Vesryn tilted his head. “What’s wrong with it?”
Aesar pointed to depicted waves of glimmering light. “I’m not sure, but it looks shackled by some type of magic.” He assumed it was Essence connecting the dragon to the Aelfyn female holding a glowing prism above her head.
As his twin peered closer, Aesar sensed Vesryn’s puzzlement through the bond. “Does the crystal she’s holding look like the Heart of Stars to you?”
A thrum of energy had Aesar’s attention whipping to the library’s entrance. In radiant white robes outlined by silver threads, King Galaeryn swept into the atrium, conversing with General Elashor. Aesar could only assume they were discussing the pressures from the council, as they always did. Divided by the prospect of diluting elven blood, discussions of intermingling with the humans to preserve their race had been the only topic in the palace for decades.
Aesar nudged his twin. “Let’s ask our sire about this—he knows everything.”
Pushing back from the table, Aesar nearly dropped the tome in his enthusiasm to discover what the king knew about dragons. Following closely, Vesryn’s boots clipped his heels.
Essence-infused gems studded in the king’s ears splashed rings of light as he turned from his exchange with Elashor. Their sire’s brows rose as they approached him, a beam of sun glancing off of his silver hair. “I had hoped you two wouldn’t follow in your mother’s footsteps. Surely there’s a better use for your time than lurking among the shelves.”
Before Aesar could voice a defensive response about how the elves’ survival could very well depend on the queen’s research, Vesryn interjected. “As soon as you can answer Aesar’s questionabout dragons, we’re flying.” Vesryn shot him a glower. “Naru and Trella have been restless since they fledged.”
The king’s jade eyes hooked on the open volume in Aesar’s hands before darting to Elashor.
After that, Aesar’s memories were a blur. He didn’t even register the lash of magic ripping the tome from his fingertips before darkness erupted from his sire.
Shadows engulfed the library, blocking out the sun spilling in through the windows as rending cleaved the air. Launched back with a blast of force, Aesar landed halfway across the atrium, punched to the ground. Air whooshed out of Vesryn, crashing to the marbled floor beside him.
A wave of pressure pinned them to the ground. Aesar’s panicked thoughts collided with his twin’s as the library attendants screamed, the room crumbling around them.
The darkness receded nearly as fast as it had appeared. Light reentered the chambers as scattered papers fluttered like falling leaves. Vesryn had thrown himself nearly on top of him, acting like an anchor in a storm. They both were bound to the floor, prisoners to the king’s shadows.
Blade unsheathed—something Aesar had never witnessed before outside of sparring—Kal had somehow reacted to position himself in front of them. As if he could challenge both Elashor and the king. If Kal had fabricated a shield, the king’s rending had sliced through the ward, claiming him as a hostage too.
Aesar’s mind darted to Vesryn’s. His brother’s fear clashed against his through the bond.Kal drew his sword on the king.A frantic terror bludgeoned his chest. Aesar’s hearing droned to a muted buzz as he tried and failed to summon his power. Essence sputtered like a guttering flame as he struggled uselessly in the rending bind, unable to stand.
Galaeryn’s wild eyes rampaged around the atrium. He sneered, dividing a look between the queen and Thalaesyn, nowon their feet, surrounded by their own shields. Their mother’s eyes blazed with wrath as her gaze landed on them incapacitated on the ground.
The king had spared nothing, tearing apart the entire library. Shelves lay broken on the floor, along with countless books ripped off the walls. Aesar’s eyes popped, his stomach pooling with dread. His sire had even shattered the windows, scattering glass everywhere.
Why did he do this?he asked Vesryn as silence encased the room.
The snowstorm of papers didn’t have time to settle before the king spun on his heel, stalking out of the library with Elashor trailing behind, clinging like a shadow.
CHAPTER 12
LYKOR
Freed from the memory, Lykor shuddered a rough exhale. The storm of his heartbeat vibrated with a charge, his entire being poised to protect Aesar from the king. Stifling the wild urge provoked by the vision, Lykor detached his mind from the buried past.
Focusing on the chambers in front of him, Lykor watched Kal tense, eyeing the rending billowing through the room. Dispelling Aesar’s lingering fear, Lykor cracked his neck and surrendered the hold on his magic. Feeling flooded back into his limbs in a prickling rush as he comprehended the significance of possessing a Heart of Stars.
They were the key to freeing the dragons the Aelfyn had chained in the war. Galaeryn had one Heart in his possession, and it was possible he’d already located more.
There was a reason the king had targeted Aesar during that first staged “wraith attack.” Aesar had learned too much of what Galaeryn and Elashor attempted to conceal—though Lykor had yet to discover what the dragons could offer.
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR THE WRAITH IF WE COULD FREE THOSE BEASTS FIRST?Lykor nearly shookAesar out of sleep to question him, but realized the answers didn’t matter.
If the king’s reaction to Aesar’s curiosity of the dragons was any sign, then the creatures and the relics were important. With loathing engraved in his bones, Lykor would retaliate and snatch away anything that Galaeryn desired—just as the king had ruthlessly stolen everything from the wraith.
If his people could somehow ally themselves with the dragons—if any were still alive—they might have a chance at survival. First, they’d have to collect the Hearts if the king didn’t already possess them all and uncover wherever the Aelfyn had chained those beasts.
Lykor had no doubts that any remaining dragons were somewhere on the other side of the world. Surely they would’ve been discovered long ago if they dwelled in the mortal realms.
Lykor veered his attention back to Kal. He’d never voice it, but he grudgingly acknowledged the benefits of Aesar’s intervention—at least Kal was still present to manage the trivialities.
