Page 71 of Heat of the Everflame

Paws crunched on dry sand, followed by the piercing scream of a gryvern’s cry. When I looked again through the slim openings, I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to muffle my gasp.

The Ignios gryvern was an enormous beast. It was nearly twice Sorae’s size, with golden feathers on its wings and scales of shimmering tan that seemed forged from the desert itself. A line of horns, each filed to a spear-sharp tip, ran up its snout and down its long neck.

Anger seeped from the beast like a foul smell, infecting the air with its hateful rancor. As its slitted eyes narrowed and scanned the oasis, the thick cords of muscle lining its powerful body bunched, looking ready to strike at any moment. Flames curled around its nostrils with every rumbling breath.

A man and two women dismounted from a saddle strapped to its back. The man was dressed in flowing white robes, his head swathed in a ginger-colored silk scarf that covered all but his dark orange eyes.

Though he appeared to have no weapons, the women were laden with them. A strappy leather harness wrapped around each of their midsections, bearing a small armory of thin, sharp throwing knives. Much like the gryvern, their tanned bodies were toned and curved with muscles that seemed permanently tensed for battle.

“Search the buildings,” the man said. “If she’s here, bring her to me. Kill the others.”

The gryvern arched its neck toward the sky and released an ear-splitting snarl. Its body rippled as its clawed talons curled into the sand.

The women nodded and ran for the city. My pulse rattled watching them disappear into the streets. I prayed Luther and Taran were well hidden among the maze of clay walls.

The man pulled his headscarf down to his neck, revealing a familiar face, its leathery, sun-worn skin the same dark red hue as the buildings around us.

“The King?” Alixe mouthed at me, arching an eyebrow. I nodded, and her mouth set into a thin, grim frown.

“Where are you, Lumnos?” he bellowed. His booming voice startled me backward, causing the rotted wood to snap beneath my knees.

The Ignios King’s head swiveled in our direction. Alixe grabbed my arm to still me, both of us holding our breath as we waited, frozen, staring in terror through the slatted bamboo.

He clasped his hands behind his back and strolled toward us, his long, dark beard swaying in the wind as his gaze swept across the oasis.

Everything fell deathly silent, save for the rustle of sand shifting under his sandaled heels. As quietly as we could manage, Alixe and I pulled small blades from our sheaths. If we were discovered, we had only a split second to react before he incinerated us into a pile of ash.

And if his fire magic worked anything like my destructive silvery light, even a split second might not be enough.

“I know you’re here somewhere,” he taunted.

A dark silhouette passed in front of the slivers of light leaking into the enclosure, then stopped. I dared to lean in for a closer look—and nearly came face to face with him as he dropped to one knee.

Had he been staring through the bamboo planks, he would have spotted me instantly, but his focus was elsewhere—on the terrain beneath his feet.

He ran his fingers leisurely through the sand as if it were water, then cupped it into his palm, letting the tiny granules sift through the air.

“The sand tells me its secrets,” he hissed. He clenched his hand into a fist and raised it to his ear. “It whispers to me that there are three in my dunes who do not belong. But you’re not one of them, are you?” His chin rose. “You’re something else.”

I nearly crumpled when he stood and began pacing the other direction. I should have known he would be able to sense ourpresence through the Forging magic that ran through Emarion’s realms. I’d felt it myself the night of my Ascension Ball.

But when I had reached into the Lumnos soil that night and felt the anomalies of the Umbros Descended among my people, I hadn’t been able to see their location. I only knew they were somewhere in my realm and they were not of Lumnos descent.

Which meant the Ignios King knew we were here—but notwhere.

“I’ve had a Crown on my lands before,” he said loudly. “I know how the Forging magic bends around them and shimmers at their feet. Tell me, Lumnos, why do you not feel like one of them?” He spun around, eyes narrowing. “Why do you feel like one ofmine?”

He sauntered forward, again passing in front of the storage pen. “One of mine, and yet not. You’re something different. Something new. Even the sand doesn’t know what to think of you. Where you walk, the Forging magic doesn’t bend. Itshatters.” He glanced up at the sky. “Perhaps Sophos was right, and you are an imposter.”

I saw Alixe’s face turn to me in question, but I didn’t return her stare. I hadn’t told any of them, not even Luther, about the calamitous Rite of Coronation and the Sophos Crown’s accusations. Not because I was ashamed—I knew I was no imposter. I’d done nothing to seize the throne, and my ability to command Sorae was proof enough that the Crown’s authority had passed to me in earnest.

In part, I’d withheld the story because my catalogue of problems was growing longer by the day, and unpacking the petty insults of the Sophos Crown was low on my list.

But telling that story would also require explaining the heartstone and its vital importance to the Descended world. Some quiet intuition urged me that that secret was best left unspoken for now.

The Ignios King’s dark gaze roamed across the turquoise water. “Where are you hiding, Lumnos?”

He strode closer to the shoreline, pausing near the palm tree where we’d all been gathered earlier. His attention caught on something near its base, and he kneeled closer, scooping up a clump of sand and rubbing his fingers together. He cocked his head, staring at his palm and frowning.

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