Serena yanked the dagger from her lung with a broken gasp, blood flooding her mouth before she could drag in another breath.
Gold and wet, it splattered the leaves beneath her.
She fell to her knees.
"Run, Serena!" Elara yelled, tears streaking down her face, bronze eyes wide and frantic.
She raised a second dagger, her hand shaking.
But Serena couldn't have run if she tried. Her body refused to answer.
Elara's arm jerked upward, the dagger angling toward Serena's chest again.
"No," she choked, teeth clenched. Her muscles shook violently, as she fought her own hand.
With a broken cry, she plunged the blade into herself instead.
Her bronze eyes snapped back to green.
"Serena," she rasped, collapsing to the ground, "Get away from me or knock me out."
Her body went slack, breath ragged, blood soaking into the forest floor beneath her.
Serena crawled to her and pulled the dagger free. She dragged the blade across her palm, gold blood spilling onto Elara's wound.
It healed instantly, like it was never there. Something only she and Elara knew her blood would do.
Tears gathered in Elara's eyes, spilling over as she stared up at Serena.
"Why are you healing me?" she whispered. "I cannot control it."
"Yes, you can," Serena rasped, her voice shredded as she tightened her grip on Elara's hand.
She closed her eyes and tried to mindlink Hyran, Dex, Hale, and Gav.
No response.
"That is… odd."
Serena pressed one hand hard against her abdomen, trying to keep herself upright. Her breaths were shallow, each one scraping through pain.
Elara was burning up. Her jaw was clenched and every muscle locked in resistance. "Always a choice… Right?"
"Yes, exactly. Always a choice." Serena rasped. "Do you know what happened to you?"
Elara shook her head weakly. "No."
"It's okay," Serena said. "Hyran will figure it out."
"I am fighting it again," Elara sobbed.
Serena forced a crooked smile through bloodied lips. "Hey. Breathe." She squeezed Elara's hand. "It's hard to kill me, believe it or not."
Elara let out a broken laugh, half hysterical, half relieved.
Serena glanced around. "We should move to that cave."
Elara nodded and pushed herself to her feet. She slipped under Serena's arm to support her. Together, uneven and slow, they made their way toward the rocky outcrop ahead.
By the time they made it inside the cave, Serena's vision began to blur.
"Elara," she gasped, forcing herself to focus through the agony, "can you try to heal me? I know you have only done it once. Will you try?" Her mouth twitched. "Worst case, we look like idiots."
Elara broke down, sobs ripping out of her. "I—"
"Try to heal me," Serena said firmly. "Or run and get help."
"I d-d-don't think I c-c-can," Elara said, voice wrecked, but her hands moved anyway, pressing over Serena's core.
Silver light spilled from her palms.
Warmth followed.
The wound closed and blood stopped. The pain receded, leaving behind soreness.
Serena sucked in a careful breath fully for the first time since being stabbed, chest rising without resistance.
She sagged back against the cave wall, eyes closing in relief.
Then, like more could not possibly go wrong, white-hot lances of agony tore through Serena's forearm.
It was so sudden and vicious that a scream tore free before she could stop it.
Elara clapped a hand over Serena's mouth a heartbeat too late.
"Shit," Elara breathed.
Serena folded forward, panting, a broken sob slipping free before she could stop it.
"What is it?" Elara asked, panic snapping through her voice.
"My arm," Serena forced out, sweat breaking across her skin.
Elara reached for Serena's sleeve, peeling back the fabric.
"What in the Gods' names is that?"
Serena looked down.
A coin-sized symbol was searing itself into her forearm. It burned from the inside out, like something alive writing itself. Draken-Vorah script curved around the unmistakable shape of a dragon.
"What the..." Serena stared at the mark.
She touched it.
At the exact same moment, a raw sound tore from Elara's throat.
"Motherfucker! Don't touch it," she panted, clutching at her arm.
"Shit," Serena said, pulling her hand away quickly.
Serena rolled back Elara's sleeve. Nothing. Just skin.
"I think… I think I am feeling Hale's pain," Elara choked, fighting for breath.
"So much for a peaceful walk in nature," Serena muttered, teeth gritted. "What the actual fuck is happening?"
✦✦✦
They both tried mindlinking a few times.
Still nothing.
Serena wasn't sure how much time had passed when a shadow fell across the cave entrance.
She froze, tapping Elara who was drifting in and out of consciousness.
A masked attacker entered the cave.
"Well," he said mildly, amused. "Who do we have here?"
He grabbed Serena by the hair and slammed her face-first into the ground. Her vision burst white.
He grabbed her by the ankle and dragged like she weighed nothing.
Serena gasped, fingers scraping uselessly against the floor.
She reached for her magic.
Nothing. Either the well was drained from the volcano earlier or she couldn't find it.
And then her arm ignited. Elara shrieked next to her.
The world narrowed to pressure in her head, heat on her arm, and the taste of blood in her mouth.
She arched, choking on the pain, barely registering she was still being dragged. Barely aware that the stab wound had torn back open and fresh blood soaked her training suit.
The agony in her forearm eclipsed everything else, so intense it made the stab wound feel distant, irrelevant.
She had thought she knew pain. She had been wrong. This rewrote the definition, tore it apart and rebuilt it into something crueler.
She heard more screams, only to realize they were her own.
How odd, she thought to herself.
"Go," a voice snarled.
"No!" Elara's voice broke as she tried to wrench free. "I am not leaving her."
Serena turned her head toward Elara, vision swimming, and mouthed words.
It's okay.
"NOW," a man roared, kicking Elara. "Or her throat is slashed. MOVE."
Bruised, sobbing, Elara stumbled away into the trees.
Through the ringing in her ears, she heard a furious roar split the distance.
Velkaris. Relief flickered through the agony.
Then she felt it.
For a split second she thought she was burning alive.
She was.
Sort of.
Flames wrapped around her, but didn't burn her clothes or skin. It felt familiar and protective.
She did not realize she was being held down until a man screamed and his grip broke.
She gritted her teeth and pushed against the ground, forcing herself upright.
A voice cut through the chaos, cold.
"This just got interesting."
The man stepped closer, grabbing her.
An agonizing sensation lanced through her body. Something she'd never felt before. Rotting. Violating. Corruption. Dark magic.
At the same instant, the mark on her forearm burned in perfect, horrific symmetry.
Her entire body ignited. He did not let go.
She tried to shove him away. Fire erupted from her palm instead, a jet of flame that slammed into him.
He was thrown back, shrieking as the fire took him.
Another attacker lunged.
More fire erupted from her hand.
The forest lit up with screams and flame.
"Enough!" a voice thundered. The sound hit her like a wall.
Her vision tunneled and the world tilted violently before everything went dark.