Taking matters into her own hands when Fenn continued to hesitate, Serenna clasped his claw. Pulse thrashing in anticipation, she met his apprehensive gaze with an encouraging nod.
His fingers curled around hers, the pressure providing a familiar warning. Bracing herself, Serenna sucked in a breath as he hauled her into shadows.
The world tilted on its axis before her feet hit the ground next to the open hatch. Vision swimming, Serenna reoriented herself, throwing her palms forward. A burst of energy streamed from her fingertips as she drove away the magma sloshing toward the tunnel’s mouth.
“Let’s hurry,” Serenna gritted through her teeth, preventing the fire’s advance by flinging a steady pressure against it. Wrestling the heat of the swell for much longer would surely stretch her to her limit.
Compulsively scraping his talons against the lip of the entryway, Fenn stooped as they walked down a set of stairs into the tunnel’s darkened depths. Guided by him as they disappeared below the lake, Serenna walked backward down the steps to keep the fire at bay.
Focusing on the magma’s dim light when they reached the bottom, Serenna talked over her shoulder. “Do you see anything?” She didn’t dare break her wavering concentration by glancing around the dark cavern that had opened up around them.
Fenn’s voice came from beside her. “There’s a pedestal at the center of the chamber crowned with the Starry Heart.”
Serenna’s head whipped toward Fenn to gauge his sincerity. His eyes flared, glowing as he peered into the darkness. Fires slipping out of her control, Serenna riveted her attention backtoward the entrance, redoubling her efforts. She thrust back the creeping magma from the steps, expelling it from the tunnel.
“Well, go get it,” she excitedly urged, waving him on.It was that simple?Brimming with a swell of smug triumph, Serenna couldn’t wait to rub in Lykor’s face that he’d been sitting on top of a relic this entire time.
Fenn’s grin matched her own before he melted into the shadows. A breath later, he warped back to her side. Proudly holding the retrieved Heart, blue light from his talent blazed from the crystal.
The ceiling groaned, the only warning before it caved in.
Dropping the relic, Essence exploded from Fenn. A fountain of force erupted, aimed straight up at the falling stone. He collapsed to his knees, punched down by the weight of the chamber.
Boulders crashed to the ground outside of his dome of power, entombing everything but a small pocket of space around them and the stairs leading out. Stony chips crumbled to the floor, streaming in a rush of pebbles. The surrounding rocks quivered, held back by his magic.
Terror spiked through Serenna’s ribs when magma seeped in through the shattered roof, dripping like flaming honey. Whirling her hands, she shoved away the fire’s slithering advance.
“It must’ve been rigged with magics.” Fenn’s body shook as he waged a war, wrestling his power against the disintegrating earth. “I didn’t know.” An arc of blue light surrounded them, holding back the bottom of the fiery lake. “She-elf, grab the Heart and travel up that staircase before more collapses.”
“What are you talking about?” Serenna looked frantically at him, then back toward the cavern’s exit.
“That’s an order,” Fenn barked, palms up, magic billowing out from him in waves. “Return the Heart to Lykor.”
Serenna bristled at his sharpened tone. “I don’t take orders from you. Get up before more fire comes in and the rest of these boulders fall on our heads.”
Fenn’s voice was strained. “I can’t move. You have to go before my magics deplete.”
The blood drained from Serenna’s face. Her eyes bounced around the cavern, now lit by Essence and the fire oozing along the rocks.
“I won’t be able to return to that bridge without you,” she whispered, silently meaning that she wouldn’t abandon him to a gruesome death.
Fenn growled matter-of-factly, “Move the flames, walk across the bared stone, and scale the walls.” His chest heaved, muscles wracking in waves. “There are enough ledges to climb out of the Slag.”
Serenna shook her head, unable to form any words, clenching her fists to clamp down her fear.
More magma seeped in through the cracks in the ceiling as the weight of the lake trickled through. Splitting her focus, Serenna rushed to block the fresh wave of fire from raining down.
“This is not a debate,” Fenn snarled. “Lykor needs that Heart. Go.”
“Let me untether myself and call him through the bond.” Fear festering, Serenna’s mind darted around a way out. “Lykor can come retrieve his precious relic and portal us out.”
“Are you even capable of mind-speaking across such a distance?” Fenn’s fangs extended from the strain, held immobile as if chains wrenched him down. “My Well is draining while we’re arguing. Move those flames from the entrance and leave.”
Serenna gasped as the roof caved in further, sending another cascade of small rocks tumbling to the ground. Magma hissed, splashing onto stone. Nearly on the verge of her own collapse,Serenna moved the lurking fiery sludge away from the exit, clearing the path up to the lake.
Ensuring she had a grip on her power, Serenna crumpled next to Fenn and grasped his arm. “Warp us out of here.”
“She-elf,” he said as an exhaled plea, an attempt to reason with her. “I can’t hold the boulders back and shadow walk at the same time.”
