Hyran, Rex, Fin, and Aeron finally stumbled out of the nightmare tunnel—singed, panting, clothes ripped, and all four looking like they'd survived fourteen separate exorcisms.
The second Fin saw Nova hiccuping, eyes red, his heart cracked clean open. He crossed the distance without thinking and pulled her into his arms. He surged calm and love through the matebond and kissed her forehead.
He was just as relieved to be out of that place and understood her state completely. His relief bled straight into her.
Rex stepped closer, eyes softening with genuine worry.
"You alright there, Nova?"
Nova didn't trust herself to speak yet.
"She's okay," Jax answered for her. "Just… emotionally recovering from the part where the walls tried to kidnap her into a murder scrapbook."
"Didn't cry on me at all. Not even a little," he added.
Nova laughed, shaking her head.
Hyran braced his hands on his knees.
"Let it be known," he wheezed, "that if anyone ever asks us to walk through that tunnel again, I'm faking my own death."
Aeron nodded, hair wild, face pale. "That tunnel can get absolutely fucked."
Rex glared ahead, jaw tight.
"I just saw a wolf get eaten by its own spine. I'm fine. Truly. Perfectly fine."
Hyran groaned as they stepped out of the cavern and onto the mountain slope. Lava geysers roared in the distance, streams of molten fire hissing down the rock. Steam shot into the sky like volcanic dragon breath.
Aeron stared at the horizon.
"Oh perfect. Lava. My favorite. You know, I was really missing the vines, hallucinations, and undead wolves with backwards heads."
Hyran threw his hands up.
"Excellent. Another scenic death trap. Lovely vacation. Ten out of ten."
"Next tunnel we follow Nova into?" Aeron said, crossing his arms. "Not happening. End of discussion."
But Nova was already stepping forward, her eyes flickering silver as she whispered in Draken-Vorah.
The mountain trembled.
A glowing archway of stone rose out of the cliffside, runes swirling like fire and frost intertwined. A new tunnel revealed itself—wide, ancient, and humming with magic.
Hyran groaned louder.
"Oh come on."
Aeron looked betrayed by the universe.
"No. Nope. I'm staying right—dammit, Nova, don't walk into it—"
Her eyes flashed silver, in a trance and she stepped into the tunnel. Fin did not let go of her hand.
And without a single ounce of self-respect, both Hyran and Aeron followed her immediately, arguing as they went.
"I swear I'm not doing this again," Aeron grumbled.
"Then stop walking," Hyran snapped.
"You stop walking!"
"You first!"
Jax and Rex followed with matching smirks.
The tunnel opened into an inclined slope—more like a tilted death slide—and they climbed out the other side of the mountain, pressing upward into the volcano's throat. The air grew hotter—thicker—like breathing through boiling cloth. The stone path narrowed into a knife-edge trail hugging the mountain wall, jagged cliffs rising on their left and an endless river of molten orange churning on their right.
It started with a hiss.
Low. Sharp. Venomous.
Nova froze mid-step, her eyes flickered back to green. Her hand tightened on Fin's.
The lava below them moved.
A ripple.
Then a swell.
Then the molten surface domed upward, glowing, expanding. A massive serpent of liquid fire rose out of the pit like a god dragging itself from the underworld.
Its body dripped flames in slow-moving sheets.
Its mouth glowed white-hot, heat warping the air around it.
Its eyes snapped open—two burning coals, locked on them.
"Lava—serpent—" Aeron breathed.
He didn't get to finish.
Another one erupted behind him, spiraling upward around a jagged spire. The stone screamed as it melted beneath the coils.
A third exploded out of the lava river farther down the path.
Then a fourth.
Then a fifth.
The lava wasn't a lake anymore. It was alive—writhing, boiling, serpents rising from its depths. A whole nest. A legion. A living inferno.
Hyran's voice went into a register that had never been used before:
"NO THANK YOU!"
Aeron backed up so quickly he nearly fell off the trail.
"WHY—WHY IS EVERYTHING DOWN HERE SENTIENT?!"
Rex drew his sword, sweat evaporating off his skin before it could fall.
"Positions!"
Jax's shield went up—immediately blistering under the serpents' heat.
"Nova—tell me you've read something useful about this!"
Nova swallowed, speaking for the first time.
"I think…" she whispered, staring at the serpents with something like dawning horror, "I think they respond to vibration."
Hyran choked.
"Great. We're on a narrow ledge. On a mountain. ABOVE A VOLCANO. That vibrates when we breathe!"
A serpent lunged, jaws wide.
Jax's shield cracked.
Rex slashed, molten rock splattering—
—and the serpent didn't die. Its body simply re-formed, the molten pieces dragging themselves back into shape.
"Oh that's unfair," Aeron muttered.
Another serpent struck, forcing them farther along the narrow trail.
Fin didn't ask questions or think.
He yelled, "MOVE!"
A serpent lunged.
Not glided, not struck—launched, like a catapult shot of molten death.
Its jaws snapped shut where Nova had been standing a heartbeat earlier.
Fin yanked her hard, pulling her against the cliff wall harder than he meant to. The serpent's molten teeth clashed together inches from her face. Heat scorched her cheek. The stone where she'd been standing liquefied.
"Stay with me!" Fin shouted, voice raw.
A second serpent rose behind them, its body arcing overhead like a flaming bridge. Lava dripped from its coils, eating through the stone walkway.
"RUN!" Fin barked, voice carrying that alpha-command that shook the air.
They sprinted.
The trail was barely wider than a table edge. Loose gravel skidded beneath their boots, tumbling into the molten river below. Every breath felt like inhaling fire.
Another serpent shot upward. Its head exploded out of the lava like a geyser. Rex grabbed Aeron by the back of his armor, yanking him out of its path.
Hyran was yelling spells—half of them useless, half of them panicked.
"NOPE—NOPE—I CAN'T FREEZE LAVA—WHY WOULD ANYONE BE ABLE TO FREEZE LAVA—"
A serpent tail whipped across the path. Fin saw it before Nova did.
"LEFT!"
He tackled her, rolling them just under the swinging molten tail as it obliterated the ledge where she'd been. The stone vaporized.
Nova gasped.
"I've got you," he gritted out, helping her to her feet before the next serpent crashed down where they'd fallen.
Rex glanced back. "It's gaining!"
That was generous. It was on them, fire spilling from its mouth like liquid sunlight.
Nova's senses went sharp, almost painfully so. Every inhale tasted like metal and heat. Her legs burned from sprinting. Sweat evaporated before it could fall.
Another serpent surged ahead of them—cutting off the trail entirely.
They skidded to a stop.
Jax threw up a shield.
Rex grabbed Nova's arm.
Aeron muttered something that sounded like a long, articulate prayer to every god he'd ever heard of.
Hyran just said, "Wonderful."
The serpent reared back.
Nova's eyes flashed silver.
She stepped in front of the group.
"NOVA—" Jax tried to grab her—
Too late.
The serpent struck—But its head hit something invisible.
Ancient runes beneath the cracked stone suddenly blazed to life—golden, bright, pulsing.
A shockwave rippled outward, knocking molten fire back into the pit.
The serpent recoiled with a shriek that rattled the mountain itself.
"Did you just—activate—whatever that was?" Aeron asked, breathless.
Nova stared at the glowing runes beneath her feet.
"I—I think it recognized me."
"Excellent," Hyran wheezed. "Can it recognize that we're being roasted alive?"
More serpents surged, hissing.
Nova lifted her hand.
Her voice slipped into Draken-Vorah—low, ancient, resonant.
"Vharis thren. Ael'korai ven drath."
The runes exploded with brilliance.
The stone wall beside them split, cracking down the middle. A cavern yawned open, waves of cool air rushing out.
"Move!" Rex commanded.
They dove inside just as a serpent slammed against the closing stone, lava spraying across the mountainside.
The cavern sealed shut with a thunderous BOOM, the runes dimming to their original faint glow.
Silence.
Blessed, freezing, shadowed silence.
Fin pulled Nova back against his chest, both breathing hard.
Her eyes shimmered silver, then settled back to green.
A soft hum echoed through the cavern.
They turned.
At the far end of the chamber, mounted into the obsidian wall, a circular frame of runes began to ignite—one by one—until a vortex shimmered to life.
A portal.
Ancient and alive.
Aeron exhaled, staring at it.
"Well… that's either salvation," he said, "or a brand new brand of nightmare."
Hyran lifted a hand. "I vote salvation. Please. I am begging the universe—just one normal portal today."
Nova stepped toward the ancient archway, spine straightening as if some deep instinct inside her recognized the threshold before her mind did.
The doorway was carved into the volcanic stone itself—tall, triangular, etched with spiraling Draken-Vorah sigils that glowed faintly like dying embers.
As she approached, the runes snapped awake.
Rex muttered, "That looks like it wants to eat us."
It wasn't wrong.
The archway thrummed—low, resonant, ancient—and a wave of energy swept outward, brushing over their skin like a cold exhale. Nova's eyes flashed silver in response. She stepped right into the center of the sigils, lifted her chin, and spoke in perfect, melodic Draken-Vorah.
A line of white-blue light ignited across the arch, then another, forming interlocking patterns that pulsed in sharp recognition.
Hyran inhaled sharply the moment she finished.
"The inscription states that only Dragon Incarnates may pass—those carrying the Drakenfire or Drakenice rings. The rest will be… denied entry. Violently."
Aeron exhaled in relief and exhaustion.
"Then that's us done. Hyran—portal home?"
"Yes," Hyran said, voice quieter than usual. "We will return. You three continue. The script says this is the final ascent."
Fin looked like he wanted to murder someone.
"I'm not letting her go without me."
"I don't know if it will let you cross." Nova said truthfully.
"Then it can try to stop me." Fin said back, kissing the crown of her head.
No one argued. Not today. Not after everything they'd survived.
Aeron didn't even try to joke. He placed a hand on Nova's shoulder, squeezed once, and whispered, "Don't die in there."
Then he and Hyran stepped back as the runes dimmed to allow space.
"Nova… you and I got Drakenice rings earlier." Jax said.
Nova blinked and looked down at her hands, nodding. She realized she was most likely in a trance when that happened. Aeron didn't bother saying it.
Nova slid the Drakenice ring from her finger and placed it into Fin's hand.
It wouldn't have fit him anyway.
He closed his fingers around it without hesitation.
"You can enter with me," Nova said, calm and certain. "I'll shield us if it fights you."
The archway flared again.
A vertical ripple of silver-white light shimmered across the opening, like a living curtain pulled taut. The air hummed, thick with recognition, reacting to the presence of three rings in the space.
Rex went first.
As he crossed the threshold, his Drakenfire ring lit up in a blaze of gold and red, flaring like a tiny sun. The portal slammed energy against his chest like a test—judging him—then parted, allowing him through with a thunderous crack.
Next was Jax. His Drakenice ring flashed white-blue, frost racing up his forearm before dissolving into his skin. For one terrifying moment the portal resisted, pressing against him like a hand trying to shove him out, but then it recognized him.
Accepted him.
Swallowed him inside.
Nova stepped toward the rippling light with Fin. Her rings glowed—not with the fiery pulse of Jax's or the icy snap of Rex's—but with a strange, luminous gold-white, like molten dawn.
The portal reacted instantly. The entire arch surged with power. Runes flared violently, brighter than before, the energy slamming into her like a gust meant to knock her off her feet.
For a second, it seemed the doorway wasn't sure what she was. Then it flared white, as if recognizing her. Her back was pressed to Fin's chest and it seemed to be measuring him now.
Pain tore through him like lightning through bone—sharp, blinding, absolute. It slammed into his chest and spine, driving the air from his lungs.
Not rejecting him.
Testing him.
The force spiked again, harder, as if demanding a reason. He kept composed, not reacting to the pain.
On instinct, Nova's silver magic flared, steady and fierce, wrapping around him like a shield and an answer all at once.
The pressure shifted, turning on Nova. Fin felt her pain through their matebond. But she didn't show it either. He kept his arms around her.
Her eyes flashed silver again, as if pushing back on the test. The pain stopped for her and shifted back to Fin.
The portal pulled them inward, the magic shifting shape. Nova stepped through with Fin behind her.
As soon as they were on the other side, Fin bent slightly panting, as the last shockwaves of pain faded.
Nova watched him with concern.
"I'm good," he said, exhaling hard. "I've had worse negotiations."
He straightened slowly, breath still rough, but his eyes were clear.
"Ah yes. I distinctly remember you saying that after a negotiation—while we were running and everything behind us was on fire." Jax said clapping him on the back.
Fin shot him a murderous look.
"That's called a tactical exit. You were screaming too loud to notice."
"I'd like it noted I was screaming because you were smiling." Jax answered.
Nova laughed before she could stop herself.