Page 11 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

Are you ready? she asked, her voice low, urgent in my mind.

“No,” I whispered. “But I’m going, anyway.”

Kaelith’s power surged beneath my skin, the bond between us flaring bright and fierce. Her magic flowed into me—not like the steady anchor it usually was, but like wildfire finding dry grass. It mixed with my own power, threads of Stormlight and shadow and something older—dragon and fae and whatever I’d become since that cursed trial beneath the mountain.

I lifted my hand, fingers trembling, and pressed my palm against the smoky veil.

It wasn’t solid.

Not exactly.

The barrier rippled at my touch, reacting like it had been waiting, as if it recognized me. Kaelith’s fire crackled through my veins, and I pushed, not with force, but with intent. A test. A beckoning.

The mist parted slightly, just enough for a shimmer of light to flicker behind it.

Then the silver mark on my shoulder—Severeth’s gift, her curse—ignited.

Pain lanced through my arm like molten lightning. I screamed, staggering back, but the magic was already unraveling. Not Kaelith’s. Mine.

My power twisted violently outward, snapping through the clearing like a cyclone of white-blue light laced with threads of silver. My back arched as it tore through me, wild and unstable, burning the edges of the barrier and searing deep into the ground.

Kaelith roared and tried to steady me through the bond, but it was like grabbing a live wire—sparks flew between us, too chaotic, too fast.

Ashe! she called, but even her voice was fading under the rush of it.

The mark on my shoulder pulsed again, and I felt it—Severeth’s magic reacting to the barrier. Like it knew something I didn’t. Like it wanted in.

My knees buckled.

The veil shivered.

And something… something on the other side stirred.

Kaelith moved between me and the smoke, her body shielding mine as the twisted flare of magic finally began to die down, leaving only ash on the wind and the silver mark still glowing like a fresh brand.

I coughed once, breath ragged. “What… what was that?”

Kaelith’s voice was harsh with worry. Severeth’s gift. It’s entangled with your core. It didn’t want you to enter. She paused. Or it didn’t want what’s inside to come out.

I stared at the barrier, now trembling where I’d touched it, and the whisper of something beyond called again.

I kneeled at the edge of the scorched soil, my hand still trembling from the blast of wild magic. The smoky veil pulsed softly in front of us, rippling like water disturbed by a distant storm. The silver mark on my shoulder had dulled, but the ache it left behind still throbbed deep in my bones.

Kaelith lowered her massive head beside me, her breath slow and controlled, but I could feel it; she was shaken. Her scales twitched as if her body hadn’t yet settled from the blowback. Ash clung to her wings, and she snorted with irritation.

We need Zander, she said, her voice tighter than usual. He should’ve reached the southern coast by now.

I closed my eyes and reached through the bond.

Zander?

Silence.

Zander, answer me!

Nothing.

It wasn’t blocked; it was absent. A hollow quiet where his presence should’ve been, like reaching for a hand and finding empty space.