Page 37

CHAPTER 37

JASSYN

J assyn’s heart vaulted into his throat as a void opened beneath him—an endless drop yanking him down. The ground fractured, ice breaking away as he plunged into the abyss.

He tumbled through layer after layer of splintering sheets, his shield flickering, fueled briefly by mind-numbing fright until Essence fled entirely. Air screamed past his ears as his fingers scraped uselessly at the ice, desperate for purchase where there was none.

A stinging slash raked Jassyn’s cheek, but the pain was drowned beneath a flood of panic. His breath came in ragged bursts, pulse thrashing in his ears.

Above, the beast roared, a deafening claim over the surface he’d been flung from.

Body pitching forward, the wind ripped tears from his eyes. This weightless rush of air was too familiar. Falling from the sky when Vesryn had shoved him off a dracovae. The same helpless descent. The ground rushing up to meet him. The inevitable impact looming below.

But this time, he couldn’t see the bottom—only a blinding swirl of broken ice and a choking flurry of snow. Terror detonated in his chest as the pit buried him in a shattered grave with no end in sight.

A metallic squeal cleaved through the chaos. Steel fingers clamped around his arm, a crushing grip biting through his cloak and leathers.

Darkness swallowed him, his vision spinning as the world dissolved, twisted, and folded. The brutal yank wrenched his shoulder, nearly dislocating it as the force tore him from free fall.

With a jarring lurch, the void buckled and the world slammed back into focus. His head snapped sideways, joints in his arm straining in protest as pain shot through them.

Chips of ice exploded around him as he crashed onto his back, a jagged ledge breaking his fall. Impossibly high above, light spilled through the narrow breach that marked the frozen lake’s surface.

“Hold on!” Lykor snarled, his gauntlet tightening around Jassyn’s arm.

Jassyn barely registered the command, grappling with sheer bewilderment that Lykor had followed him into the chasm.

Lykor, who’d spent all week pretending he didn’t exist. Not a glance, not a single word spoken to him since Vaelyn’s harbor. And if Lykor did have something to say, he funneled every curt order through Fenn as though speaking to Jassyn was beneath him.

And yet, here Lykor was, snatching him from the maw of death.

Jassyn didn’t have time to process the whirlwind of shock before an invisible hook yanked at his insides—Lykor hurtling them upward in another warp.

Then another.

Each jump hit Jassyn harder, the gut-wrenching force ripping him apart from the inside out.

Without warning, blinding light exploded into his vision.

They smashed into the ground—blessed, unbroken ground. The impact rattled Jassyn’s teeth, knocking the air from his lungs. His body’s frenzied energy ricocheted through him, leaving his chest heaving and limbs trembling, pinned to the earth by the aftershock.

Lykor didn’t pause.

Of course he didn’t.

Before Jassyn could even think about standing, Lykor was already yanking him up. Jassyn’s head swam but there was no time to catch his breath—Lykor shoved him hard through a waiting portal.

Jassyn stumbled through the rift, the world whirling too fast to keep his balance. His stomach lurched, a rush of bile rising in his throat. Before he could stop it, he doubled over and retched.

Knees buckling, he was barely aware of the hands that halted his collapse. Fenn’s steady grip anchored him on one side, while Serenna’s support held him on the other.

Limbs shaking uncontrollably, shivers wracked Jassyn’s body, cold sweat drenching his skin. The crushing nausea seemed endless, every heave hollowing him out until he could do nothing but gasp for air.

Serenna gently brushed his curls away from his face while Fenn rubbed his back in soothing, rhythmic circles, blaming the number of warps he must’ve endured.

Bitter air burned Jassyn’s lungs and he shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut, desperate to concentrate on something—anything—to stop the world from spinning.

“Pull yourself together!”

Jassyn’s eyes snapped open, the weight of Lykor’s commanding presence ramming his focus back into place, drawing him in even as his instincts screamed to push away. Of course Lykor wouldn’t give him a moment to breathe. He couldn’t decide which emotion burned hotter—fury or humiliation.

Lykor’s lip curled over his fangs as he growled in Jassyn’s face, “The only reason you’re here is because you’ve got a job to do.”

Denied any more time to recover, Lykor ripped him out of Serenna and Fenn’s supportive grip and spun him around. Heart hammering an even wilder rhythm in his chest, Jassyn only now noticed the roaring across the frozen lake. He’d completely forgotten about the massive creature that had emerged from the glacial depths.

“Slip into that thing’s mind and stop it,” Lykor ordered, his voice sharp enough to leave no doubt—it wasn’t a request.

Hundreds of paces away, the beast towered like a mountain, its form twisted with something reminiscent of a monstrous arachnid. Numerous frost-encrusted legs, thick as ancient trees, gouged the ground with massive claws. Translucent spines of jagged ice bristled along its hunched back, a fortress of frozen armor.

But its head was the true nightmare—grotesque jaws splitting its face nearly in two, rows of teeth glinting like shattered glass. Instead of eyes, a single crystal was embedded at the center of its face, flashing as it reflected the sun.

Beside him, Fenn mumbled something about “an icy golem with too many legs.”

Lykor’s snarl cut him off. “It doesn’t need a fucking name.”

Jassyn frantically searched for Vesryn, sensing him across the valley. When he finally spotted him, a fresh wave of fear surged.

The monster was closing in on the prince, moving with unnatural speed, each step defying its massive bulk. The impacts of its thunderous strides shook the frozen lake, sending fractures rippling outward across the ice.

“What is he doing?” Jassyn croaked, sensing the prince’s frustration crackling through the bond.

Swords spinning in a blur, Vesryn darted between the eight colossal legs, shadows whipping in every direction. Darkness struck the icy armor only to dissolve on contact, vanishing against the monster’s hide.

Impossible.

“There’s a Starshard absorbing his magic!” Serenna gasped.

Jassyn didn’t have time to look back at the behemoth’s face. Lykor snatched the front of his cloak and barked, “Can you control it or not?”

“C—control it?” Jassyn stammered, Lykor’s demand hitting him like a blow.

He became acutely aware of the narrow space between them, Lykor’s incinerating gaze scalding him. For a moment, their eyes locked. Too long, too intense. Something more than frustration charged the air around them.

He must be desperate, Jassyn realized, if he’s asking me to use coercion.

Eyes blazing, Lykor’s fangs flashed inches from his face, dangerously close. “If you can control me ,” he hissed, “you can control that .” He flung a gauntleted finger toward the beast. “Subdue it. Or get that lackwit back here before he gets pulverized so we can portal.”

It took some effort to tear away from Lykor’s searing glower, but Jassyn forced his focus back toward the rampaging colossus. His chest tightened with a swell of worry as he reached for Vesryn’s mind, sending a desperate thought down the bond. We need to leave. Now.

Dodging around the hulking legs as they impaled the ice, Vesryn didn’t respond, his attention locked on the behemoth. Shadows lashed at the icy armor, but the magic disintegrated as the crystal on the golem’s head went darker than night, siphoning the prince’s power like parched earth swallowing rain.

Serenna’s voice pitched higher. “Tell him to stop throwing rending at it before it channels his magic back at him!”

Too far across the expanse to be of any use, they all helplessly watched the prince.

Jassyn pushed harder, urgently barreling into his cousin’s mind. You need to get out of there!

Vesryn shoved a thought back against him. It has one of those Starshards!

What does that matter? Jassyn snapped. You—

A massive leg scythed toward the prince, its claw hammering into the ground with a thunderous crack . Snow and ice erupted in a spray as Vesryn dove through a portal, reappearing behind the beast.

Jassyn’s heart leaped into his throat, every muscle locking. Whatever you’re doing isn’t working! It was too strong. Too fast.

Get everyone out of here while I have it distracted, Vesryn ordered, more determined now. I’m not leaving until I get that crystal.

Jassyn recoiled, disbelief spiking. You can’t be serious!

Vesryn darted beneath another strike, shadows lashing around him. I know what I’m doing, he shot back, flaring a shield against an explosion of ice. There’s something important about the Starshards—I can feel it. It could be the advantage we need.

That gem is absorbing everything you’re throwing at it! Jassyn’s thoughts spiraled as he scrambled for a way to recall the prince. He should have known by now that logic wouldn’t reach his cousin, but he tried anyway. It’s going to—

Vesryn slammed a barricade between them, severing their communication. Irritation flamed hot in Jassyn’s chest. Completely at a loss, he drove a hand through his curls. He was trying to help him—to save him—but the prince never listened.

Unsheathing two long knives from his spine, Fenn tracked the beast’s movements, calculating. “If I can take out its legs—”

“Absolutely not,” Serenna said, snatching his arm.

“You can’t fell that thing with those toothpicks,” Lykor growled, pacing like a caged animal, his shoulders jerking tight. “Have you failed to notice that it’s armored in fucking ice ?”

Fenn’s grip on his blades tightened. “We can’t just stand here.” He chewed a lip ring, gaze flicking between Serenna and the prince. “I could warp in and grab him.”

“Stay where you are, Lieutenant,” Lykor snapped. Eyes flaring, he whirled to Jassyn. “Are you even trying to do anything useful?”

Jassyn’s throat constricted, but he forced the words out. “Vesryn’s not leaving without the Starshard.”

Lykor scoffed bitterly, throwing his head back. “Aesar figured as much.” A sneer etched harsh angles into his face before he bit out his next words. “So back to my first plan. I don’t care how you do it—just fucking stop it.”

Jassyn swallowed hard. There was no choice.

Clearing his mind to steady the tumultuous storm, Jassyn drew on his Well. He hauled on telepathy, spiraling his magic outward. The stream of power skated across the frozen expanse, toward the looming beast. Tendrils of magic unfurled, weaving a delicate lattice in the air.

“Hurry!” Serenna’s voice was a distant echo, lost to Jassyn’s ears. In a race against the pulsing crystal, he shoved his arms forward and lashed out with his power, diving into the behemoth’s mind.

When his magic brushed the beast, everything unraveled. The threads of coercion frayed and snapped . A violent jolt erupted in his skull, the backlash a hammerblow striking down the length of his spine.

Jassyn staggered, choking on a gasp as the crystal ravaged his power. The gem didn’t just disintegrate his magic—it latched onto his Well. A voracious force surged, siphoning away his Essence in consuming waves, hollowing him out.

Reeling, Jassyn wrenched himself free with a desperate burst of will, severing his access to Essence before the crystal drained his reserves entirely. Vesryn had failed to mention that the Starshard could draw directly from their Well.

Jassyn’s hands trembled uncontrollably as he dropped his arms, unease spreading. He hesitantly met Lykor’s eyes and shook his head.

Coercion—or any magical assault—wouldn’t work.

Lykor’s jaw tightened, but Jassyn felt no judgment—only grim acknowledgment. Something else flickered in his eyes, a fleeting glimmer of concern that dimmed behind a scowl before Jassyn could be certain it had been there at all.

The realization knocked him off balance, as if he’d plunged into another free fall.

For all his scathing commands and stony detachment, Lykor had been worried about him . It felt wrong somehow, like a misplaced priority. While perhaps heedless and foolish, Vesryn was the one entangled in a battle, fighting for his life. But Lykor’s focus had landed here—on him.

The behemoth’s roar ripped Jassyn’s attention back across the frozen lake. Whether it was Vesryn’s relentless assault or Jassyn’s failed attempt to breach its mind, it had only grown more enraged.

A piercing whine erupted, so shrill that it sliced through Jassyn’s senses. He clapped his hands over his ears, but the sound blurred his vision, driving stakes of pain through his skull.

The Starshard blazed with a brilliance that rivaled the sun. The creature lunged, jaws gaping wide, a monstrous cavern of ice and death opening.

Vesryn’s fear lurched through the bond—a sudden pulse of dread. Then the shard detonated, unleashing a storm of shadows, barbs of darkness streaking toward the prince.

“No,” Jassyn whispered, the word escaping him as a flicker of knowing seized his chest. Somehow—just for a breath—he could see it, as if the beast’s next move had already been written.

Ears ringing from another deafening roar, Jassyn broke into a sprint as the crystal on its head went still again. Through the billowing cloud, he glimpsed Vesryn encased in a shield of violet light.

Jassyn threw his hands up, ripping spikes of ice from the ground as he ran forward. He had to distract it—do something .

The frozen spears flew ahead of him, but the monster lunged at the prince with an alarming burst of speed, its horde of legs screeching across the lake.

Jassyn’s breath hitched. He wasn’t going to make it. There wasn’t anything he could do against a mountain carved from ice. His projectiles glanced harmlessly off the frosty hide.

The creature’s head crashed down with the force of an avalanche, the earth shuddering beneath its weight. Its monstrous jaws snapped shut, engulfing the prince.

Jassyn halted in his tracks, skidding to stop.

Vesryn was gone.

Devoured whole.