Page 99 of The First Scar
I studied the scarring around his dragon's eyes. Representing the price he'd paid for the power he wielded.
"Your lie is kinder than mine was." Almost gentle now. "Don't carry it forever."
Emotion surged—hot, unexpected, too wild to be contained. I lifted my finger. Touched the ragged edge of his scar with trembling fingers.
"We forge in the same fire," I murmured.
For a long moment, Dreadscale didn't move. Didn't push my hand away. The gesture hung between us—a bridge between master and apprentice.
Then he stood. Extended his arm to pull me to my feet.
"Thirty by Codex day."
I met his gaze. Pain-bright eyes mirroring mine.
"And fifty to heal the veil."
I jolted awake to the sensation of someone shaking my shoulder.
My hand found the blade stashed under my pillow before my eyes found anything else. Then Brannick's grin swam into focus. Wide. Blindingly cheerful. A smile that had no business existing at whatever ungodly hour this was. One day that grin was going to get him killed. Probably by me.
"Amaria." He was practically bouncing on his heels. "Kaelen's gathering everyone for the Veil-Masque."
He didn't wait for me to answer. Just tugged at my wrist with the contagious excitement of a child who'd been promised sweets.
I got upright and my left hip locked. My knees popped loud enough that Brannick winced. The wool blanket had creased a welt into my cheek and my training clothes had fused to my skin with dried sweat—I peeled the collar off my neck and it left a rough stripe.
But Brannick was already halfway down the passage, and the stronghold sounded different tonight. Voices layered over each other, pitched high and loose. Laughter—loud and bright. Music threaded underneath it, drums and a frantic lute, the bass vibrating through the soles of my bare feet.
I shoved my boots on and followed him.
Chapter 22
AMARIA
They'd transformed the cavern.
Someone had scattered dried herbs across the floor—crushed sage and wild jasmine— so every footstep released a bruise of scent into the air. The long table had been shoved against the far wall and draped in fabric I'd never seen down here, deep indigo, probably stolen. Lanterns hung from the ceiling on wire, wrapped in two layers of silk—black on the outside, silver within— and the light they threw was soft and strange. Moon-bright. It turned the familiar rough walls into a fever dream.
Wine had already been opened. I could smell it cutting through the sage—spiced berry-dark, the one that always stained your teeth. Bodies packed the space shoulder to shoulder, radiating warmth that the cavern had never held on its own.
Kaelen raised one elegant hand, and the cavern hushed.
"Tonight, we celebrate a victory." His voice rang clear, controlled and booming with pride. "In two days, Amaria has achieved ten full heartbeats of fusion—a feat we weren't sure was even possible. She carries both keys. She is mastering a power no one has wielded before. Because of her strength, the Codex is nearly within reach."
A ripple of excitement whispered through the gathered rebels, eyes bright, bodies shifting in anticipation.
"To be fair, 'a power no one has wielded before' cuts both ways. She's also just the first person who couldfailat this particular thing," Maxx said.
Serenya elbowed him. He didn't even budge.
"What? I'm saying it's not a high bar when you're the only one who can reach it."
"That's not the compliment you think it is," I muttered back.
"It's absolutely a compliment. You're historically adequate, Flameheart. Embrace it."
Kaelen continued as if he hadn't heard—or was choosing to ignore—the commentary from the back.
