“Sorry. I had to wake you up somehow. It could’ve been hours if I hadn’t intervened with that magical shock.”

“I seriously passed out?”

“I know you hate weakness, but I drained you almost entirely, and passing through the Dracoryn Realm the way we did to get out, against their will, takes a toll on a dragon of my power, let alone an outsider. You were without your magic when I forced our way out, too. Although I had them drop the Blood Anchor spell, there are still standard protective wards.”

“I know. I had to force my way in with colossal power.”

“You do realize that most can’t manage that at all? Even sorcerers with centuries of experience on you?”

“Well, you’re well acquainted with what a stubborn bastard I can be.”

He flashed the band around his right wrist, a smooth, pale band of enchanted stone encircling it.

Its surface was etched with delicate, ancient runes that shimmered faintly with rose-gold undertones when it was active with my power.

“You secretly created this for me with a spell before I left, huh?”

“I needed a way to ensure you were okay.”

“And I wasn’t,” he murmured.

“No. You weren’t.” I gestured at the band.

“It’s called a Nexus Band. It basically forms a connection to me and detects if you’re in danger, in pain, that sort of thing.

It was glamoured, but it’s visible now with my magic depleted.

I know you’re going to be pissed that it was invasive and what I did was underhanded, but with your pride and—”

“I’m keeping it.”

“You… what?”

“I like it. And it saved my fucking life.” He reached out and stroked my hair with an unrestrained reverence. “ Thank you. What you did for me, it’s—”

“Nothing you, Nyx, or Ari wouldn’t have done for me.”

“Kai..”

I grasped his hand on my hair. “What they did to you… that won’t go unpunished.”

He held my hand tightly and lowered his head, struggling to rein in the depth of emotion that plagued him.

And then he pulled away and rose to his feet. “We have more enemies to add to our ever-growing list now,” he uttered bitterly, his worry clear.

“We’ll deal with them. Together, we will bring them all to their knees.”

He sucked in a breath and blinked hard. “First thing’s first. We need to restore your magic.”

“You do that right now and it could severely harm you. My power within you is needed to counter the severe effects of the Ashbinding. You could fall into a comatose state without it bolstering you. More time is needed for you to heal first.”

“I’m not gonna leave you in an incapacitated state.”

“It’ll be a few days at the most for me to recover.”

“I know how much you hate feeling weak. It’s already happened to you, one of your worst fears, when you were hit with that Celestial infection.

You’re not gonna suffer through that again.

No more than you’ve already endured by saving my life tonight.

” He gestured around. “Fortunately, there’s a way that can restore us both without worsening things. ”

I took in our surroundings, the jagged cliffside he’d brought us to.

The sheer immensity of what it truly was hit me.

We were on the side of a volcano, its monstrous black peak further up lost in a swirl of ash clouds.

Lava streamed in distant rivers down its scorched flanks, veins of molten red cutting through the black like open wounds.

Jagged spires of ebony jutted out from the cracked terrain around its base, remnants of eruptions frozen mid-stream.

The air was thick with heat and sulfur. I’d thought the strain of my breathing had been caused by the weakness currently besetting me, but it was a combination of the scent of fire and ash as well.

“Krestaz,” I breathed. “The largest volcano on the mortal plane.”

“That’s right.”

“Why?”

“I recognized this as the site of the meeting space that Malrik and Draco used. It makes sense, considering Malrik was trying to keep their affair off the Dracoryn Realm’s radar. The lava… it blocks dragon-scenting. They wouldn’t have been able to track him here.”

“How does that help us? You believe there is some residual draconic magic here that you can draw on?”

He stepped toward a blackened ledge, his boots crunching on ash.

“Malrik was in grave danger at the time, the time when he was here at this specific site. When dragons believe themselves to be in that situation, especially one as powerful as Malrik was, they have been known to store some of their fire. With our blood connection, I can use it, draw it into myself, use it to bolster me and to revitalize mine—a kickstart to it, basically. Then I can return your magic to you without risking my life.”

“Fuck. I know that’s the last thing you want after you saw what he did, how he betrayed the Dracoryn Realm so horrifically, and how he infected your bloodline and altered your fate in the process, how he forced this upon you.

” I pushed to my feet, staggering in the process.

So much so that it had him spinning back to me.

I held up my hand, discouraging him from lending me his support again.

I could manage it, and I needed him to concentrate on hearing me right now.

“I don’t need you to do this. I can deal with the weakness for a little while.

There’s a lot I can investigate and research for us without my magic. ”

“There isn’t time for you to endure being without your magic, Kai.”

“What?”

He winced. “You can’t feel it because your magic isn’t with you.”

“Feel what?”

“As soon as we passed back onto this plane, I felt something. I guess, employing another Celestial ability with my Command of Beasts back there made me more open to the rest, and I was able to access my Rift Vision. It kind of slammed into me, actually, once we passed back onto this plane.”

“Your ability to see between weak points in the realms and shifts to the balance.”

“Exactly. This, that I felt, it was a shift in the balance. A massive one.”

“Ari,” I choked.

“That was my first thought, too.”

“Just before I took off to aid you, Cornelius felt a disruption as well.”

“Motherfucker, this is fucking bad then. I tried to reach out to Ariana via our mind-link, but there was some sort of blockage. I couldn’t get through at all.

And… my dragon senses… they’re not working.

Not until I restore myself in a draconic-based way, not via the fueling of my strength with your power.

And you can’t track her until you have your magic back.

” He laid his hand on my shoulder. “We don’t have a choice.

This needs to be done, Kai. And I’m willing to do it.

It’s okay. I’m okay with it.” His eyes flickered.

“Ariana could be in severe danger. She needs us. She needs us ASAP.”

“Get us inside there now.”

He nodded, then swept us up in another cloud of teleportation.

We rematerialized a moment later inside a space that was very familiar thanks to the Stone of Recollection memories.

My boots skidded slightly on the blackened stone. The molten veins etched into the black walls pulsed faintly, a reminder of the volcano’s power. The air tasted like metal and magic, sending a shiver through me. It was hot, making me sweat within seconds of being inside the chamber.

I hung back, slapping my hand to one of the rough walls, carefully avoiding the lava veins, as I watched V stride to the center of the space where a raised platform jutted out from the rock.

He hovered his hand over it and sucked in a breath. “I can feel him here. His remnants,” he spoke, eyeing me over his shoulder. He turned back and muttered, “I just can’t see it, or summon it forth—the fire.”

“To ensure his fire was as secure and protected as possible, he would have had to employ a form of blood magic,” I told him. “With you being his grandson, it stands to reason that an offering from you would suffice to access it.”

“A blood link,” he breathed. “Yes, of course.”

He called a single talon forth with a bit of a struggle, because of his weak connection to his draconian nature currently, then dragged it across his palm, letting a few drops fall.

Then the air trembled.

A low hum stirred the chamber walls.

The molten veins brightened, flaring gold-red, then split open.

Flame burst forth — not wild, but contained , hovering inside a vessel embedded in the stone.

It swirled in suspended motion, no bigger than a heart. Crimson at the core, it was edged with orange, and flickering with veins of dark violet fire.

Malrik’s dragon fire.

V looked back at me and I gave him the nod of encouragement that he was silently asking for, and then he pressed his palm to the stone beneath the vessel.

The blood still seeping from the cut flared with light, matching the fire’s core.

And then it moved, surging downward, breaking from the vessel.

V grunted as it struck at his chest.

His body arched, a guttural roar tearing from his throat as the searing heat ripped through his veins.

I grimaced as it went on for several moments, before he jerked back and staggered, slapping his hand to his chest.

He spun toward me, his golden eyes blazing.

And then he held a palm before his face and let loose a controlled blast of his dragon fire into it.

As he diffused it, his gaze met mine and he grinned.

He’d done it.

His red magical flame emanated all around him then as well, and a euphoric cry escaped him, echoing beautifully off the walls.

“Motherfucker,” he breathed in rapture.

“Feel better?”

“Unbelievably. Now it’s your turn.” He strode toward me with wide steps that covered the distance between us in no time. “It won’t hurt now. I’m returning it to you.” He grasped both my shoulders, steadying me. “Ready, brother?”

Brother. I smiled. “Always.”

He tightened his grip, then his eyes shone brightly, his palms glowing with my own rose-gold power and permeating my clothes and skin alike, breathing back into me in the most glorious way that was not only completely painless, but fucking exhilarating.

I threw my head back and he had to hold me steady as it took me over, the glorious sensation surging to incredible heights as I felt my magic fill me up once more, strengthen me, prepare me, make me whole again.

When it finally came to an end, I was literally vibrating with it, and he had to release me, as my rose-gold power flamed out all around me, lightning crackling too.

I sucked in a soothing breath. “Fuck me,” I breathed. “That’s it… ungh.”

He chuckled with a mixture of mirth at my reaction and relief that I was well again.

I stepped back up to him. “Scent her. Find our celestial princess.”

He nodded, then I grasped his shoulder and teleported us away.

We needed to move to an area beyond the stifling impact of the lava on his senses.

When we rematerialized, we were in a stretch of empty fields miles from the volcano.

Wasting no time, Vorzyr squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated, sniffing the air.

Moments went on by in anxious silence as he searched.

I was tapping my foot, barely able to contain my urgency.

And then, finally, his eyes snapped open. “She’s definitely in trouble.”

Adrenaline thrummed through me. “Where?”

“Meforian Forest.”