Page 168 of The Dryad Storm

“Vogel’s Black Witch, Fallon Bane,” I caution Soleiya, my power’s flow bright with alarm, “she’s woven her ice power through Vogel’s Shadow net over our shielding.”

Soleiya’s fiery eyes widen.

“Which means,” Yvan stresses, “we need your help uniting everyoneright now.”

Chapter Twelve

Germination

Elloren

Northern Dyoi Mountain Range

“I was wrong about Elloren,” Yvan’s mother calls out to my adversaries beyond the runic wall separating us, the light from Or’myr’s moons suffusing the night and Soleiya with a violet tint.

Sylvan, Iris, Yulan, Alder, and Vang Troi bracket Soleiya, a warm shimmer of emotion coursing through me in response to Soleiya’s vocal support, my ravens on guard in the sky above us, just below our dome-shield’s cloud-high apex.

I lean into Yvan, and he shoots me a quick, fervent look, his arm and fire aura wrapped around me, both the Dyoi Forest and the distant Zhilaan sending out palpable swirls of support around the two of us—Icaral and Dryad Witch united.

Fixed as two fiery stars.

“What of the Prophecy?” one of the Amaz behind our wall of magic snarls—a young, gray-hued, heavily tattooed Elfhollen woman with braids the color of steel. Her silver eyes glint with a battle-hardened ire as she sets her gaze on me.

“Fallon Baneis the Black Witch!” my sister Diana growls, her amber eyes aglow. “I warned you of thismany,manymonths ago!”

“The Forest is forging a new, more powerful Prophecy,” Soleiya insists to the Elfhollen soldier. “It is forging a new Prophecy for usall.” She holds up her palm, displaying the III mark imprinted there.

An audible gasp rises, and Soleiya turns to me. I meet her incandescent gaze, our magic flaring out to each other in a blaze of alliance that twists my heart with the best kind of ache as she turns back to her allies and launches into a description of what the Forest revealed to her.

“I believe,” Soleiya finally states, her voice hitching with emotion, “that if my husband, Valentin, were alive today...” She stops, her mouth quavering into a grief-stricken grimace.

Yvan’s eyes meet mine before he goes to her. He takes hold of his mother’s hand, invisible spirals of his aura winding around their joined hands and arms as tears streak down Soleiya’s face. Yvan murmurs something to her in Lasair, and she nods, seeming bolstered by his words as she straightens and peers back out at the crowd of Vu Trin, holding tight to Yvan.

“I believe,” Soleiya starts again, her splintered voice stronger now, “that if my husband were here with usright now—” she glances at me once more “—that he would not only join with the Forest, but embrace Elloren as an ally and asfamily. As the Wyvernbonded mate of my son.”

Yvan’s heat shocks through our bond, his gaze flashing to mine with such ardent force that a flush warms my skin.

Hostile murmuring breaks out amongst our adversaries. Their outraged silence descends, everyone’s gazes settling on me. Sparks flying between us, Yvan extends his hand to me.

Feeling the press of fate circling down on us all, I go to him and wrap my hand around his, the contact triggering another rush of heat through our bond. An affectionate smile on his lips, Yvan draws me close, the Forest’s support flooding my rootlines with shimmering light power. I glance at the purple-lit tree line edging the ledge—the beautiful, complicated, absolutely vital-to-our-survival Living Wilds—my gut tightening against the dire situation we’re all faced with.

Reckless courage rises within me like an elemental storm, fueled by autumn’s prismatic power. I look first to Yvan, then to my allies and adversaries both, my heartbeat striking against my chest as I briefly meet the gazes of Mavrik and Gwynn, then Sage, Ra’Ven, Rivyr’el, Thierren, and Fain.

Unsheathing the branch at my waist, I drop it to the ground, fully disarming. Recklessly decided, I voice the words that are a leap off a cliff. “Strike down the wall between us.”

Shock flashes through Yvan’s and Soleiya’s power, througheveryone’spower, my airborne ravens pulsing their cautioning Darkness through the scene around me as they land, ready for battle.

“Elloren,” Yvan protests, “their hostility hasnotabated.”

I meet his blazing stare with my own. “We’re out of time,” I insist, motioningto Alder, Sylvan, and Yulan. “You heard what my Dryad’kin and I sensed from the trees. The Mages are razing every Forest they can access. And now, Fallon has hastened the descent of a Shadow winter. No matter the risks, we can’t remain dividedone second longer.”

Steeling myself, I meet Errilor’s pitch-black eyes and mentally petition both him and the rest of my flock to keep hold of their power before I turn back toward those allies who had a strong hand in crafting the shield-wall.

“Are you sure, Elloren,” Trystan presses.

I nod.

They all hesitate for a brief, fraught moment longer, before raising branches and styluses in unison and murmuring spells.

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