Page 14 of Scorched By Fate

Her head shifted, a shake side-to-side, and her claws twitched uselessly against the blanket. “Vyrathis …” The word came slower, harder, like dragging stone uphill, but its weight dropped between us all the same. “H-har … Harrovan.”

Her strength gave out just as she forced the word through clenched teeth. Her eyes fluttered closed again, but her body had eased in my grip, her breathing leveling out into something quieter—steady, almost peaceful.

Rachel blew out a long breath, tension visibly bleeding from her shoulders. Kaiya leaned back on her heels, clutching her knees, her energy deflating into something closer to numb relief.

“Vyrathis," Rachel repeated. "I'd say that's confirmation we're on the right track.”

Kaiya straightened, almost too quickly, her hands shaking with nervous energy again. “But what the hell is Harrovan?"

"That's the next thing we figure out."

I stood, letting my body shift into motion. The ache I’d felt these past days didn’t loosen, not fully, but it shifted into something else.

Purpose, maybe.

"You should head back to your quarters and sleep," Kaiya said. "I think Kira said she was going to try and make some bread for us. Rest. You've earned it."

I looked at each of the fifteen unconscious healers and shook my head. "Did either of you sleep last night? At all?"

The doctors shared a guilty look.

"Go sleep. Vega and Terra will be coming in for their shifts soon. There's nothing more you can do right now."

Rachel's eyes were practically black with exhaustion. Kaiya's skin had gone a bit sallow. It didn't take much insisting for them to leave me to it. And, as promised, Vega and Terra showed up.

But I still slept on a little slab in the back of the healing caverns, unwilling to leave my patients.

I adjustedthe blanket over Mysha's still form, smoothing it against the cool scales of her chest. Her steady breathing wasn’t loud enough to break the silence, but it carved through theoppressive fear clinging to the room. It was quieter in my head now—a small victory.

Mysha was alive, and there was a trail to follow.

The hope sparked by her words hung in the air, tantalizing but incomplete. Harrovan. The word was a puzzle piece in a language I barely understood. And the weight of what would come next made my fingers twitch with restless energy.

I didn’t leave her side. Couldn’t bring myself to.

The subtle scrape of claws on stone made my ears prick, and my head turned toward the entrance. Vyne’s imposing frame filled the cavern doorway before he ducked to enter fully, his wings folding tighter as he navigated the narrow space. He carried a bundle across his arms, wrapped in thick cloth.

The sight of him sent a strange pulse through my chest, as sharp and sudden as it was unwelcome. My focus snapped back to Mysha, tamping the feeling down as fast as it rose. I didn't have time forfeelingsof any kind.

Vyne’s steps were careful, but the air between us shifted as he neared the slab where Mysha rested. His scent again—smoke and something distinctly him—curled into my senses like it belonged there.

"You’re back."

“You sound surprised.” His voice carried its usual edge of dry disinterest, though it softened slightly. “It's late. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

“I could ask the same of you.” My response was automatic, my eyes still on Mysha’s weakly glowing scales. “What’s in the bundle?”

He shifted, and the fabric rustled as he set it on the table beside the elder. “More supplies. Forge tools. Salves. Whatever I could gather that might help.”

I glanced at the bundle, barely resisting the urge to pick through it. “Good. Thanks.”

He huffed once, a sound too soft to be a laugh but still close enough to catch my focus. It made me finally meet his eyes. The dim glow from the crystals caught on the emerald green of his scales, the black diamond-like patterns down his arms and chest marking him like armor.

His gaze didn’t waver, though there was something sharper in it. “What happened?”

“Kaiya and Rachel found something that helped Mysha wake up for a bit.” The words felt heavier than they should, and for a second I let them hang there, waiting for his reaction. “She gave us a word. Harrovan. She passed out again before we could get anything else.”

Vyne’s head tilted, his eyes narrowing—not in irritation, but thought. “Harrovan. The mountains.”

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