Chapter 19 #2
“Then I found Lurok. The TrueCoil treated his injuries, saving his life, and we fled through more tunnels until we eventually emerged aboveground in the Ashlands." I feel heat rising to my cheeks, deliberately skipping over our time in the grotto where we shared more than just a swim.
"And then you fell into an ash pit," Leira finishes, her voice tight with remembered fear.
"Yes," I whisper, the memory of suffocating darkness rising unbidden. "The ground just... dissolved beneath me."
Leira's grip on my hand tightens painfully. "When Lurok told us what happened. How close you came to—" She breaks off, swallowing hard. "I should have been there. I should have protected you."
"You couldn't have," I say gently. "And besides, I'm here now. Safe." I glance around the chamber, its alien beauty still startling to my human eyes. "What is this place like for you? Being Varok's mate?"
The abrupt change of subject takes her by surprise, but I see relief in her eyes at moving away from darker topics.
"Currently, we are in the Flame room inside the Temple of Threads.
Vessan-Kar is... not what I expected," she admits.
"When I volunteered to take your place, I thought I was walking to my execution, or at best, a life of captivity. "
"And instead?" I prompt when she falls silent.
"Instead, I found... belonging." The word seems to surprise her as much as it does me.
"Don't misunderstand, there were terrible moments.
Fear, distrust, danger. But also wonder, Serin.
The naga have built a magical world beneath the mountains that defies description.
Their culture, their traditions. They're an ancient species. Complex and beautiful."
I watch my sister's face transform as she speaks, a light entering her eyes that I've never seen before. Gone is the restless, sharp-edged woman who chafed against our father's restrictions. In her place sits someone grounded, purposeful.
"And Varok?" I ask softly.
A smile curves her lips, private and genuine.
"He is... not what I expected either. Fierce, yes.
Stubborn, absolutely. But also honorable in ways I never imagined possible.
He sees me, Serin, and not as a diplomatic token or a human curiosity, but as an equal.
" She touches the glowing stone at her throat.
"This bond between us... It's unlike anything I could have imagined. "
"You love him," I say. Not a question.
She nods, a simple acknowledgment of truth. "I do. And he loves me. Through all the violence and history between our kinds, we found each other." Her gaze meets mine, suddenly sharp. "Rather like you and Lurok, I suspect."
Heat rushes to my cheeks. "That's—it's not—"
"Isn't it?" Leira challenges gently. "I see how he looks at you. How he barely left your side these past days until Varok ordered him to the war chamber. That's not the behavior of a warrior who merely feels obligated to his charge."
My heart stutters at her words. I remember Lurok's hand holding mine as consciousness faded, the intensity in his pale eyes when I whispered those three dangerous words. Had he responded? I can't recall; the memory slipping away like sand through a sieve.
I open my mouth, close it. Heat crawls up my neck as I recall the grotto, his hands, his mouth, things I cannot possibly tell my sister.
"I..." My voice falters. I shouldn't have whispered those three words in my weakened state.
His face had remained so unreadable, those pale eyes revealing nothing.
"It's complicated," I finally say, swallowing the tangle of hope and fear lodged in my throat.
An understatement so vast it borders on absurdity.
"Love usually is," Leira says with surprising gentleness. "Especially when prophecies and politics become entangled with it."
"I'm worried, Leira," I admit, my voice dropping lower. "About Father, about Halvane and Thorne. They won't stop just because one plan failed. And then there's the TrueCoil, the worms... enemies all around.”
"I know," she says, her expression growing serious. "But we're stronger together. You, me, Varok, Lurok, even Severa, it seems. We have allies where we least expected them."
We fall silent for a moment, the weight of all we've discussed settling between us. Finally, I reach for her hand. "You look happy," I say softly. "Despite everything, you look more at peace than I've ever seen you."
Leira's smile is small but genuine. "I am. For the first time in my life, I know exactly where I belong and what I'm fighting for." She squeezes my fingers. "I just wish it hadn't taken nearly losing you to bring us back together."
"We're together now," I say, feeling sleep beginning to pull at my edges once more. "And I'm not going anywhere."
"Good," she says fiercely. "Because I'm not letting you out of my sight until you're fully healed. Varok has assigned you a chamber in the palace near ours, for when you're strong enough to leave the Flame room.”
Before Leira can say more, a soft rustling comes from the chamber entrance. We both turn to see a small figure hovering at the threshold, her delicate upper body swaying with nervous energy while her lavender-white scales shimmer in the firelight.
"Zara!" Leira's face lights up. "Come in. There's someone I want you to meet."
The young naga female glides into the room, her movements fluid yet hesitant.
She can't be more than twelve or thirteen in human years, with wide violet-gray eyes that seem too knowing for her childlike face.
In her small hands, she clutches a bundle of bioluminescent flowers, their petals glowing with soft blue light.
"Is she awake?" Zara whispers, her melodic voice carrying easily across the chamber. "Really awake this time?"
"Yes," Leira says, gesturing her closer. "Serin, this is Zara. She's been asking about you every day."
Zara approaches slowly, her tail creating graceful patterns across the stone floor. When she reaches my bedside, she thrusts the glowing flowers toward me with both hands.
"I picked these for you from the palace garden," she announces, her voice gaining confidence. "Ny'Leira said blue was your favorite color, and these ones glow even in the darkest tunnels."
I accept the bouquet, mesmerized by the gentle pulsing light emanating from each delicate petal. "They're beautiful," I say softly. "Thank you, Zara."
She beams at me, revealing tiny fangs that somehow look endearing rather than threatening. "You look just like Ny'Leira said! Except…” she tilts her head, searching for the right word, "prettier."
I can't help but smile at her blunt assessment. "And you're exactly as I imagined a young naga would be. Though I didn't know your scales could be so lovely."
Zara preens slightly, her scales shimmering as she moves closer.
"I've been waiting forever to meet you! Ny'Leira talks about you all the time.
She says you're gentle like me but stubborn when it matters.
" Her words tumble out in an excited rush.
"Is it true you dragged Lurok through a tunnel all by yourself?”
"I, um—" I glance at Leira, who shrugs with amusement. "Yes, I suppose I did."
"I knew it!" Zara claps her hands together. "You're a hero just like Ny'Leira!"
My cheeks warm at her enthusiasm. There's something captivating about this young naga. An innocence combined with unusual perception that draws me to her immediately.
"Why do you call my sister Ny'Leira?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. The prefix sounds musical in Zara's lilting voice, but it's clearly not just a pronunciation quirk.
Zara's eyes widen, as if surprised I don't already know. She glances at Leira, who nods encouragingly.
"Because she is Ny'Leira to me," Zara explains, her small hands gesturing expressively. "The mate of my guardian, Ry’Varok, is Ny to me. It is..." She searches for the right word, her brow furrowing adorably.
"It's similar to being an aunt in human terms," Leira adds, smiling at Zara. "Varok is not her family by blood, but he took her in as his own when she lost her own family in the Sundering.”
Something shifts in my chest as I absorb this information.
The Sundering. So many lives lost on both sides, so many children orphaned.
I study Zara's delicate features, trying to imagine the horror she must have witnessed, the family torn from her.
Yet here she stands, offering me glowing flowers.
My heart constricts with a familiar ache that's never quite left me.
Orphaned by the same war that stole my brother from us.
"Can I attend your Crimson Bond Ceremony?" she asks abruptly, bouncing slightly on her coils. "Eira wouldn't let me go to Ry'Varok and Ny'Leira's because she said I was too young, but now that you're like family, surely I can come to yours!"
I blink, caught completely off-guard. "My... what?"
"Zara," Leira interjects gently, "Serin and Lurok haven't discussed having a ceremony. If they do have one," Leira continues, casting me an apologetic look, "I'm sure Varok will allow you to attend."
Zara's eyes widen in confusion. "There is no if, Ny'Leira. The Flame showed me they share the wind."
I look to Leira, completely lost. "What does she mean, 'share the wind'?"
Leira's expression grows serious. "Zara was born a seer. She's learning to commune with the Infinity Flame. The sacred fire you see burning there." She gestures toward the blue-gold flame at the center of the chamber. "Seers can glimpse truths hidden to others."
"The Flame speaks to me sometimes," Zara explains, settling beside my cot with the casual grace only children possess.
"Not in words, but in images and feelings.
When I look into it, I can see threads connecting people.
" Her small hands weave through the air, mimicking invisible strands.
"Yours and Second Fang Lurok's are bound together with currents of air. "
“A seer? Like one who has visions?” A memory surfaces suddenly of Father and Halvane arguing in the study. Halvane insisting they strike immediately, Father counseling patience.
“Yes, exactly,” Zara nods excitedly. “I am still learning to interpret what the Flame reveals to me.”
“Halvane told Father they should strike immediately. I remember the impatience in his voice as he said General Thorne believed they should advance to plan B at once, which was the plan to destroy Vessan-Kar. That they should crush the naga while they believed themselves protected by prophecy.” I focus hard to recount everything I overheard.
“Father told Halvane it was premature. That they needed more intelligence first. He wanted to wait for the next report from Zela.”
Zara stiffens at the name.
“Halvane mocked him for it,” I continue. “He said Father dismissed naga prophecy as superstition carved into mountain walls… yet trusted the visions of a naga.”
I swallow, remembering the way Father leaned across his desk, utterly certain of himself.
“Father said the prophecies claimed the naga would be saved through human blood,” I say.
“But Zela’s visions told the opposite. He said she foresaw his daughter becoming the catalyst for their near extinction.
” My eyes lift to Leira. “That the child the flesh once sought… would be the thing that destroys them.”
The chamber falls silent, and my head begins to throb as I try to piece it all together.
“Does any of that make sense to either of you?” The room seems to tilt slightly as exhaustion crashes over me again.
“When I stood with Varok to face off with General Thorne, he mentioned a seer named Zela they were holding captive, but Sareth thought it was Thorne's attempt to rile up Varok." Leira looks to Zara. "I know we already asked you, but do you recall having a twin sibling named Zela?"
Zara's scales shimmer with a ripple of tension as she shakes her head, her delicate features pinched with the effort of searching memories that aren't there.
My eyelids grow heavy despite my efforts to keep them open.
"Serin?" Leira's voice sounds distant. "Are you all right?"
“Just tired,” I say, handing the bouquets of glowing blooms to Leira. “Put these in water for me?”
“Of course. Rest now.” Leira murmurs, adjusting the blanket around me. "You're still healing."
"Stay?" I ask, the word slurring slightly as exhaustion claims me once more.
Always," Leira promises, her hand still wrapped around mine as I drift back toward healing sleep, no longer afraid of the darkness that comes to claim me.
Not with my sister standing guard beside me, a bridge between the human world I've left behind and the naga realm that has somehow become my sanctuary.
Safety settles over me like a weighted blanket, the knowledge that my fierce, impossible, fire-wielding sister will be there when I wake.
As consciousness slips away, my thoughts reach through stone and tunnel toward another.
Somewhere within this underground city, Lurok waits, and my chest tightens with the quiet hope that he, too, will be here when I open my eyes again.