Chapter 37
SERENNA
“Are you training Lykor’s pet with our weapons so she can join your miserable clan, Lieutenant?” Larek asked.
Despite the heat in the chamber, a shiver of foreboding shuddered down Serenna’s spine. A band of nearly thirty reavers armed with crossbows, maces, and knives filed in, spreading across the cavern.
Trapping them.
Larek strode to the center of the firing range, crossing his arms over his spiked armor. Breath tight, Serenna glanced around, scanning the wraith. She didn’t see Fenn’s sister, Taryn, among their number. But that didn’t mean another reaver wouldn’t try to snatch her this time.
“If you have a problem with her presence,” Fenn said, clacking his talons before cracking his knuckles, “you can take it up with Lykor.”
“And where has Lykor been these past few weeks?” Larek sneered, the streaks of his face paint glinting red in the magma’s light. “Planning his next blunder?”
Fenn ignored him and growled, “What do you want?”
Larek’s attention flicked to Serenna. “I’m taking Lykor’s elven scum.” Serenna flinched when he took a step forward, flashing his fangs. “Hand her over and I’ll forgive our previous…disagreement. I’ll even let you join us when we abandon this cesspool.”
Fenn clasped Serenna's hand, calculating eyes scouring the firing range, likely hunting for any clear path to warp away. Bracing herself, Serenna’s stomach clenched in anticipation of the spin.
The weightless feeling never came. There was no way out.
Instead, Fenn’s guttural growl lifted every hair on the back of her neck. His extending fangs glinted in the magma’s glow. “If any of your clan lays a talon on her again, I will sever every offending claw.”
With a twisted smile, Larek’s gaze narrowed in a dark promise. He signaled with that eerie whistle through his teeth.
Fenn reacted before any of the reavers, vanishing from her side. He collided with Larek in a clash of talons, his knee jerking upward to smash Larek under the ribs.
Terror strangled Serenna’s throat as the other wraith blurred into shadows, converging on Fenn. None of the warriors bothered drawing their weapons.
Disappearing and reappearing around the center of the closing ring, Fenn was a thunderhead of spinning darkness.
Distorting into a tempest of smoke, he whirled and dodged the reavers, kicking out, swiping at legs.
With brutal bashings of his elbows, Fenn shattered the arms of those daring to get close before ramming them back into the circle of wraith.
His lightning fast talons snatched blows, twisting wrists in sickening crunches of bone.
Snarls ricocheted across the caverns, punctuated by grunts when fists smacked against flesh.
Despite Fenn’s claws flying, jabbing, deflecting, and counter-striking, the reavers caged him in, a cruel vice tightening. Time seemed to slow as Serenna watched in helpless horror, knowing he was going to be overwhelmed by so many.
She gasped as Larek landed a devastating punch square in Fenn’s gut.
Off balance, Fenn stumbled, doubling over. The reavers seized him as he struggled to wheeze. Still refusing to surrender, Fenn’s motions became choppy and uncontrolled.
Restraining him, the swarm of wraith rained down blows from every direction.
A handful of reavers held Fenn up while others beat the resistance out of him.
Larek’s fist connected with Fenn’s face.
He sent another rapid hit under Fenn’s chin, snapping his head back.
A spray of black blood spattered into the air.
Serenna took a step forward, not feeling very brave at all as she faced a pack of ravenous wolves.
Everyone forgot about me. Or rather, they didn’t find any point in watching her. Her stomach hollowed out at the helplessness.
Serenna’s nails dug into her slick palms as Larek landed repeated strikes against Fenn’s middle, depriving his lungs of air.
Her eyes ricocheted around the stark chamber, searching for anything to use.
Fenn’s crossbow lay at her feet, but the weapon was worthless against so many and without the quiver of bolts at his side.
A stir of air brushed past Serenna. She felt like slapping away the useless aid. There were too many reavers to bother with what little she could do by weaving the wind.
Flames spurted from the sluggish magma, tugging on her attention. Chewing a hole into her cheek, Serenna winced at her only option. Of course Lykor insisted that I practice with everything except fire!
Desperation to buy time had Serenna’s voice ringing out in the caverns, shrill with her panic. “Are you so scared of Fenn that it takes a horde of you to face him? Do the reavers have no honor?”
Every blazing gaze pinned on her, raptors targeting a rabbit. Fear knifed through Serenna’s gut as fangs flashed. Fenn sagged in the warriors’ clutches, knees giving out as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Larek warped to her side. Serenna attempted to scurry back, but he viciously seized her arm.
“What do elven scourge know of honor?” Larek asked, his wicked nails scoring into her flesh. “Only the strong survive. Fenn is insignificant without the backing of his pathetic clan.”
If Serenna had one foolish tactic she could always rely on, it was running her mouth.
“Funny how it takes thirty of your pathetic clan to bring him down.” She whimpered through her nose as Larek’s tightening grip drew more blood in response, feeling as if his talons burrowed down into her bones.
Warring against the dizzying pain, Serenna clenched her teeth, fanning the cinders of her defiance.
“Did you already forget how fast Fenn outmatched you in front of the fortress?”
Larek’s canines flashed in her face. “And for that, your lieutenant is going to take a stroll through the stream.” Snatching her shoulders, Larek swung Serenna around as the reavers hauled Fenn back to his feet. They herded him with a barrage of blows, steering him toward the magma.
Gritting his fangs, agony contorted Fenn’s bruised features. He struggled, attempting to twist out of their claws, but his opposition only provoked a harsher beating. What air remained in his lungs whooshed out as he folded over, breath bubbling in his throat.
“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.
The flaming funnel of death smothered Larek’s screams too soon.
Pulse thrashing frantically in her head, Serenna poured her entire strength into the fire. Her breathing turned ragged as the chamber flickered in her vision, faded slowly, like the beat of Larek’s dying heart.
Serenna heard Fenn stumbling to her. He reached out, pulling her away from the flames threatening to lick her boots. The reavers had fled, leaving the caverns as quiet as a tomb.
Fenn grimaced, clutching his ribs, weaving his fingers through hers. With a squeeze, the offered comfort anchored Serenna’s senses back to her body, cooling the firestorm in her blood.
The world came back into focus one breath at a time as her erratic heartbeat settled. Emerging from her trance, Serenna felt no whisper of remorse, no regret for her actions. I should’ve ended Larek sooner, before he harmed those starving humans. His death was bound to give life to others.
Wincing, Fenn wiped the blood away from his broken nose. He glared at Larek’s charred corpse, the splashes of fire dying around his blackened bones.
Turning back to her, Fenn retracted his fangs, giving her a crooked smile. Serenna cringed as his lip split further and then lunged forward to steady him as he staggered.
Something like reverent pride and awe glowed in his unswollen eye. Fenn hooked an arm around her shoulder, still grinning, his words mangled in his swollen mouth. “I’m in your debt, she-dragon.”