Chapter 2
SERENNA
Serenna’s breath rasped in her ears as sunlight blazed across the Coliseum. Her limbs jerked with the aftershock of her storm, lightning still wreathing her fists. Fenn’s fire clung to her arms in molten ribbons, their braided power shuddering through her with nowhere left to go.
Ayla, queen of Alari, had dragged them to the arena for spectacle. She’d staked Fenn in the sand as bait, then sent ten noble-sponsored children with shaman power in their veins to fight Serenna while the capital’s elite packed the white stone tiers and screamed for blood.
Serenna had tried to spare the children. For as long as she could, she’d turned aside every element they hurled at her and Fenn.
But Ayla had watched from above with Serenna’s stolen Starshard glittering at her throat, waiting to make Fenn pay for every life Serenna refused to take. If Serenna had kept holding back, her sister would’ve twisted her magic against him next.
Serenna’s choice still smoked through the arena.
All that remained was the reek of copper and char, the crowd still screaming above it all, drunk on slaughter.
Serenna dropped beside Fenn, a golden collar locked at his throat, its twin cold against her own. Silver stakes speared his wings, pinning his body against the sand. His eyes cracked open, unfocused, then flared when they found her.
She reached for him.
Steel-gloved hands seized her first. Enforcers. Dozens of them, closing around the carnage like scavengers.
The children…
Wind swept through the arena, and Serenna’s gaze snagged on a white flash through the dust. A ribcage fused with blackened earth. A hand with finger bones still outstretched.
Serenna flinched away, bile scorching hot on her tongue.
Don’t look. Don’t think.
The soldiers yanked her upright.
But she wasn’t done. Not after Ayla had left Fenn bleeding, sent children to finish him, and waited until Serenna chose who lived.
Skylash’s spark thrashed in her chest, wild beneath the tethering restraint of gold. Lightning cracked into her palms as she twisted against the enforcers’ grip, desperate to strike every hand dragging her from Fenn.
Before Serenna could hurl the lightning, the Starshard at Ayla’s throat flared high above.
A brutal yank hooked through Serenna’s ribs, wrenching the charge from her control. A scream tore through her teeth as the storm died in her palms.
Then Ayla’s will speared through Serenna’s shoulders, into her fingers. Her arms snapped to her sides, rigid and useless, while her mind clawed against the stolen motion.
The enforcers shoved her forward.
A figure strode through the dust, tall and armored, golden hair bound in braids.
Familiar, though Serenna couldn’t place her.
Serenna turned just in time to watch the female rip the spears from Fenn’s wings. His blood poured dark across the maroon membranes when she yanked him to his feet.
Serenna stumbled as the enforcers pushed her from the arena.
The roar of the crowd swelled behind her, rising again. They cheered the Vallende name Ayla had forced her to fight for, and the sound followed Serenna into the tunnel.
Light fell away.
The Coliseum’s noise thinned behind her, swallowed by stone until only the ragged pull of her breathing remained. Blood slipped warm from a cut she couldn’t remember taking, trickling from her shoulder.
The enforcers threw her back into the same cell she’d woken up in. Her knees cracked against the stone, cold biting through her leathers.
Across the corridor, the golden-haired female hauled Fenn into another chamber and dumped him onto the ground. He hit hard, wings sagging behind him, talons scraping the floor as he tried to rise.
Serenna lunged to reach him.
Violet shields snapped across both cell openings, searing the dim tunnel bright. Serenna’s palms struck the one before her, the impact shuddering through her wrists.
She staggered back, breath hissing through her teeth.
Close enough to see. Too far to touch.
She reached for Fenn through the bond, searching for the pulse that should’ve beat beside her own, but the gold smothered every trace of him and Vesryn.
Footsteps rang through the passage.
The line of enforcers parted for Ayla, their white armor clattering as she passed between them. Serenna’s stolen Starshard glittered at her throat. Above the gleam in Ayla’s victorious eyes, another shard glinted in her diadem.
A queen dressed in stolen light.
Serenna threw herself at the shield.
The impact knocked her back. The gem at Ayla’s throat flared, and her control ripped down Serenna’s spine.
Serenna’s knees slammed into the stone.
Ayla halted before her cell.
Serenna’s fingers curled against her palms. “They were children.” Her voice cracked as it rose. “Children.”
Ayla tilted her head. “Must you? They’re already dead.”
The words struck colder than the cell floor.
“They begged. You watched—”
“I watched your performance,” Ayla interrupted. “And so did every noble in the arena.”
Serenna’s eyes burned dry.
Ayla could’ve taken control if Serenna had refused—she’d already felt the Starshard seize her body. But her sister hadn’t needed to steer the final storm. She’d only staked Fenn in the sand and waited until Serenna chose him.
That decision cinched around her throat the moment the first child screamed. Every breath since had drawn it tighter.
The pressure wound around Serenna’s limbs slackened by a fraction. Only then could she shove herself upright.
Ayla allowed that much.
“Why?” Serenna forced out. “What was the point?”
Ayla shrugged, sweeping a strand of crimson hair over one shoulder. “The nobles have grown bold. Flaunting their pets. Whispering of campaigns to rival Elashor’s abroad.” She waved a hand, as if the realm bored her. “They needed a reminder of their place. You gave them one.”
Serenna shook her head. Her mouth opened, but no words came.
“And now that this little reunion has brought us all back together,” Ayla continued, “we have so much more to discuss.”
Before Serenna could answer, Fenn’s growl rumbled across the corridor.
“Taryn.”
The golden-haired female turned.
Fenn went wraith-still where he knelt. His talons scraped against the stone, his knuckles curling tight enough to crack.
Taryn’s mouth curved, flashing white teeth.
No fangs.
Serenna’s stomach dropped.
Fenn’s sister.
The last time Serenna had seen her, Taryn had been an elven-wraith standing at Ayla’s side during the siege of Lykor’s fortress. She’d helped Ayla steal one of the Hearts of Stars in Lykor’s possession—the relic Galaeryn used to control Rimeclaw rather than free him.
The elf in the tunnel had been polished into a stranger, luminescent skin gleaming in the shield’s violet glow. Golden braids framed angular features, and her azure eyes settled on Fenn, bright with jeweled cruelty. Behind them lived the unmistakable hum of an arch elf’s Well.
Stolen magic.
The same kind that radiated from Ayla, stripped from someone else.
Fenn’s wing talons clacked, his lips peeling back. “Haven’t you done enough?”
Taryn lifted one hand, Essence shimmering over her palm. “I did what was required. You chose your side. Now I serve mine.”
“She’s been rewarded,” Ayla clipped. “As have the others who remembered where loyalty belongs.”
Taryn studied Fenn as if measuring what loyalty had failed to make of him. “The reavers are arch elves now, brother. All of us who pledged ourselves. Just like we were promised.” Satisfaction touched her mouth, too cruel to be called a smile. “Just like you could’ve been.”
Ayla’s gaze lingered on Fenn’s wings. “Before I present you to the king, you’re going to explain what you’ve become.”
She approached Serenna until the stolen Starshard glinted in the shield’s glow.
“Saundyl’s missive claims you call yourselves druids. Curious.” Ayla tapped one finger against the gem. “I want names. Numbers. Where your armies are gathered. And which dragons fly free.”
Serenna scoffed. Ayla could wrench her body into compliance, but the stolen Starshard held no sway over her tongue.
“We’re not telling you anything.”
Ayla smirked and snapped her fingers. The violet shields dissolved, leaving both cells open.
Taryn reached beneath her armor, crystal flashing between her fingers.
Serenna’s heart slammed so hard it nearly staggered her.
Fenn’s Starshard.
He’d bound himself to the gem with blood, the same way Serenna had under Vesryn’s careful guidance. Ayla had mocked Serenna for chaining herself to a vessel she didn’t understand, ripe for anyone with the knowledge to claim her.
And now Taryn held Fenn’s leash.
Fenn jerked upright, his body bowing around an invisible chain drawn tight through his sternum. A snarl ripped from his throat, then died behind his clenched fangs.
Ayla gestured at Fenn’s wings. “Let’s start simple. How did you take the dragon’s power?”
Serenna swallowed.
Any answer would become a map, leading to Asharyn. To the hatchlings. To the druids who’d lived undisturbed for a thousand years.
Whatever came next, Serenna would endure it. She lifted her chin and gave Ayla silence.
“Very well.”
Ayla signaled to Taryn. Together, they stepped back, peeling away from the space between the cells.
Leaving Serenna facing Fenn.
Taryn kept Fenn’s Starshard clenched in her fist. He stood locked in place, wings shuddering, crimson eyes burning on Serenna as if he could shield her by looking hard enough.
Ayla’s fingers clamped around Serenna’s Starshard.
Serenna’s body convulsed.
Lightning kindled at her fingertips, her arm rising against every screaming nerve. She fought the forced motion, tried to wrench her wrist aside, aim the strike anywhere but at him.
It was pointless.
Her power no longer belonged to her.
Ayla’s voice slipped through the hiss of lightning. “Let’s see how much of your silence he can survive.”