‘Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.’ -John F. Kennedy
~Six Years Later
Ember
I was outside sitting in a chair in the sunlight enjoying the heat of the day after a long winter with everyone stuck inside. This past winter had been harsh so it kept most of us inside while it snowed. There were even several blizzards this past season, making us wish for sunny skies. All winter the kids were working hard to drive Killian and me crazy. If we had to stay inside another day, I think we would go crazy with the three rambunctious hellions.
As I sat out in the fresh air, I closed my eyes to bask in the feel of the sun after reading my most curren
‘There is no way to peace, peace is the way.’ -unknown ~Sixteen Years Later Ember We have had peace throughout the land for more than two decades now. Our communities were thriving and the populations were growing once more. It was amazing to see the sorcerers come out of hiding and rebuild one of their grand cities. Their population was still small, but it was better than them being completely gone. To think that someone could wipe out a species from existence just because of their hate was sickening. I visited Elding Gala once over the past twenty years, just to see if anyone was living there. It was completely deserted and overgrown with vegetation. The wild was taking bac
Prologue In a world filled with war and violence, there is still love and friendship to be found around any corner. Werewolves find their mates after they turn eighteen and then go through the process of claiming them with a bite. Vampires have beloveds that they find throughout the centuries of walking the earth and turn their love into one of them to spend eternity with. In a way, it sounds romantic yet problematic. Who wants to live for eternity? Sorcerers have Amores that they find at the height of their magical abilities, but it's long been rumored that Soren, the rogue King, killed them all years ago. Witches and elementals have soulmates that they find after they turn eighteen. They bind their bond with their partner through blood magic and a ring. All of these supernatural beings have one thing in common. They protect their loved ones at all costs. So what will the cost be of our adventure? How many must we lose to get to the end? 'To win any battle, you m
‘We meet the people we’re supposed to when the time is right.’ -Alyson Noel Ember Watching my soulmate shift so he could talk with me was eye-opening. It had been a really long time since I had watched a wolf shift up close. It sounded like it hurt to have all those bones break just to let a being out or put it back inside. Why would they go through that every time in order to fight? His body was very muscular and he looked like he took care of himself even though he had scars all over his body from battles. This told me that he had been a warrior for a while. I did get a good view of him before he pulled his pants back on. I’m not sure if he was always that modest or if he was just trying to be modest in front of me and the others. From what I know of w
‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here.’ -William ShakspeareKing SorenElding Gala is the city and castle that I built at the beginning of my rebellion. The whole city and the whole castle were made of large slabs of dark gray stone that my closest witches had moved into place for me with their magic. All over the castle, there were hundreds of large stained glass windows that let in a large amount of light during the day. We had a large wooden drawbridge that led into the city as the only way in, but there were several secret ways to get out.The city was split into three different sections to keep the different factions separate so fights among them would be low. To the east were the vampires, the center of the city was for the witches and
'Every woman is a queen, and we all have different things to offer.' -Queen LatifahEmberI considered myself lucky that I had found Killian. So many of us now can't find our other half because of the war. They were either on the other side of the battlefield or already dead. More and more, we were having to find lovers that we claimed as ours instead of our true soulmates. I knew a few of the coven members that had done this. When they claimed their lover as their soulmate, it broke the ties to their true mate if they were still alive. It only happened to one person that I know.It was now after lunch and I needed to go talk with Amarantha again. I walked to her office and knocked on the closed wooden door. I waited to hear her voice
‘Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.’ -Penelope LivelyKillianI woke up early the next day and dressed quickly, pulling on my pants, shirt and boots before securing my sword to my waist. I walked through the packhouse in search of breakfast to start my day.I lived on the third floor of the large brick building that made up our packhouse while Reginald and my Gamma, Wren, lived on the second floor. The first floor held a few rooms but mostly consisted of a large dining hall, kitchen and offices. It was the center of our pack village.The rest of the pack members lived in their own houses throughout th
‘You need a little bit of insanity to do great things.’ -Henry RollinsSandyIt was a new morning and things were going splendidly crazy. I pulled on my usual bright colored clothes and put Legs, my tarantula, on my shoulder so he could spend the day with me. I had breakfast with everyone in the dining hall before we split up to go do our own things.I knew Ember was headed to go meet with Killian in the woods. She told me the things that she had learned about him and the things that she had learned about her father's family because of him. It was good to see her light up about something new.River was headed to go do Goddess only knows what. The guy acted as if he
'Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it sure makes the rest of you lonely.' -Charles M ShultzEmberI spent the next two days in a state of limbo as I got ready to tell Killian that I was ready to leave the coven with him. I made sure that Melody, River and Sandy knew what they needed to do and they jumped into the routine quickly. They took the safety of the coven seriously and River was trying to get one of the chaos witches to be his friend so he could learn if there were any secrets there.I could tell that it made Sandy jealous and she was squirming on the inside at the thought of him finding someone in the chaos witches he liked. I thought it was funny that Sandy and River thought that their little relationship was still a secret. Melody and