Page 15 of Scorched By Fate

I blinked. “Mountains?”

“It’s a range far east of Scalvaris. The tallest peaks on Volcaryth.” His claws tapped once against the stone of the table, the motion measured. “Days away by wing.”

Days away. I pressed my lips together, the realization settling uncomfortably. I wasn't sure we had days.

“Someone’s going to need to go there,” I said after a long breath.

Not me. I couldn’t leave. Though my mind flashed briefly to what it might be like to spend a days, a week even, with only Vyne. Heat jolted through me. Even with all the stress of the sickness, a small part of mewantedthat.

"There's a plant. Vyrathis." The words felt heavy, weighted not just by the distance but what it implied. Logistics, risks, expectations. It wasn’t fear—not exactly—but the weight of responsibility wouldn’t loosen its grip.

Vyne's eyes stayed on me. They held that same sharpness I’d noticed before, unreadable but somehow too focused, like hecould sense the thoughts twisting through my head. “I know it. It's rare.”

“And I'm guessing it only grows in the Harrovan mountains?”

His expression didn’t shift—no dramatic scoff or flinch, only the tiniest upward quirk of his brow. “Or so I've heard."

“Damn it."

Vyne’s wings twitched, a flicker of movement that drew my eyes before I could stop them. He didn’t respond, just waited, watching me with that maddeningly calm stare. His presence felt too steady in a moment where everything else frayed at the seams.

"I'll speak with the council," he said. "If you need vyrathis, you'll have it."

SEVEN

VYNE

The council chamber smoldered. Not with fire but with something sharper and far less controlled. Anger. Fear. Weakness masquerading as strength.

Darrokar loomed in the center of the room, the weight of Scalvaris balanced on his shoulders like it was carved there the day he rose to the role of Warrior Lord. His voice bit through the thick tension with the precision of a freshly honed blade.

“It has to be you, Vyne.”

I almost laughed, but the flick of my tail was the only visible reaction I allowed. Restraint took effort. “You can't be serious,” I said sharply, my voice low but steady. “Send a scouting team. Trained wings accustomed to Harrovan. Not?—”

“You.” Darrokar’s voice cut through every word I hadn’t yet said, leaving no cracks for debate. He stepped forward, his wings stretching in a silent warning. “I need someone I can trust. Mektar's causing trouble, and I don't know what in the hells Zarvash is up to. If they put their soldiers on this …”

My claws curled, dull against the curve of my palms as shadows danced across the blackened stone walls. “Send someone else,” I said evenly, though beneath the surface,tension coiled hotter than the nearby forge tunnels. “A group. Resources. You’re asking one to accomplish what you need a team to do.”

“Two,” he corrected.

The room seemed to gather more heat, though perhaps it was just me. A hiss escaped my teeth before I could bury it. “You can't mean one of the humans.”

“Yes,” Darrokar said simply, his gaze meeting mine without a flicker of doubt or hesitation. It almost made me hate him. “Selene.”

Heat crawled beneath my scales. The mere mention of her name made the ache I’d kept chained in the shadows push harder against my ribs. Her scent threaded its way through memory, brighter than the fires in the forge.

I dug my claws into the stone of the table hard enough to leave divots. “She’ll die out there.”

Darrokar sighed. “She won’t. She's resilient. She was a soldier, just like my Terra. And a medic. She is uniquely suited to this mission.”

“Resilient is not immortal,” I snapped. “Do you want to give this city another reason to distrust her kind if we fail?”

“She is necessary.” Darrokar’s words were calm but heavy, clearly chosen with care. “She’s been working with the healers for weeks. She knows their ways, their methods. She’s already proven her value tenfold. If anyone can identify and handle the vyrathis when it’s found, it’s her. And I'm sending you with her so youdon'tfail.”

“And when the predators out there smell her blood?” My wings shifted, pulling tighter against my back as I spoke.

Darrokar stepped closer, his gaze locking onto mine with that unreadable steel he kept sheathed until moments like this. “Do you doubt me so much, Vyne?”

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