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October 24 - October 27, 2025
“She’d had a nightmare and didn’t want to wake me, so that was her solution,” Rayner went on. “When I woke her and demanded she Shift back, she refused to go to sleep in her own room.”
“She does well with small forms,” Rayner said, taking a drink of his tea. “We haven’t worked up to larger ones yet.”
“No,” Rayner answered. “She’d shift into a tiger cub, but even those forms are too large right now. So we stick with smaller forms.”
Rayner’s eyes went wide. “Fuck no. Never anything with wings. She can keep her feet, paws, scales, whatever, on the godsdamn ground.”
“Apparently, Alaric had something that allowed him to communicate with another realm. He believes it was destroyed when the Fellowship was burned, but Gehenna said it couldn’t be destroyed. Not by starfire alone,” Cyrus explained. “I am to find it and bring it to her when I bring her the spell book.”
“You cannot break a bargain,” Rayner said. “The Mark will force fulfillment after a time, and if it is physically impossible to do so, you will be cursed.”
“We are a family. We choose each other. We claim each other. You said something. Now we face it together. You taught me that, Cyrus.”
“We’ll help you remember which memories were real. The ones we can anyway, and we’ll create new ones to help you remember that you deserve this. To help you breathe when you feel like you’re suffocating.” Cyrus said nothing. He just leaned forward, erasing the space between their lips, and kissed him deeply.
“As I have repeatedly told you, it is impossible for me to use the full extent of my power against you. The twin flame bond simply does not allow it. Only if your life is in danger would I be able to fully access it around you.”
There are entire passages about Chaos that I cannot decipher. Saylah said that is where her power comes from. But if the power of the gods comes from Chaos, wouldn’t that mean all magic comes from Chaos in some way or another?”
“Anything about the mirror gates?” “No. How did they come to be? Who put them in every world created? Are they even in every world created? Are there worlds without them?”
“According to the texts, it was the first city in this world,” she answered Sorin, climbing the steps. “The being that created this world lived here for a time, and the Runic City was their home.”
“The being that created this world has the power to truly lock it.
“Are you saying if a First created this world, then they could keep out all others except for the other First gods?”
Starfire flared and her spirit sword appeared in her hand at the same moment she sent flames at Rayner, who she’d sensed appearing behind her a moment before. She whirled, a dagger at his throat when his shield of ashes faded away, and the Ash Rider blinked in surprise. “Well done, Scarlett,” he said after a moment.
Rayner was somewhat careful with her, always catching her before her face hit the ground or she took a hit to the gut. The Avonleyan Queen didn’t have such qualms.
She had wondered if he would find a Source when the Wards were down and the Fae and Avonleyans would coexist once more. But as Kailia appeared at his side, and he looked at her the same way she and Sorin had been looking at each other moments ago, Scarlett knew he wouldn’t.
Tybalt couldn’t half-shift like Cassius and Razik could. It was either his human form or his dragon. And the dragon was magnificent. Smaller than Ranvir, the spirit animal of Sargon, he was still huge. His charcoal scales seemed to absorb the sunlight as he soared above them. Black wings flapped as dragon fire spewed from his mouth with a roar
Cass would never be able to shift fully into a dragon due to his Witch blood, but Razik could.
They’d all agreed Sorin needed to lose control. For centuries, he’d had his fire mastered. He was training with his new gifts, sure, but she needed him to be ready faster. She needed him to understand what he was capable of now, because if she was reading those scrolls in the catacombs correctly … Well, if she was, neither of them truly knew what they were capable of.
But the deafening boom of flames colliding with dragon fire
Sorin was striding towards her, and he looked like a god of fire. There was no other way to describe him. Flames of orange and red and blue wound around him. Glowing embers sparked with every furious step. His golden eyes were pure flame as they zeroed in on her, and there was nothing but primal wrath on his features.
And then Scarlett was gaping as that wall of flame took on a new shape. One with a tail and wings and scales of embers. A fire dragon. A godsdamn dragon of pure fire was sweeping past, and Sorin was throwing a rope of blue wildfire around its neck before he leapt atop the thing and took off into the sky after Tybalt.
His power had been grand then. Now? It would be catastrophic.
She wasn’t fast enough to avoid the blast of the impact when dragon fire and Sorin’s upgraded flames collided again in the air.
“No, but you did say we needed to do whatever it took to get his magic to surface, and that’s how things were done beneath the cliffs,” Rayner countered sharply.
“Let go,” she murmured onto his mouth. “Your power will not hurt me. You’ve said it yourself. It can’t. We are designed that way. For each other.” She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. “You speak to me of fate and destiny? You are the only fate I will ever accept.”
“Thank the gods,” Scarlett gasped when he did it again. “Not the gods, Love,” he growled, tilting her hips up even more and slamming into her again. She sent her shadows raking down his chest, his arms, his back. Felt him arch into her, hitting that spot that made her see stars.
Reaching up, she curled her hand around his neck to haul herself up to him. She coiled a tendril of starfire around his ear and heard him suck in a ragged breath as she whispered, “We are the gods now, Sorin.” She felt his growl in her soul as he hauled her up and shifted beneath her so she was in his lap.
They said nothing as he cut across the Source Mark, and she held out her palm for the same. He only pulled her back to his chest, letting his magic feed hers. The same way he fed her body. The same way he fed her soul.
“She will never breathe the air of those islands again. I promised her that.” Cethin had snarled, advancing on Scarlett when she met with him the morning after she’d spoken with Kailia.
Rayner was already moving among his smoke, and Scarlett darted inside to see him standing between two seraphs. His hands were deep in their chests, and when he pulled them back, he held a heart in one hand and a lung in the other.
He stepped back as she raised her hands before her. Shadows and starfire in one palm. Fire and ice in the other. Powers of the gods and of the Fae. All in one vessel. That’s what Saylah had said. Why it had to be Scarlett and no one else. One born of the gods who could harness the elements of the Fae.
It was a sphere as dark as deathstone. Symbols and glyphs were fading in and out, moving across the surface in varying colors. Symbols that matched those on the door and those in the Runic Lands.
“But I also know that this is about to set so many things into motion.” “The end,” she whispered. “It sets the end of all this into motion.” His thumb swiped across her cheek before he inhaled another deep breath and stepped back from her. The moment his fingers fell from the orb, the glyphs reappeared, brighter than stars. The sphere became warm in her hand, and the entire thing darkened back to the darkness of deathstone. Shadows seemed to swarm among the glyphs, and she could see … She didn’t know what she was seeing in its depths. Whatever it was, it was moving and shifting too fast for
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“You are such a godsdamn pain in my ass, and yet I find myself so incredibly proud of you. You are exactly what I envisioned you becoming.”
“This could have all been avoided if you hadn’t come for a world that is not yours to take,” she retorted. “But it is mine,” he said calmly, lifting the sphere from her hand and holding it up before him. Her magic swirled, just as the glyphs on the real thing had. “It has always been mine, just as it was always my father’s. When the beings who created this realm were defeated by Achaz and his armies, they lost their rights to this land. To the victors go the spoils, Scarlett. You know this.”
He held the sphere out to her, the false glyphs fading in and out. “And this? This tells of all worlds, Scarlett. Every one that was, is, and is yet to be.”
“And this is how I will save you from Achaz’s wrath. With this, he can truly eradicate those who tipped the balance. His own princes can rule the realms, and he can finally rest.”
The world was on fire. She blinked again. No, it wasn’t on fire. But the dragon coming for her was. Claws of flames wrapped around her torso, hauling her back up. Her stomach lurched at the sudden change in direction. Scarlett. Reach, Love. She blinked her eyes open again. She wasn’t sure when she’d closed them. Sorin was hanging off the side of his fire dragon, hand outstretched, fingers reaching. You …you came … Always, Love. Reach. But she couldn’t. She had nothing left to give. And as her eyes fell closed again, she saw Sorin let go of his fire. She felt his arms wrap around her as they
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“Are you planning to steal this bowl?” Sapphire eyes slid to her. “No.” “Are you sure? You seem rather intrigued by it.” “It is very valuable.” Her eyes went wide. “You want to take it to your cave. You really have a cave, don’t you?” “Why would I lie about that?” “Who has an actual cave, Raz?” His eyes seemed to darken at the nickname. “I told you, it’s a dragon thing.”
“Do your blooded parents still live? I know Tybalt raised you, but—” “I do not know if they still live,” Razik interrupted. She heard his boots scrape against the road, then crunch on the grasses beside the river. “They left me with Tybalt when I was seven years.”
He pushed out a long, harsh breath. “I was not born in this realm. We did not come here until I was four.”
“I am older than Cethin by three years. When he was born—” His hands curled and uncurled at his sides. “It took Tethys and Saylah nearly a year after he was born to figure out that he had the ability to not only let people in the Wards, but also into the realm. Granted, entering the realm cost more than a vial of Cethin’s blood, but it could be done if the right cost was paid. Not anymore, but at the time, it was possible. Before they bound the gift to his Avonleyan magic to reawaken at a later time, my parents entered this world with me.”
your father was Tybalt’s brother?” “Yes. He is also Temural’s Guardian.”
“Guardian bonds are much like Source bonds or twin flame bonds. They operate outside of the normal bounds of magic to a certain extent. It is incredibly complex, and I have studied it for centuries.”
“I was left here because they had never wanted me, but when I was born? Another direct descendant of Sargon?” He released another harsh breath. “We are coveted across the realms. Guardian bonds are stronger with direct descendants. We are stronger, more powerful, and, of course, we can summon dragon fire at will.”
“Where were you born, Raz?” “It was once called Noidrir, but now it is known simply as The Requiem.”
And she turned right into a hard wall of muscle. “Gods,” she gasped, Razik’s hand landing on her waist to steady her. “Why are you standing so close?” Then she noticed the large bag in his hand. “What is that?” “You hardly ate anything,” he said. “It is late afternoon. Let’s find an inn. You can eat properly and rest before tomorrow.” “You have enough reserves?” she asked, wondering what food he’d ordered to bring with them. It smelled like roast beef and bread and— “Did you get chocolate cake?”
Ten minutes later, Razik was unlocking the door to their room (of course, he only got one room) and ushering her through. She’d insisted on a room facing the river, and when she saw he’d gotten one that not only faced the river but had a small balcony as well, her chest did the exact thing she didn’t want it to do. It tightened, and her stomach flipped, and that godsdamn bond sparked to life, her flames swirling in excitement.
