Then the ground vibrated.
A deep, resonant hum rolled through the mountains, ancient and powerful, echoing through stone and root alike.Massive shapes moved beyond the trees, scales glinting faintly through the fog as something vast approached.
Lucian exhaled slowly.“We have incoming.”
Perizada inclined her head.“Serapha.”
The draheim emerged from the forest without urgency, her immense form weaving effortlessly between the towering trees.Her scales were a pale iridescent white, that shimmered like diamonds.Wings folded tight against her sides, vast and scarred, each ridge telling a story older than most civilizations.
She stopped at the edge of the clearing, towering over them, her massive head lowering just enough for one bright blue eye to fix on Gerick.
“Well,” Serapha said, her voice resonating through the clearing without effort, deep and edged with dry amusement.“If it isn’t the warlock who never brings good news.It has been a very long time, General.”
Gerick inclined his head.“I’ve only ever brought you news one time, old one.You can hardly say Ineverbring you good news.”
Peri’s head turned slightly to look at him.“Why?If you’ve only brought her bad news, no matter how few times, then you literally are the bearer who never has brought good news.”
“Thank you, Perizada, for that enlightening observation,” Serapha said, humor and warmth lacing her voice.
Gerick ignored the high fae, because really, what else could you do?“It’s good to see you, Serapha.”
“Liar,” she replied flatly.“I can feel the rage flowing off of you in violent waves.The word ‘good’ shouldn’t even be in any sentence you use.”
“Unless it’s ‘look howgoodand dead he is,’” Peri muttered.
Serapha’s gaze shifted to her, the harsh edge softening just a fraction.“Perizada.It’s been a whole, what, two days since I saw you last.You’re just as mouthy as ever.And, you had a brood of adorable children with you.If you’re back, then something has gone terribly wrong.And if something has happened to any of those babes, I will quite possibly burn every realm to the ground to hurt any who have harmed them.”
“Pipe down, you overgrown lizard,” Peri said, her tone dry.“The kids are all alive and still annoying as hell.And yes, things have gone terribly wrong.But I’m not dead, so there’s that.”
The draheim huffed.“We’re all wondering how you’ve managed to remainnot deadfor so long.It seems like someone is always trying to kill you.”
Lilly muttered under her breath, “Some things never change.”
“No one asked you, warlock queen,” Peri told the female, though her words were sharp, Gerick knew how deeply Peri cared for Lilly.Their relationship, though not without hiccups, was one born from shared pain, struggles, battles, and loss.Very few things could ever break such a bond.
Serapha ignored her and looked back at Gerick.“Speak.What is it that has you in such a state of anger?”
“Myanin, my mate, is trapped inside the Nushtonia,” Gerick said.
The realm reacted.Not violently, but unmistakably.The air tightened, pressure rolling through the clearing like a distant storm.He heard draheim deeper in the forest rumble and the ground trembled as they shifted their weight, wings rustling faintly.
Serapha’s eyes narrowed.“Insidethe book of the dead?”
His hands clenched into fists.“Yes.”The word echoed longer than it should have, as if the forest itself was reluctant to accept it.
Serapha straightened slowly, her wings loosening just enough that the air trembled beneath their weight.The faint glow etched into her scales, or something older that refused a single name, dimmed, then flared again in a slow, controlled pulse.
“The Nushtonia does not trap things,” she said.“It consumes.It binds.And it remembers.”Her gaze sharpened on Gerick.“How and why has this happened?And last I heard, it was in the hands of a lunatic sprite.How does it keep changing hands so fast?”
“It’s a slippery little bastard,” Peri said, her voice tight with anger.
Gerick couldn’t disagree with her.He kept his attention on the draheim before him as he spoke.“Because it was opened without anyone realizing a life force had been kept inside.”
Serapha’s jaw tightened.“Who was this life force?”
Perizada stepped in smoothly before Gerick could answer, her voice steady.“A bound power tied to death.Ancient.Imprisoned by the djinn a very long time ago.Raja.”
Serapha’s eyes flicked to her.“Ruler of the Realm of the Dead?”
