“We need to go back to Centarya and plan, Vesryn.” Jassyn trudged after the prince, hindered by the snowy banks. He fought to keep the rising trepidation out of his voice. “You said you didn’t sense Serenna's exact location.” Curling his arms around his middle, Jassyn shivered, somehow still dozens of paces behind. “You won’t find her if you’re dead. Stars, we don’t even have cloaks!”
Vesryn collapsed to his knees, his anguished words echoing across the valley. “I’m not leaving her here!”
Jassyn halted in place when a pulse of Essence flared from his cousin. What is he doing now? Slamming his fists to the snow, Vesryn released a bellow of rage. An ocean of magic exploded from the prince, bursting like a dying star.
The world quaked. A surge of force cracked along the ground, fractures splitting across the ice. Jassyn stumbled as the earth shifted beneath his feet. Snow tumbled down from the surrounding mountain peaks, triggering avalanches across the frozen valley. Straight toward them.
Jassyn yelled for the prince to stop, but the rumbling mountains drowned out his voice. Fear petrified his spine, the frosty air stabbing his lungs as he gasped for a breath that didn’t come.
Face now covered with his palms, Vesryn seemed lost to despair as his magic pummeled the land. Essence erupted around him in shimmering waves, knocking the frigid landscape loose. The power flooding from the prince discharged like a vengeful geyser, shaking the foundations of the world.
A freezing landslide rolled down the summits. Horror twisted through Jassyn’s gut. If Vesryn didn’t open another portal for them to flee, the snow would engulf them within moments.
Jassyn started sprinting. He wouldn’t reach his cousin before the tumbling avalanche buried them in a glacial grave. Clutching his magic, Jassyn flared a shield with scant confidence that the ward could withstand a mountain’s worth of snow.
Scouring his mind for any way to prevent their rapidly approaching doom, Jassyn recalled the shaman power he’d harnessed the night before. The prince had pressured him to channel the lightning from the clouds. At Vesryn’s incessant urging, Jassyn had funneled the sparks from the sky over and over until the proximity of the Maelstrom had splintered his nerves. Hardly possessing a shred of control over the elemental magic, Jassyn had accidentally blasted the prince when his patience snapped.
Shoving away his doubts that his brief practice wouldn’t help him now, Jassyn focused on the torrent of snow surging at them. Halting ten paces away from his cousin, Jassyn’s heartbeat thundered in his ears, a drum counting down the seconds to their imminent burial.
Snow is water and water is an element—I can do this. At least, that’s what he told himself as he decided to unravel his shield, throwing all his strength toward that ancient power. They were dead if he couldn’t halt the landslide since Vesryn didn’t appear to be in any rational state of thinking to leave. Stars, this had better work.
Jassyn branched out his perception, allowing his mind to stray from the familiar embrace of Essence. He grasped at the foreign magic stirring in response. Fingers tingling, a rush of energy ignited in his veins, yanking the world into focus.
The tumbling snow burst into light. Striking out with something unseen—something from the earth—Jassyn shot his arms out like he could physically push back the toppling drifts. Body tensing, legs locking, Jassyn battled an invisible resistance, a colossal heaviness threatening to crush him.
A pocket of space hollowed out, encasing him and the prince. The icy deluge slammed into his control, suspended in the air. Knocked off balance from the impact, Jassyn staggered, sinking into the frosty powder. The remaining snow he hadn’t snagged smashed to the ground around them.
With a savage heave against their tomb, he shoved the avalanche away with the sheer force of his will. The snow drift soared through the sky, crashing in the distance.
Jassyn took gulping breaths, bracing his hands on his thighs as he severed his connection to the earth. He brushed snowflakes from his hair and lashes and then flinched. Vesryn’s expulsion of power continued to thunder through his chest.
Jassyn swore, numb fingers fumbling as he ripped out a knife from the hidden seams in his armor. He’s really not going to like this. With the weight of his body, Jassyn whipped the golden blade at Vesryn’s back. Screaming through the air, flipping end over end, the dagger impaled his cousin’s shoulder.
Vesryn toppled forward, catching himself on his hands, magic snuffed out. He launched to his feet, rounding on Jassyn with rage in his eyes, as if ready to take his fury out on him. Not bothering to remove the lodged weapon, the prince charged across the snow like a rampaging bull.
Jassyn frantically fabricated a shield in his cousin’s path. Vesryn crashed into the ward, staggering a few steps back. Baring his teeth, the prince pivoted to skirt around the barrier. Flicking his wrist, Jassyn kenneled him in completely with violet walls. Vesryn clawed over his shoulder to reach the knife while Jassyn stalked up to him.
Snatching another blade from his leathers, Jassyn dropped a portion of the shield, entering the magical cage to confront the prince. Vesryn lunged for him. Jassyn instinctively punched something at his cousin’s chest—a wall of air.
The prince stumbled, grunting as the hilt protruding from his shoulder collided with the ward behind him. Jassyn shoved his dagger against Vesryn’s throat, the action now practiced and precise. Just to make a point, Jassyn seized his cousin’s hair, yanking his head back.
“Stars, are you even thinking?” Jassyn hissed through his chattering teeth, hoping his cousin wouldn’t decide to disarm him by breaking his wrist.
He increased the blade’s pressure when Vesryn tensed under his fingers, likely plotting to spring. Chest heaving, the prince’s skin split around the knife with every breath.
“Serenna is somewhere in these mountains.” Jassyn tightened his fist in Vesryn’s hair, giving his cousin a shake to rattle some sense back into his skull. “What if you brought one down on her head? You nearly killed us!” The prince’s nostrils flared, but Jassyn didn’t relent. “You sensed her again. That means she’s alive—that’s all that matters.”
Vesryn’s jaw flexed as he panted out of his nose.
A wave of irritation surged through Jassyn from his cousin constantly shoving him to the brink of his patience. He preferred logic and thoughtful discussion, but Vesryn continually forced him to lash out with violence. The prince would only see reason if conquered by aggression. Spending more time in his cousin’s company had only made that obvious.
“You are going to take us back,” Jassyn said, driving the dagger deeper into Vesryn’s throat, fighting his cousin in a battle of wills. The knife trembled against the prince’s neck as Jassyn’s limbs succumbed to the cold. “Then we can calmly discuss what to do next.”
Vesryn blinked, the manic fury receding from his eyes. Shoulders slumping in defeat, he hung his head, catching his breath. “I’ll need more Essense first to form another gateway,” he mumbled. “I doubt I’ll be able to regenerate at the moment.”
“If you try anything but portaling, I won’t hesitate to stab you again,” Jassyn gritted out. “Is that clear?”
When Vesryn finally nodded, Jassyn relaxed. Reaching behind the prince, he ripped out the lodged knife and healed the wound. Gripping his daggers in one fist, Jassyn portioned out the barest sliver of power and plunged the magic into his cousin’s chest.
Extending a hand, Vesryn opened a gateway and stumbled through. Jassyn followed in time to see the prince igniting globes of illumination in the chambers before collapsing onto a couch in Jassyn’s sitting room. Releasing his power, Vesryn gouged his hands through his hair and stared despondently at the floor.
Jassyn sighed, lacking the energy to prevent the blood on Vesryn’s leathers from staining his furniture. Since the prince seemed momentarily subdued, he darted into the bathing chambers and tossed the blades into the sink to clean later.
Bracing himself against the porcelain, Jassyn took a moment to compose himself from the unexpected flurry of events. Breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. Fingers tightening against the polished ceramic, he steeled himself to divulge what he’d withheld since the attack, unsure what reaction he’d evoke from his cousin. Why did I keep this to myself for so long? If that elven wraith was somehow responsible for the abductions in the capital and had a hand in Serenna’s disappearance…the prince needed to know.
Straightening his leathers, Jassyn grabbed two blankets from a closet before returning to the sitting room. He aimed his thoughts toward the logical conclusion of where the prince had portaled them.
Even though he already assumed the answer, Jassyn initiated what he hoped would be an easy conversation. “That was the Hibernal Wastes, wasn’t it?”
Vesryn nodded. “It’s the furthest on the western front that I’ve flown on Naru. I didn’t have enough time to detect Serenna’s location to portal us any closer.” The prince banged the back of his head against the couch, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know why she would be so far away. Or how. There are no settlements anywhere close.”
“What if there are?” Jassyn asked, tossing Vesryn a blanket. The prince’s brow pinched as Jassyn settled beside him on the sofa, cocooning himself in the other. “The Wastes are the only place your rangers haven’t searched for the wraith.” Jassyn fortified himself for the admission, his body wracked with shivers. “There’s something you need to know.” He paused, twisting the fabric beneath his fingers, working up his courage. “There was an elf-like wraith who used Essence during the attack. He—”
Vesryn threw off the blanket and shot up from his slouched position. “What?”
Jassyn swallowed, dragging his hand through his curls. Avoiding the prince’s demanding stare, he found the rug more interesting to focus on. “I saw that elven wraith portal—he was probably the one who transported their army. But I don’t have any guesses on how he traveled to campus in the first place.”
“And you’re telling me this now?” Vesryn snarled. He stood, restlessly pacing a line into the rug, muttering to himself. “I’d assumed an elf was working with the wraith, but that didn’t add up.” He stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean an elven wraith?”
Gripped by guilt, Jassyn cleared his throat. “I’m not sure how it’s possible, but there’s more.”
Vesryn’s fingers twitched. “What else?” he grated out.
“That wraith. He…” Jassyn’s voice faltered, a residual chill tingling down his arms. “He was compelled.”
Vesryn’s jaw went slack. The implications of Jassyn’s knowledge caught up to the prince a moment later. “You were close enough to tell?” His eyes widened before narrowing to slits. “You assessed him?”
“I—I saved him.” Jassyn pulled the blanket tighter around his neck, shame weighing on his shoulders. “I didn’t realize the warrior was a wraith. I thought he was an elven-blooded before I saw his eyes and fangs.” Jassyn’s knees trembled from finally voicing the admission. “I couldn’t kill him. But he didn’t kill me either—he could have, but he just…left.”
Vesryn scoffed, folding his arms. Poised to reprimand. “Your failure to end that wraith puts us at risk.” A muscle rippled in his jaw. “What if he returns with that army?”
Jassyn averted his gaze, the accusation landing hard enough to have regret blurring his sight. If he had to do it again, Jassyn still didn’t think he’d have the strength to kill. If Serenna is somehow with that wraith, I hope she’s not paying the price for my weakness.
Vesryn resumed stalking back and forth across the sitting room. “Do you think that wraith returned this evening and abducted recruits without our knowledge? Like how they raid the capital?” He waved hand in the air. “Relay a message to Nelya and your ring of magus to see if anyone else is missing.” The prince halted in his tracks, yanking at the stitching in his rapidly fraying dragon sigil. “Serenna and I captured three wraith today. But the mindless ones. Do you think it’s possible those beasts are compelled too?”
Jassyn hesitantly nodded.
Apparently through with the conversation, Vesryn stalked out of Jassyn’s sitting room, tearing open the door to the hallway. “I have more questions and you’re coming with me to extract the answers from Thalaesyn,” he said over his shoulder disappearing down the corridor.
