Page 128 of The Reckoning of Starlight

Fenn’s Starshard flared as her Essence raced between them. It widened into a prismatic band as his power joined hers. Then a second arc leapt from Fenn toward Vesryn.

The joined flow struck Vesryn’s Starshard and recoiled hard enough to buckle Serenna’s knees.

“Vesryn.” She braced against the returning force. “Let him through.”

His jaw clenched, pupils thinning to draconic slits. “I can’t.”

“You can.” Both her and Fenn’s power pressed against the barrier together. “It has to pass through all three of us.”

Nothing yielded.

Then the prince exhaled.

His Starshard flared. The barrier gave way, and his magic swept through the crystal to join theirs.

Fenn’s Essence surged around Vesryn’s, threatening to overtake it before the flow could settle.

“Fenn, don’t overpower him. Carry Vesryn’s magic with yours. Bring them both back to me.”

Fenn’s attention cut to Vesryn, challenge flashing through the bond. Vesryn’s fingers twitched. Then he dipped his chin—barely, but enough.

Fenn’s magic curled around Vesryn’s rather than crushing it, bearing the joined stream back toward Serenna.

Her Starshard answered with a low hum. Weight gathered through her, but the power kept moving. Serenna caught the flow and turned it onward.

Prismatic light arced between them, and for the first time, the circuit held.

“I don’t know what would happen if we link dozens of Starshards,” she said as power shuddered through her, pulling every muscle taut.

She gathered the current once more, then yielded control to Vesryn. Her Starshard remained alight as Essence swept onward, answering to him as Serenna became another bright point along its path.

“Five wielders per circle to start,” Vesryn said before his gaze locked on Fenn. He thrust control across the link, and Essence blazed toward Fenn like a thrown blade.

Fenn seized it without hesitation, his grin flashing fangs. He spread his claws and hauled more Essence through Serenna’s and Vesryn’s Starshards until the prismatic light burned brighter than either of them had dared.

Serenna gasped as the sudden surge tore through her before she could brace. Her instinct clawed for control, but she loosened her grip and let the power flow.

“Only one of us can steer this at a time,” Fenn said.

Essence coiled around his talons, then streamed toward her. Serenna’s Starshard caught the returning flow, and the current bent to her will again, control settling between her palms.

“Let’s make practicing interesting.” Vesryn glanced toward the crown island hanging far above them, where distant dracovae riders wheeled in its shadow. “We can test the handoff under pressure. Draw the gliders away from the rangers while they strip the Starshard defenses.”

Serenna shook her head as the memories tightened in her chest. Stolen air. Collapsing lift. The sky turning inside out. “Essence will only draw the gliders straight to us.”

Vesryn smirked. “That’s the point.”

Fenn cackled. “So we make ourselves irresistible bait.”

Serenna groaned. They’d barely survived the gliders stealing the sky from their wings. Now Vesryn and Fenn wanted to summon them on purpose.

“So what’s the plan once we’re airborne?” she demanded as Fenn wrapped an arm around her waist.

“We rotate control.” Vesryn gripped Fenn’s shoulder. “You start. Pass it to me. I’ll send it to Fenn.”

“That’s not a plan—”

The world folded inward, the warp yanking the protest from her mouth. Darkness pressed close, displacement cinching across her skin. Then the sky slammed back around them hard enough to rattle her teeth.