In the comfort of dreams, I sank into pleasant memories.

Once again I had the form of a small child, long before this evil had befallen my family. Before the Gatál had destroyed my home. Summer flowers bloomed on the plains of Halden as the lambs bleated for their mothers. Hardly a cloud blemished the pure blue sky.

My giggles filled the air, and Mama smiled at Father while Bragda and I played tag after a family picnic. The warmth and love of family fluttered through the air like the butterflies on the field.

Father stood up and held out his arms to me. "Run, Zelle, run!"

"Go get him!" Bragda called out with a laugh.

At full speed, I raced towards him, knowing he'd never let me fall. After I'd sprung into his strong arms, he spun me round and round. Extending my arms out to my sides, I squealed with the pure joy of being alive.

"Fly, sis, fly!"

The summer sun shone on Father's fiery red hair, turning his skin an even deeper shade of bronze. His hazel eyes twinkled with mischief. "Would you like to go higher?"

"Higher, Papa!"

"You wanna show Bragda you can fly?" he asked me, throwing me into another fit of giggles.

"Yes, Papa! Higher!"

While he continued to spin me, Mama and Bragda vanished. My heart sank into my stomach. The bright, warm sun disappeared behind obsidian clouds swirling in the sky like a witch's brew. Night fell over the land, and I shivered at the encroaching darkness.

"Papa, something's wrong. Put me down."

The beautiful grassy meadows melted into basalt rocks and lava flows. The undulating hills of Halden dissolved into fiery volcanoes vomiting rocks, ash, and dust into the night sky.

My smile vanished, and fear crawled down my spine. "What's happening, Papa?"

Everything was red, dark, and dead. The world twirled faster and faster even though he'd long since set me back down to terra firma.

My eyes widened in fear. "That's too fast, Papa!"

Before my eyes, he slowly morphed into a Fireborn. Papa roared as black horns burst through his skull, and I screamed in fear. His body grew impossibly large until it blocked the entire horizon. Balling his hand into a fist, he pummeled the ground, causing massive earthquakes that split the hills in half.

"No, Papa! No!"

"I can do more than make you fly," he said in a bass roar that almost deafened me.

"Papa, stop!"

With a mirthless smile, he bared his fangs at me. "I can make you Queen."

❄️🔥❄️🔥

Soon I realized why I'd dreamt that the world was spinning. I hardly made it to the lavatory before I vomited bile for the fifth time that night. Long after I had nothing left in my system, I kept retching until the tears streamed down my face.

"Oh, gods!"

"Liselle?" A deep voice called out to me from the other side of the door. "Should I call for a Healer?"

When I retched in reply, he ran into the room, cupping my forehead in his snakeskin palm. His cool touch soothed my feverish forehead like a damp cloth in the middle of summer.

In a vague corner of my addled mind, I registered that it was Peter. My stomach churned in protest.

"Go!" I gave him a weak, half-hearted push, but he didn't budge. "Don't look at me like this!"

"Shh, let me help."

Another retching fit overtook me, and Peter patted my back, murmuring a soothing chant. His spell began to ease the burning sensation and the tremors until my nausea gradually faded.

"That's it," he cooed as he patted my back.

Stumbling towards the sink, I splashed cold water on my face and rinsed my mouth. A sudden wave of tiredness swept over me, and I leaned against the basin for support.

"Would you like to go back to bed?"

I nodded, and Peter wrapped his arm around me as I lurched towards the bedroom. After he'd tucked me in under the covers, he propped me up against the pillows.

Placing his cool palm against my forehead, he offered me a sip of water. "Here, take this," he said. "You need more fluids to fight the effects of the drugs."

I drank the water until my stomach began to complain. As I struggled to catch my breath, Peter sat on the bed beside me, holding my hand.

"Why did you want to do the procedure yourself?" I asked in a raspy voice.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You think me cruel, is that it?"

"No, I just don't understand."

"These drugs affect your body, mind, and soul," he replied with a sigh. "I cannot preserve your body, but I'm the only one in this entire complex who can preserve your soul."

My eyes widened. "How?"

"I'm an eighty-thousand-year-old Wizard and Healer. Of course I can shield you." He curled his lip. "I healed the fragmented bits of your soul and hid them away inside me."

"What?"

When I gave him a stunned look, he held up his palms in submission. "It was the only way to protect you, but now it's time to return your life essence to you. Please open your mouth."

"My mouth?"

He nodded.

With a slight blush, I did as he asked. When he mirrored the gesture, he breathed out a tiny glimmer of light, which hovered in the air before it floated towards my body.

As it entered my mouth, the fragment itched like a tiny bolt of lightning. The tingly sensation traveled down my throat and lungs before it raced through my bloodstream. My Risan receptors pulsed back to life like a heartbeat in my palms and neck.

As if by magic, I felt more alive. More whole.

My throat clenched. "That part of me would have died if you hadn't been there?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Peter."

He squeezed my hand, and I shuddered at the unusual touch of his skin, smooth like velvet and shiny like polished silver. "It takes a bit of getting used to, doesn't it?" he said with a smile, running his thumb across his fingers on the other hand.

I nodded. "But I like it."

If I didn't know better, I'd think he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I meant no insult to Marcus, you know." He traced tiny circles on my palm. "Forgive me if I seemed callous at first, but I couldn't risk your father catching on to my plan."

"I hate Father," I muttered as I turned my head away. "He didn't even let me see Bragda."

"He began the procedure immediately because the lack of natural energy has killed some Risa."

"Father could have given me five minutes to see her!" I said. "What if I didn't survive the first batch of drugs? Doesn't he care?"

"Of course he does."

"Have you seen Bragda?" I asked with a slight hint of panic. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's healing, but she's still unconscious in the urgent care facility," he replied. "I don't think the doctors are allowing any visitors. That's probably why your father didn't want to wait."

"He still could have told me."

Peter gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Your father was wrong to withhold information from you, but I still think he has your best--"

"You think?" I asked in an angry murmur. "Why didn't he say anything about severing my connections to nature? How could he corner me like that without telling me all the facts?"

It's my fault. I shouldn't have trusted him, and now my friends will pay the price.

"None of us knew all the effects of the procedure at first." He gave me an intense look. "When I asked you to join us, we thought the Risan tie to nature fueled the Fireborn's power. We had no idea the procedure stripped them of their ties to the Tree of Life."

"Are your connections safe at least?"

"So far, yes." His expression turned thoughtful and distant. "Though there is no way of knowing what long-term repercussions it could have."

"I still think Father is a cruel, evil man."

"Your father wants to protect Minningen."

"Bullshit! He keeps saying that," I said with a scoff, "but he keeps hurting everyone around him. He's hurt me worse than the Gatál or the Shadow Riders ever have."

Peter gave an involuntary grimace.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." I trailed my hand down his arm, and he shuddered. "Your loss devastated me, truly. But he's my father. I trusted him with my life, and he..."

My throat clenched, and I couldn't speak.

Peter took a deep breath. "I knew Gregory Alta before he morphed. He was one of the cleverest men I'd ever met. He wanted to protect his family from cruel men who know no mercy."

"That man is long gone," I hissed. "He abandoned us for his work. For more power."

"After Halden fell to the Gatál, he was never the same." Peter sucked a deep breath through his teeth. "He lost himself to his work. He lost his soul and emotions to the darkness."

"Will that happen to me?" My heart sank into my stomach. "For the first time in days, I'm not having visions. I'm having nightmares. Am I losing my powers already?"

"That's what I'm trying to prevent, Liselle."