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 11 - Rage Balthazar POV Something felt off—the need to go to Imelda becoming unbearable. I never anticipated something like this to be so strong. I am an original being. Some might say a god of chaos and torture. I am supposed to be immune to the feeling, but somehow. In some bizarre twist of fate, the mate bond has attached itself to me. It’s like a rope wrapped around my heart, tugging me toward her. I have always been someone who has been in control. Been the one who had the upper hand in all situations. Only once did I hesitate, let my arrogance convince me I couldn’t be overruled. But never again would I let someone fool me, gain the upper hand. But this, this is unfamiliar territory. Someone now has control, and I am the one who gave it to them willingly. I had seen two futures for the world, my world, the underworld going topside. A world full of destruction, death, and copious amounts of bloodshed. A world of nightmares perfect for the king of mayhem. It was someth
Chapter 12 - NightmaresApollo’s POVI 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 13 - Illusions The sun broke the night sky, and mixes of oranges and purples swirled above us. Apollo and I stood outside all night. Neither one of us is speaking. The only sound was Apollo humming the same tune over and over, as much as one would think it to be an annoyance. It wasn’t. It still kept me calm time and time again. The cold air was welcomed and also needed. It reminded me that the nightmare wasn’t real. My mother was still alive, and the fire wasn’t consuming everything in its path, making the air hot and sticky. We ate our breakfast in silence too. Nothing about it, surprisingly, was awkward. Finally, we started packing up to begin our last trek through the Temptation forest. This part of the forest was the last stretch of land we had to cross before we were in the dragon's territory. But it was also the most dangerous. Even with the hot sun beating down on us, the path would be darkened by the thick branches. The creatures of the forest depended on that. They
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 15 - Ryuu The village was anything but small. It was almost as huge as Gardenia. And that was the capital of the Fae realm. It held thousands of Fae and Lycan families. Even some other species decided to settle in the Fae realm. It was the median between all realms—neutral ground for travellers and merchants alike, a safe space. “This place is huge,” I muttered in amazement as my eyes continued to look at building after building. Houses were built into the cliff sides—intricate layouts of stairways leading up the mountainside. The peaks of the mountains were practically invisible as they reached well up into the sky, surrounded by copious amounts of clouds. The sounds of distant roars and people shouting and talking could be heard all the way from where we were standing. It was breathtaking and not what I expected at all. After the two days, it took to trek through rough terrain. Nothing but jagged rocks and dirt until we reached the forest, I would have never imagined a bea
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 17 - Delusions “You mean to tell me that a deity decided to come and warn me of my future? Yeah, right, I’m not important enough to earn a visit from someone like her.” I scoffed, shaking my head. “Besides, aren’t they suppose to be all young and beautiful and only visit you in your dreams or something? The woman I talked to was old and claimed to be a fortune teller.” Garren let out a booming laugh that made the whole room shake. “She came to you as an old hag. That’s rich. I have heard stories of her visits, but that is a new one. She appears as someone who would be approachable to the targeted individual. Guess she figured old and crazy would suit you.” His voice was full of amusement. I turned to see Apollo trying his best to conceal a smirk as well. “Are we just going to make fun of me or actually try to track her down?” I asked sharply. Garren cleared his throat. “Right, so now that I know who we're after, there will be a few things we need to do to catch her trail.”
Epilogue Three weeks later Damon The pressure of the crown was building as Alora and I settled into our new roles. My father was no longer here to keep the council at bay with their demands. But despite it all, I had found that I enjoyed this new life I had been given. The new responsibilities allowed me even more control over the Kingdom than the Captain of the guards ever could. All be it; I did miss the battle prep and daily training. But I still found holes in my busy schedule to take Alora out to the training fields at least once a week. I knew that eventually, our routine would become steady, and we would have more time to relax, but new rulers came with change and to have change, you needed to vote on old and new laws to pass. Alora and I had already made some big changes, like incorporating technology from the human realm into our daily lives to allow us easier communication with other realms. But there were still a lot of issues with the old ways of running our Kingdom
Chapter 49 - To Love and Cherish ErikPeace was something that was talked about constantly. During wars, it was what we fought for. While ruling a Kingdom, it was what we strived to maintain. But I had never truly known peace until now. The thought of finally being ridden of this pain inside of me, knowing that soon I would be with my love once again, was freeing. The final night with my family started out slow, but it eventually picked up and ran right into the night. There was laughter and tears exchanged around the table as we shared stories of my past and everyone got a chance to say goodbye, getting the closer they needed.And as everyone turned in for the night, I found myself alone again; unable to sleep, I found myself outside. I stayed up looking out at the stars waiting for the sun to rise. I closed my eyes, letting the warm breeze brush across my skin, engraving it into my mind. "So you really are going to spend your last moments alive, sitting in a field of flowers like
Chapter 48 - GoodbyesErikI watched as the sun set beyond the forest, the oranges and pinks of the sky blending together as the sun bid it farewell. It had been a long time since I had nothing to do, no responsibilities with the crown or of the guards. I thought it might help me move on from the hell that the last year had been without Athena, but now I realize that was a stupid notion. It was lonely, and the weight of losing my mate weighed heavier on my heart now than it did while I still ruled.I kept as busy as a retired King could, helping Damon when he needed to seek council or helping Apollo if he needed a hand with training recruits, but I knew that they both didn't really need my help. They just didn't want me to feel left out. Apollo was a natural at his role, and so was Damon. Despite what Damon said when he first discovered he would be the next in line to inherit the throne. He took to it as a bird took to the sky. He was a born leader and shined when he was in control o
Chapter 47 - Home Alora It had been a month since I had been crowned Queen of Gardenia, the days seeming to slip away as the kingdom welcomed the summer solstice and our ruling.I was busy learning my new role, Damon's father and Grandfather helping ease us both into the important roles we both now held. However, it was easier having Helga by my side. I was happy to have her as my royal advisor, and Rachel had said she was a natural already. I knew she would be, though; she always loved to take control and never gave up the opportunity to tell someone off. It was also working in my favour because Lord folic was so busy fighting with her that he always missed out on voting for new laws or changes to existing rulings. Damon loved it, and it made the council meetings less gruelling. It was absurd how many times we had to have a council meeting. At least once a day, and most of the things brought up were trivial problems. By the end of the day, I was just happy to get some alone time
Chapter 46 - The CrownDamon It felt like an eternity had passed as I waited in the royal chambers with my father. It felt even longer when we exchanged goodbyes at the throne room, and I waited at the dais while he sat on his throne. Melody stood in front of my father, a smile stretched across her face, glowing brightly. The room was full of people, some from the council, others from royal families, friends, family, and people from our Kingdom. All watching and waiting for the ceremony to begin.I was in a black royal jacket that was made with silver threading, and our family crest stitched into my left breast pocket. The wolves were placed proudly amongst the roses and the sword that separated them as they howled at the moon. My silver crown was placed on my head, but that would be changed once mine and Alora's vows were complete and only after the mothers accepted us as the new King and Queen to signal the dawn of a new era. Drake stood to the right of me, his mate, my mother's
Chapter 45 - Long Live The Queen Damon "Again," I commanded as Alora worked to keep the wings she had summoned to remain on her back. She had learned quickly how to handle the phoenix flames since she had already worked with the fire element. But now came the hard part, only half shifting. I did it all the time, especially in battle, morphing my nails into claws and elongating my canines. But nothing about that was easy; it came with time and practice, but Alora wanted to have it mastered. With the coronation and our mate ceremony happening tomorrow, she wanted to be better at it. Not only to prove to the council and our people that she was a worthy Queen but also to herself. I didn't want to be the one to tell her to slow down, not after she had spent so much of her life ruled under someone else thumb. But I had warned her of the risks of exhaustion and told her that when I saw fit, we would end the training for the evening.Alora begrudgingly accepted my condition, and I kept tr
Chapter 44 - Worship AloraI flipped through the pages of the phoenix book the jinx family had kept for generations. There was so much to process, like what abilities I now possessed because of what I was. It made my head hurt; there was so much to learn, so much to figure out. I was now different than normal fae; I was now a shifter. But, unlike most shifting fae, my order didn't communicate with me. Instead, it was a part of me; we were one and the same. I would still live an immortal life, only having one enemy that could stop me from ever being reborn, permanently ending my life. A Basilisk. A venous snake shifter that, like me, was rare, most believed them to be extinct. But now that I existed, one would be born, if not already—the universe now having to find balance in all forms. It was mindblowing the things I had already read about. For example, I could enchant items with my flames, similar to everlasting fire. But unlike everlasting fire, I couldn't break wards or spells w
Chapter 43 - WarningDamonI sat at the dais, my legs hanging over the edge as I waited for Cedric to arrive with the artifacts Alora and I asked for. Balor was right when he said the Jinx family would bargain for their priceless information. The smug look on their faces was wiped away and replaced with wide gaping mouths as they stared at the amulet in shock.Diana had muttered a curse under her breath. One I was sure she wanted me to hear because she said it so close to me. But I bit my tongue as I handed over the amulet, not wanting to risk them being stingy with their end of the deal.Alora was waiting in the Library, looking over whatever other books Audra had found for her. Now that Alora had her dream magic again, she was more determined than ever to find out what else she was capable of doing. I couldn't help but admire her for her devotion and eagerness. I was still reeling in from the mind-blowing realization that not only was Alora a rare Pheonix shifter, but she was also
Chapter 42 - Full CircleAloraIt's funny how even after you have overcome your deepest fears that they can still creep up on you. That was how it felt right now, anyways, as we arrived at the Dream realm. It was a ghost town, everyone seeming to either vanish with my mother's magic or flee as soon as they were freed from their promise to her. The streets were quiet, the ports empty, and the palace looked haunted. The golden paint was already losing its shine and fading with the faded magic. The windows were dark and unwelcoming as we approached the not-so-gilded gate. It was now that I felt the fear of my mother creep up on me. The well of my fears bubbled in the pit of my stomach. For decades I walked through these gates and made my way to my mother's throne room to report my findings and give her the things she requested I steal. The motions all felt so familiar, but with Damon by my side, they also felt different. I knew he could sense my hesitation as we approached the giant w