Shadow of the Sending (Nyxteria #2)
Prologue
BAYNE
Waters of Ascendiel, Lotrennia.
Six weeks after the Battle of Odessa.
Death lunged for me, its talons ripping at what remained of my jacket, the tatters hanging in long, bloody strips.
A storm of black flames lashed against my shield as the creature of shadows twisted in the air, tucking its wings in tight before flaring them wide and bellowing a roar that shook what remained of the forest.
Ash and smoke joined hands in the silent dance of death as they mingled in the air.
The evidence of the battle draped across the land like a mourning veil.
An angry desperation flooded my soul as Nerissa’s cry ripped through the air in the distance.
The grief in my sister’s sob was almost enough for me to turn from the creature.
Pained moans and screams of terror echoed from all around, and I stole a glance up at the grating clap of a breaking branch.
Heat lashed at my face, and my stomach weaved like the tree’s twisting limbs as my eyes landed on the flames licking through the Living Library.
I leaped as the massive branch crashed to the ground, the creature spinning out of its path and following me over a pile of charred, elven bodies.
I had to stop this. My eyes scanned the devastated land around me, my only companions lying lifeless in the surrounding ash and dirt. I was the only one who could stop this.
A bellowing rage surged forward, digging its way to the hollow of my chest where my Soleia flames ignited, an unimaginable power swelling in my palms and my vision funneling into the narrowed precision of a predator.
My chest heaved as the unrecognized power climbed within me, my body a mere vessel for the might that charged forward. I turned toward the creature of shadow and flame as it rose to the sky. A tightening in my chest built in pressure before the world disappeared from under me…
My knees crashed to the stone floor of the Waters of Ascendiel, the warm water sloshing up my leathers and tunic as I heaved. I caught myself as I fell forward, staring at my reflection on the surface of the sacred pool.
My heart thundered in a panic, and my mind reeled from the vision of what awaited Lotrennia. My kingdom. A wave of concern drifted from where Aquila flew nearby, and I sent my own reassurance back to him as I caught my breath.
An unbending determination flooded me as I replayed the images gifted by the souls of the seers in the Waters of Ascendiel, at the feel of my own power.
Where had the others been? Bodies had piled around me, and a savage dread clawed its way through my chest at not knowing who they were… I had to prepare… I had to stop this.