Page 17

Myla yanked Cully behind her. Frost had already begun to curl around her hands, ready to strike. Kian stepped in front of me, shadows blooming from his palm like smoke.

“Like we practiced—” Myla started.

“Ice beast!” Antonia shouted. “Blanche, where is its weak spot?”

I swallowed hard. “Uh… just attack and hope something works?”

“The other Blanche!” she said.

Cully flipped through his journal, pages shaking in his hands. “Okay, hold on. Wait, there’s a soft spot between the ribs… oh. Go for the heart! What Sev said—just attack!”

The ice beast growled, its hackles flattening. Then a sword sliced through the trees. Suddenly, Fraser crashed into the clearing, grinning like a lunatic.

“What, were you all waiting for me?” he called, launching a second blade into the beast’s hind leg .

Myla didn’t pause. Frost raced down her arm as she struck low, forcing the ice beast to stumble.

“Come on, Severyn!” Antonia called. “Let’s see if it likes a little flame!”

I raised my palm, forcing my power to rise. The ice beast’s head snapped toward me. Then a second one hurtled forward on its hind legs.

It lunged.

Fraser intercepted mid-charge, steel biting into its spine. “Aim for its core!” he shouted. “No second chances out here!”

“Severyn!” Myla yelled. “Roll!”

I threw myself sideways. Its claws tore into the earth where I’d stood, pinning Kian’s jacket into the snow.

The beast loomed over me, breath steaming in the cold. I forced the flame through my veins, but it wasn’t strong enough.

The snow melted as black ash spread across the ground. Then something massive collided with the ice beast, sending it skidding through the trees in a screech of snow and fur.

I looked up and there was Naraic.

The dragon stood tall, wings half-furled, his violet eyes glowing. His talons cut deep furrows into the ice. One look, and he unleashed a blast of black flame. The second ice beast shrieked, its body flailing as it vanished into the trees.

For a moment it was dead silent before Naraic hovered above me. “Severyn Blanche,” his voice rumbled through the bond. “You nearly severed our bond that night you fled the academy.”

I dropped to my knees, chest heaving. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I betrayed you that night. I shouldn’t have—”

His head dipped low, breath curling with smoke. “I will only say this once.” His voice cut through the bond like steel, and for the first time, I saw the wildness in his stance. “Disobey me again, and I will be forced to sever our bond. I protect you. Always. ”

Tears welled, hot and shameful. “I won’t break your trust again.”

A huff of air left his lungs, swirling soot and warmth around my hands. Power seared into my relic like a brand, reigniting something I thought I’d lost.

Then his gaze shifted at Kian. Something flickered in those violet depths. Not just recognition. Instinct. “Another one…” He inhaled sharply. “He smells the same.”

I placed a trembling hand on Naraic’s snout, grounding him. “His brother,” I said softly. A low rumble rolled through him. “We can trust him.”

Behind me, Cully stood frozen mid-step, journal limp in his hands, mouth slightly open. “ Ugh, that’s a real dragon.”

Fraser slung an arm around his shoulders. “Cully, breathe before you pass out.”

I pulled Kian’s jacket tighter and kept walking. The others followed, Naraic lumbering behind us, each swing of his massive tail sending snow and branches flying.

Fraser caught up once Cully shook off the shock. “Good to be out of the dungeons, Severyn?” he asked. “It’s a hard cycle to break, that place. Easy to forget what daylight feels like.”

I gave a faint nod. “Thanks—for what you did that first night with Rok.”

Fraser shrugged. “Yeah, well. Rok’s been twitchy lately. Never did have a handle on that temper.”

I crossed my arms, bearing the cold walk. “So, what’s your story? When did you join the guards?” I asked.

Fraser had the rugged charm of a battle-worn guard—broad-shouldered, snow-dusted blond hair, and eyes so pale they looked carved from quartz.

He filled the silence on our walk to my estate with stories—tales of battles across Verdonia, of being born in one of the fallen Day realms. Exiled and conscripted into Malvoria’s ranks, he’d climbed faster than most. Lost a finger to a water beast in the Iron Wastes and once dragged three comrades from a burning camp with a broken leg.

By the time he finished, Cully was doubled over, hands on his knees, wheezing. “You don’t mind if I journal that, do you? Also—exactly which finger was it?”

Antonia rolled her eyes. “Keep up, writer. It was the ring finger.”

Myla gave her a look. “You have that memorized?”

Antonia flushed, too fast. “No. It was... in one of his stories.”

Cully ignored them, still gasping. “Can we rest? Severyn can light a fire or something. Please?”

Fraser ran a hand through his hair, scanning the bruised sky. “We shouldn’t stop. Nightfall’s too close, and there’s no shelter. Myla might survive the cold, but the rest of us?” His gaze fell on Cully’s trembling frame. “We’ll freeze.”

“Shouldn’t the lake be nearby?” Cully asked, voice tight as we stepped into a wide clearing.

I squinted through the evergreen trees. Beyond them, a few lonely street lanterns blinked dimly, barely cutting through the dusk.

“I thought so,” I murmured. I could’ve sworn it was closer. I fanned my face with my sleeve, sweat already pricking at my brow. Gods. Why was it so warm?

Antonia’s voice snapped through the quiet. “What do you mean you’re not sure? You grew up here.”

A sharp crack split the ground beneath our boots. Myla froze mid-step. “Guys… I think we’re on the lake.”

I looked down, and sure enough slush pooled beneath my boot. This couldn’t be good. “This lake surrounds Colindale,” I said, throat tightening. “We’re close to my home.”

Fraser stepped up beside me, eyes narrowing. “That’s slush, Severyn. I think you’re melting it. ”

If the yellow-scaled fish frozen mid-swim beneath the surface wasn’t enough to convince me, the rising water at my ankles was. I was melting the lake, and we were in the dead center of it.

“I’ll ride Naraic,” I said quickly, panic closing like a fist around my ribs. “I can’t risk drowning us all.”

But before I could move, the ice groaned. A crack lanced out from beneath my feet, spidering like shattered glass.

I froze, arms outstretched. “Keep walking,” I said, barely breathing. “Don’t stop. Don’t run.”

Antonia’s teeth chattered. “Pathetic,” she hissed. “You’re a beast in your own land. You’ll kill us all.”

“Calm it, Toni,” Fraser snapped.

“She’s panicking, you idiot,” Kian said.

“My bond with my dragon was damaged,” I gasped. “I—I can’t control the flame right now.”

Each step I took sent another fracture through the ice. Unsteady fire flickered at my fingers. The ice gave way beneath Naraic first. With a roar, his talons plunged through.

Antonia bolted for the trees, dragging a stunned Cully behind her. Myla hesitated, then followed.

“Kian, go!” I shouted.

“I can’t leave you,” he said, shaking his head.

Fraser crouched low, examining the thinning ice. “Your flame destabilized your body. Now that you’ve reunited, you can’t control your powers,” he called. “Can you swim?”

“Not well,” I panted.

“Then lay flat. Spread your weight!”

I turned to Kian, panic clawing at my throat. “I don’t care if Archer told you to protect me—leave.”

Kian’s jaw locked. “I think I’m willed to protect you,” he said hoarsely. “It’s not a choice.”

“Like a shield?” I spat .

“No,” he said. “Not like that.”

Antonia turned back, snarling, “Severyn, you need to—”

Then the ice shattered, and I plunged, legs first, into the cold darkness. I thrashed, scraping at the ceiling above me—but there was no opening. No air. Just the crushing silence of below.

The current yanked me sideways, slamming my body into jagged spheres of floating ice. I clawed at the slick surface, fists pounding until blood smeared across the glassy sheen.

Above, through warped shadows, I caught a glimpse of Fraser—his silhouette rising and falling. Sword in hand, he struck the ice again and again, each blow more desperate than the last.

I pressed my palms to the ceiling, begging for warmth, for a flicker of power—anything. My relic sparked weakly, but it was too thick to melt.

“Severyn.” Archer’s voice came distantly through the bond. “I can feel your panic in my heart. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed down the bond. “I failed.”

Then the ice split with a thunderous crack. Naraic’s talons slammed down, sending a pillar of water into the air. Through the swirl of bubbles and ash, I saw his eyes, violet and burning.

The last of my strength surged into my relic, searing against my skin. I drove my fist upward, and a burst of black flame erupted from my palm, fracturing the ice like shattered glass.

A hand burst through the surface and clamped around my wrist, yanking me free before the current could drag me under. I collapsed onto the frozen lake, gasping as the silver sky spun overhead.

Antonia knelt beside me, arm soaked to the shoulder, her teeth clenched against the cold. With one huff, she stared at me. “If that leftover Lynch calls me annoying again,” she muttered, “I’m dragging him under and holding him there. ”

Kian raised his arms. “I love that attempted murder is your version of flirting. Really makes the psychic bond warm and fuzzy.”

The look Antonia shot him could’ve cracked ice. Fraser’s laugh only made it worse.

I coughed, tugging Kian’s jacket tighter around me. “Thanks… for saving me.”

She rolled her eyes and walked off silently, like admitting she cared would cost her blood.

Cully stood off to the side, eyes wide and uncertain, like he couldn’t decide whether to write this down as a rescue, a rebirth, or a catastrophe.

“Do you want another beast to attack?” Antonia snapped at him. “Keep up, journalist. And while you’re at it, go ahead and start writing the article about how I saved your sister’s sorry ass.”