Page 42

CHAPTER 42

SERENNA

S erenna quickened her pace, breath curling into wisps as she caught up to Jassyn. Ahead, Vesryn and Aesar vanished through a portal behind Fenn, the latest in a series of rifts guiding them through the mountain pass.

“What did you say to Lykor last night?” she asked, freeing the question that had been circling her mind since dawn.

Jassyn hesitated, adjusting his grip on his pack as he glanced at the waiting gateway.

“Nothing,” he said a shade too quickly.

Serenna raised her brows. Jassyn wasn’t prone to lying, but it was clear he was withholding something. Aesar had been present since their conversation, while Lykor had remained conspicuously absent—he hadn’t even appeared to interrogate Fenn after his return from the fortress. Though Fenn’s report had been unremarkable, merely confirming that the humans had claimed the keep as their own.

“Did you scare him off?” she pressed, needling him with a lighthearted jest.

Jassyn exhaled, driving a hand through his curls. “We might’ve reached…an understanding and—”

“Are you two coming or what?” Vesryn’s head reappeared on their side of the portal, silver hair catching the morning sun.

Serenna rolled her eyes. So much for answers.

“You’re going to want to see this,” he added before disappearing once more through the void.

Hefting his pack, Jassyn wasted no time slipping through the shimmering veil.

Huffing, Serenna shook her head and followed.

She stepped through to the other side, her breath catching at the sight before her. Beneath her boots, snow still clung stubbornly to the precipice. But thousands of feet below, the mountains broke free from their frozen tombs, shedding the mantle of winter.

Jagged peaks melted into rocky slopes, valleys yawning wide with the first hints of green. Bare outcroppings exposed dark rocks—veins of copper glinting in the sunlight, the minerals bleeding from the earth.

Still buoyed by the thrill of opening the group’s portals for the first time, Fenn grinned as he collapsed the rift behind her. His eyes danced with the sun, reflecting the horizon that stretched endlessly around them.

“So the Wastes do have another side,” Aesar murmured, standing beside the prince on the ridge as they surveyed the transforming world.

Serenna’s pulse quickened. Not from the altitude or height, but from the buzz of excitement. She sensed Vesryn and Fenn shared the same restlessness—uncharted realms lay ahead.

Unfazed by the snowy crust still crunching underfoot, Fenn shrugged off his cloak. The crackling of melting ice filled the silence, water threading its way down the slopes. “If we’re to travel through the deserts next—”

“Desert?” Serenna echoed, shading her eyes to peer into the distance. Where she’d expected lush, green hills, there was only a stretch of windswept plains—a realm of dust and vacant skies.

“I think he’s right,” Aesar said, rubbing his chin as he followed Fenn’s gaze toward the hazy west. “It’s hard to tell from here, but a few more jumps should give us the answer.”

Midway through Aesar’s words, Vesryn cleaved a rift open before Fenn had a chance. The other end unfolded near a tumbling stream, reaching as far as Serenna could see down the descending ridges.

With an impatient wave, he beckoned them onward. “We won’t find answers standing here.”

In swift succession, the prince sent them through three more portals. Each cast them farther down the waterway as they chased the horizon, the snow surrendering to slush in the lower valleys.

Warmth enveloped Serenna in a sudden wave, loosening the chill that had nestled deep in her bones. She wasted no time shedding her cloak as everyone else did the same.

“So now might be a good time to return to the jungle,” the prince said, nudging Aesar in the ribs. “We could bring Zaeryn and a squad of rangers to help scout in more directions. Unless you’d rather press on blindly?”

“I’m not of the same mind as Lykor.” Aesar scoffed, crossing his arms as he scanned the terrain. “I want to check back in with Kal anyway. Lykor didn’t exactly leave him with many assurances. I’m sure he’s already spun a hundred grim scenarios in our absence.”

“And we’ll need fresh supplies,” Jassyn added, still attempting to wrestle out of his layers.

“I can keep pressing onward,” Fenn suggested.

Nodding, Vesryn considered the vast, sprawling plains. “That eager to keep portal jumping?”

Fenn shrugged. “I assume Lykor would prefer not to lose any traveling time.”

“I can scout with Fenn,” Serenna offered, meeting the prince’s eyes. “You’ll be able to track me through the bond when you return.”

She gestured to the meandering stream that flowed past them, its surface shimmering under the sun. “We have water for now and can see where it leads.”

Eyes snapping skyward, Fenn latched onto a vulture that was nearly a speck soaring above. “Seems the locals might already be aware of our presence. Saves us the trouble of tracking dinner.”

Serenna’s lips twitched, imagining him lassoing the bird from the air with ropes of force. But before she could voice the thought, the prince beat her to it.

“In that case,” Vesryn muttered, “I’m staying in the jungle long enough to eat dinner. I’d really prefer if we didn’t dine on scavenger stew.”

Jassyn crouched, trying—and failing—to shove his cloak into his already overstuffed pack. With a sigh, he yanked it free and glanced up. “Are you sure we should split up?”

“They’ll be fine,” Aesar reassured him. “They’ve scouted ahead before. While Vesryn meets with the rangers and I speak with Kal, you can coordinate with our mother to gather fresh provisions.”

“And maybe it won’t be too much longer before we find a place to relocate everyone,” Vesryn said, his usual levity underscored by a quieter contemplation. Clicking his tongue, he turned back to the Wastes before addressing Aesar. “Seven, maybe eight, portals should take us back?”

Aesar chuckled and flicked his wrist. Essence wound around him before he tore open a rift. “Three, I think.”

Vesryn arched a brow. “And here I thought the only purpose of that bottomless Well was so you’d have a place to store Lykor’s ego.”

“We’ve had the same opportunities, brother,” Aesar said as he clapped the prince on the back. Striding toward the rift, he quipped over his shoulder, “If you spent half as much time expanding your reserves as you do channeling magic into that Starshard, you might catch up.”

Vesryn shook his head as Aesar and Jassyn disappeared, but the glint of challenge shone in his eyes. “If Aesar’s right about making it back to the jungle with so few portals, we should return in a few hours—provided we don’t need to regenerate.”

Serenna nodded as the prince lingered, his fingers drumming against his thigh. For a moment, she thought he might change his mind and forge ahead with them instead.

But whatever conflict he wrestled with, he buried swiftly. With a slow exhale, he rolled his shoulders as if shaking off the impulse.

His gaze flicked to Fenn before settling back on her. “Try not to make it too hard for us to find you.”

“We’ll be fine, Princeling,” Fenn said with a grin, though Vesryn’s concern hadn’t been for him.

With a curt nod, the prince pivoted toward the portal. After he vanished, the rift closed behind him, his presence now a far leap away in Serenna’s mind.

“Would you like the honors?” Fenn asked, the amusement in his voice pulling her attention back to what lay ahead.

Inhaling the dry air deeply, Serenna reached into Fenn’s side of their Well, igniting his portaling talent.

She flung out her arm, weaving a rift into the horizon, where heat shimmered, blurring the seam between land and sky. A stir of excitement breezed through her, carrying the undeniable sense that their journey was only just beginning.