“Stop it!” Serenna shrieked. Terror clanged against her skull the closer the reavers dragged Fenn to the molten shore. Larek is bluffing, she told herself. He just wants to prove he bested Fenn.
Larek’s talons shackled her arms, forcing her to watch. With each passing moment, Serenna doubted more and more that this was merely an act. She thrashed in his grip, as helpless as a fish protesting a hook. “Don’t hurt him!”
Larek scoffed against Serenna’s back, his claws digging in further. “It would seem the lieutenant is good for more than regurgitating Lykor’s drivel. Perhaps we’ll keep him around as…motivation for your compliance.” He spun Serenna around, lowering his face to hers with a growl. “But he needs a reminder that disrespect comes with a price.”
Serenna’s lungs pulled in air faster than she could breathe as Larek leaned forward. In a shock of biting pain, she sucked in a hiss as he grazed her neck with his fangs, peeling a layer of skin. The silent threat conveyed that he had the power to effortlessly end her life.
Despair weighed on Serenna like lead, sinking her into an ocean of dismay. Fenn will only suffer more if I oppose them.
“I’ll do it.” Serenna’s voice shattered on the agreement. Blood trickled down her chest as she tried to recoil. “Whatever you need to cross the Wastes. Just…don’t harm him.”
“I’m feeling generous.” Larek smirked, releasing her. “I’ll let the lieutenant keep half of his toes. This time.”
He warped back to the cluster of warriors still wrestling with Fenn. Serenna flinched when Larek seized a fistful of Fenn’s braids, shoving him forward to the churning flames.
Mind exploding in terror, Serenna stared across the chamber, every fearful breath straining her lungs. She swallowed her screams as the reavers dragged Fenn closer to the smoldering fire.
Twisting around in the cacophony of the fray, Fenn frantically searched the cavern. Dangerously close to the scorching heat, sweat rolled down his battered face. His eye that wasn’t swelling shut met Serenna’s with an intensity that pierced through the chaos. A moment stretched as his gaze darted to the trail of blood trickling down her neck and arms.
Outrage washed over Fenn’s features before he went truly feral. Claws flying, he somehow connected a blow with Larek, fangs snapping as if he’d rip out his throat.
Something inside of Serenna cracked, carving into her heart. Fenn wasn’t battling to escape the magma or the reavers. He was fighting to reach her. To protect her, even though he was the one in danger. The one who was hurt.
Hands trembling uncontrollably, Serenna crushed her fingers into knots, fists leeching white. Blood from the gashes Larek had scored into her flesh crept down to her wrists, dripping off her knuckles. Fury crystalized in the fractures of her chest, forging fear into something else. Something stronger.
Forcing a calming breath down her throat, Serenna released her terror.
“Let him go,” she commanded, her words echoing across the cavern.
The reavers didn’t acknowledge her.
Disbelief punched Serenna in the gut like the blows pummeling Fenn. They don’t see me as a threat.
She took in another breath.
The world went still.
A gentle breeze stirred, the wind beckoning to her. Flaming plumes pulsed, beacons flaring to life.
Serenna channeled her perception into the stream of magma.
In the space of a heartbeat, the earth answered her call. Magic uncoiled in her chest, singing through her veins as the ancient power rose in response, spreading its wings.
Serenna heaved on the inferno. A burst of flame streaked out of the magma, racing into her palm. Too busy wrestling with Fenn, the reavers didn’t notice. She stared at the fire dancing above her fingertips before riveting her focus on Larek, his attention still on beating Fenn half-senseless.
Serenna’s fury simmered, boiling over.
Throwing out her hand, she launched the fiery comet across the cavern.
The flaming orb punched into Larek’s back. He roared, stumbling forward. The fire fizzled out, disintegrating into his shoulder in a hiss of burning armor and flesh. Spinning around, Larek’s volcanic eyes latched onto her with blood-lusting wrath. Serenna bared her teeth, tearing more of the blaze toward her.
Whipping a column of twisting flame from the magma’s depths, Serenna forced the magic to separate. Five. She could manage five flaming spheres. It would have to be enough. She flung the fiery orbs at the reavers.
Dodging the flames, the wraith warped out of the way, evading the smoldering globes before any could land. Serenna wrenched the fire to a halt before the conflagration converged on Fenn, who had collapsed near the fiery river. Whipping her hands around, Serenna searched for her target.
Larek unfolded from a shadow in front of her. Serenna’s stomach heaved as the smell of cooked flesh snaked up her nose.
Larek snarled, seizing her throat, forcing Serenna to scramble to her toes. Her control over the fire guttered, the flames snuffing out as they plunged to the floor.
Gasping to fill her lungs, Serenna’s vision blurred as Larek’s claw tightened. He yanked her off her feet, his superior strength forcing her body into compliance.
Serenna snatched at a jet of fire at the edge of her vision. A blazing whip cleaved the air with a crack, wrapping around Larek’s neck.
He dropped her. Back arching, Larek clawed at his throat, scorching his hands on the flaming noose as he emitted mindless, strangled screams.
Serenna fell to the ground, catching herself with her palms. Coughing, she panted to catch her breath. Her eyes dashed around the chamber to account for the reavers. Clearly still believing their leader would be the victor, they circled her like a cloud of vultures, waiting for an impending death.
It wouldn’t be hers—she wasn’t finished.
Swaying to her feet, Serenna riveted her gaze on Larek, reattuning herself with the scorching heat. Greasy fat glistened as it weeped from his seared flesh. Clutching his charred, blistered neck, Larek’s eyes widened with a wild terror.
A column of fire reared up behind Serenna, flickering and crackling. Consumed by instinct, her rage flared like a spark igniting oil. With a blast of power, she twisted the inferno into a violent assault.
Larek didn’t have time to warp.
Channeling the flaming whirlwind, fire collided with the reaver. The other wraith warped out of the way, scattering like shattered glass. Serenna stoked the torrent with coils of wind, engulfing him in a spinning vortex. Conjuring another gout of flame, she punched out a tidal wave, forcing the other wraith further back with the threat of the same fate.
Howls echoing around the caverns, Larek thrashed like he could throw the flames off. His body smoked and writhed while the cyclone spiraled around him, consuming him, spurting hissing black smoke. The stench of burning leather and flesh invaded the air as his armor charred, skin melting and sloughing off bones.
