Chapter 10 - Temptation Weylyn wasn’t lying about the drastic temperature changes compared to what we were used to. We trekked through the temptation forest. Encountering nothing but steep hills, jagged edges, and intense heat. I hadn’t even sweated this much in training. We had a few stops along the way, drinking from our canteens and resoaking our tunics. The forest trees hardly did anything to shield us from the humidity and heat that wafted from the sun. This was our fourth stop of the day. Our water was running low, and even with being able to use all the elements, the dry earth and open forest gave us few options for harnessing our water magic. We had to save our energy for the night in case we couldn't find a place to camp and had to light our way down the path with our magic. Conserving energy was already hard enough, walking in the sun beating down on us, draining all our strength and forcing us to consume more water than we wanted to. “Let's walk for another five minutes,

Chapter 12 - Nightmares Apollo’s POV  I decided to take the first watch. I told Imelda that I would switch out after a few hours. But realistically, I won’t wake her. She needs her sleep more than I do. I don’t really sleep anymore. I haven’t for a long time. My brain is always too busy to allow me a moment of rest. I’m constantly thinking of new tactics, new ways to better my training. New ways to protect our people and prevent another war from ever happening. Prevent anyone else I care about from a torturous death.  I took a deep breath as I stared out at the night sky. The world around us was so very different from the one we are used to. The trees are huge and would even tower our own. The trunks are as thick as three of our own trees combined. The terrain was rough and exhausting. Even the sm

Chapter 14 - Dragons Everything happened so fast. From the moment Garren arrived to find us bloodied and a complete wreck to us finally arriving at the border. My mind was pulled in so many directions I didn't recognize where I was, who I was talking to or how I ended up in this room. My mind only focused on one thing, one person, Apollo. He was rushed into a medical facility in Garren’s village. All I knew was that the room I was in felt safe, the fire warm and that they would get me when they had news about Apollo's state of health. I looked down at my blood-covered hands. My hands were still shaking. My body starting to ache as all of the adrenaline disappeared from my system. My heart felt as if it stopped beating, as the sound of a soft knock sounded from the other side of the door. “Come in.” My voice sounded far away as if it wasn’t my own. The wooden door opened slowly as the hinges screeched in protest. An older woman walked in—her dress worn—the white skirt stained with

Chapter 16 - Glamour Balthazar's POV I let out a frustrated yell as I threw the book at the wall. Nothing was working. Nothing was able to locate her. Not even the blood bond was strong enough to give me an exact location. Every time I used a location spell, it would give out multiple points or just send a crystal flying across the room. I was at my breaking point, never had anyone ever been able to evade me this long. Never had anyone been able to hide so blatantly out in the open and have me come up empty-handed every single time. Eventually, someone would slip up, or I would find a loophole. But right now, I had nothing, and it was making me explore every option I was able to get my hands on. It made me think of every possible scenario, think of every spell or trick that could be used to keep her in the shadows. Keep her hidden from me. It had only been two days since she left, but I should have found her by now, and everything I thought of still kept coming up empty. I was compl

Chapter 18 - Caspian The heat and the brightness of the sun woke me. I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep. The last thing I remembered was watching the star twinkle in the night sky. We were no longer in the sky, though. A fur blanket replaced the dragon that was once beneath me. The smell of fire and smoked meat wafted in the forest air. The sound of two male voices caught my attention. Their tones hushed, making it hard to hear what they were discussing. I recognized the one voice as Garren’s, but I didn’t know who the second voice belonged to. I slowly sat up, blinking away the sleep from my eyes. A kettle hung above the flames of the fire. Two sticks were placed on either side of the fire, and, what appeared to be, a rabbit was roasting between them on a metal rod. I looked around for Garren and the other male, but I couldn’t see them anywhere. A thick forest surrounded us, and the memories of what happened on my trek to Ramiro flooded my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut as I trie