Chapter 48
Esmyra
Days had passed since Esmyra bore her back to Draevyn and Jak, both seeming as if the sight of those black veins carved a hole through their hearts.
She still felt the weight of that moment every time Draevyn’s hand trembled as he held her waist, and every time her first mate’s pity-filled gaze lingered too long.
The days on the ship blurred together, a strange rhythm of routine and restlessness as they sailed for Terrana. The sea had given them golden sunrises that spilled light across the waves and small islands crowned with trees so vibrant they seemed unreal the closer they got to the woodland kingdom.
She stood at the bow most nights, letting the salt air and the steady rocking of the ship envelope her. It was almost enough to make her forget they were being hunted by both Azarian and Atlas.
Almost.
Every league closer to Terrana felt like the air grew heavier as her anticipation tangled with the dread of being caught before she could be freed.
But one thing was certain, and it was that Draevyn had been acting strange since that night. Esmyra had finally felt like everything could fall back into place, but after they discovered the markings on her back, it was like he retreated into himself.
He was still protective—more than ever, it seemed.
No matter where she moved on the deck, he was there, a silent shadow lingering just close enough to reach her if anything happened.
It should have comforted her, the way he hovered, the way his presence wrapped around her like the warmth of a cloak. But nothing felt the same anymore.
Gone was the heat that used to burn in those whiskey eyes whenever they met hers. The smoldering desire, the teasing glint, the unspoken challenge that used to set her heart racing… It had all been swallowed by something colder. Now, when she caught his gaze, all she saw was worry.
Draevyn no longer looked at Esmyra like she was the fierce, untouchable force he’d chased across the sea. Instead, he watched her like a fragile thing he had to shield from the world, or a burden he had to carry.
She had never been a burden before. She had never needed saving, and he’d known that better than anyone. He loved her for it. That was the core of who they were—two forces colliding, never bending nor breaking. But the velsinyte made her vulnerable, and it had changed something in him.
And after searching for familiarity and nearly giving up hope, maybe that was what scared her most—that once she finally found it, it was ripped away yet again.
A shout cut through the air. “Land! Terrana’s ahead!”
Esmyra’s head jerked up to the crow’s nest, where Jak stood silhouetted against the sunlit sky, one arm raised as he pointed toward the murky outline of the coast ahead. Even from this distance, she could see his grin.
A moment later, he leapt from the nest, catching a line of rope with one hand. The crew laughed as he swung out over the deck and between the sails. The rope sang against the wind, until he released it and dropped down to the deck with the grace of someone who’d done it a hundred times.
Her lips curved despite herself. Show-off.
Draevyn barely spared him a glance, though she saw the edge of a smirk flicker on his face as he turned to face her. Jak strode to him, exchanging a few words, and the ship adjusted its course, gliding toward the shadowed coastline.
As they crept closer, Esmyra leaned over the rail. The woodland kingdom stretched ahead, shrouded in mist, but this part of its shoreline was unlike any she’d seen.
The Terrana she’d made port in over the last several centuries had grown out of the forest itself rather than been built upon it.
Vast, towering trees stretched high enough to pierce the clouds, their canopies forming a cathedral of living green above.
She recalled how the sunlight would filter through the leaves in scattered patterns, bathing everything in shifting emerald hues.
And how the kingdom’s architecture blended seamlessly with nature, carved directly into the trunks of colossal trees or built high among their branches, connected by rope bridges and wooden walkways.
But the coastline she stared at now was vastly different.
Great trees rose from the water’s edge, but their roots were tangled and exposed, twisting down into the murky water.
Thick vines hung from their branches, swaying in the breeze.
And the closer they got to the land, the more humid the air grew, heavy with the scent of wet earth.
There was no sign of life whatsoever.
Draevyn stepped up to her, gazing out at the view. He placed his hand on hers, tightening them around the railing.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured under her breath. “In a haunting kind of way.”
“Much like you, I have a feeling this beauty bites back.” Draevyn winked at her and she playfully rolled her eyes.
The ship had come to a steady drift near the swampy shoreline as the crew gathered at the center of the deck.
Esmyra stood alongside Draevyn and Jak, the three of them commanding the crew’s full attention.
“Alright, you lot! Listen up,” she bellowed.
Tits, that felt good.
“Valor won’t go any further,” Draevyn cut in. “The shallows here will rip her apart before we even touch the shore. We take the pinnaces the rest of the way.”
Jak stepped forward slightly. “Keep your weapons close. This place may look empty, but you’d be fools to think it is. You’ve all heard the stories about Terrana and what lurks between the trees. Believe them.” He shrugged. “If something feels wrong, it probably is.”
Riven and Alec exchanged uneasy glances as Ren nodded along with Jak’s words, being a fellow woodland.
Esmyra crossed her arms, searching each face. “No heroics,” she shot a glare at Draevyn, “and no wandering. We land together, we leave together. Aye?”
“Aye, Captain!” rippled through the crew, and she couldn’t help her grin.
I’m fucking back. Poison in her veins or not, she was back here with her family, doing what they did best.
Draevyn took a step closer, his voice dropping just enough to carry a dangerous edge. “No causing trouble, Wildfire.”
“You know that’s half the fun.”
“Gods, you two,” Jak said, shaking his head with a small laugh before turning back to the crew. “Load the pinnaces. Light packs, only what you can carry. Weapons ready!”
Esmyra looked back at Draevyn. There was a glint in his eyes as he gazed down at her, but that tiny lilt lifting his lips slowly faded.
A small gasp slipped from her lips as she followed his stare, finding that her hands were paling and turning ashen, seeming to wither. Before her eyes, the flesh thinned, curling inward, until the sharp outline of bone began to emerge where muscle had once been.
Draevyn’s eyes widened in horror, and he went unnaturally still.
“I—”
“No.” His voice was sharp, almost desperate as he cut her off. He removed his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. Covering her.
“They can’t see me like this,” she whispered as she nodded toward their crew. Her men didn’t even know the real reason for why they were there, thinking they just needed to find a hidden place to form a plan.
“I know, baby.” Draevyn reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “We have to hurry.”
She had never heard him sound so scared.
Before Esmyra could argue, his hand was firm at her back, guiding her toward the pinnaces. The glimpse she just had of her playful, teasing man was already gone, replaced by someone locked in the grip of dread.
She moved down the rope ladder and Draevyn fell in line behind her. When her feet hit the pinnace, he was already there, climbing in after her. He didn’t speak, didn’t even look at her right away. He just sat beside her, his hand gently gripping her knee.
The crew paddled in silence, the sound of oars cutting through the swamp water the only rhythm.
Esmyra stole a glance at him, at the way his eyes stayed fixed on the looming tree line ahead, his expression carved from stone. The emotions simmering in him were palpable, and though he didn’t say a word, his silence spoke louder than anything else.
Draevyn was terrified.
It didn’t matter how positive she pretended to be, how she forced herself to stand tall and wear that mask of strength. And it didn’t matter how many times she smiled through the ache, or how often she bit back the wince when her back throbbed from the curse beneath her flesh.
Because Draevyn saw straight through it, just as he always had. There was no fooling him when it came to her. And now, despite her efforts, the truth was starting to bleed through the cracks she couldn’t hold together.
“What are we going to do if this doesn’t work, Kae?”
No answer came.
Esmyra gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stare straight ahead as the hull cut through the swampy shallows.
The sea itself shifted from deep blue to an inky green-black, so dark it swallowed the reflections of the trees. The mist rolled low, curling around the boat as if welcoming them. Or perhaps even warning them.
The pinnace scraped against the muddy shore and one by one, they climbed out. Every step released the faint squelch of mud, and the fog clung to their clothes like a second skin.
Draevyn was the first to take point, a ball of flame hovering in his hand as he scanned the tree line. Esmyra and Jak followed closely behind, the rest of the crew fanning out in a cautious formation.
As they entered the forest, the trees closed in around them, their trunks gnarled as roots twisted above the ground. The canopy was so dense that only shards of gray light broke through.
“Jenli hides out here because no one dares to follow,” Jak admitted.
“Well, I wonder why.” Esmyra couldn’t help her sarcasm.
“Terrana guards its secrets well, and this swamp…” he glanced around, “…typically is enough to keep the curious out. And most who wander in never make it back.”