The air still crackled with the remnants of fire, the scent of scorched earth thick in my lungs. My pulse hammered, but my instincts screamed that this wasn’t over.
Lena wiped blood from her lip, her silver-lit eyes sharp as they met mine. “We need to move.”
I exhaled, forcing the fire inside me to settle. “They’ll come back.”
“Of course they will.” She scanned the trees, her body tense. “But now they know what you can do.”
And that meant they’d come prepared next time.
I clenched my fists. My fire had hurt them—it had burned through the golden veins that made them nearly indestructible. That meant something.
The Wardens weren’t as invincible as the legends claimed.
Lena started moving, but I didn’t follow immediately. My gaze lingered on the darkness where they’d disappeared.
The
