After Sephora's 'grand explosion of fiery temper', as Ambrose liked to put it, the Emissary and the rest of the guests shortly left - saying they would be reporting everything that had occurred, to Lord Rhonan and that word of his decision would follow shortly. Sephora still felt guilty for ruining things between Ambrose and the Governor, but Ambrose seemed completely fine about everything."But I might have have just ruined your chances at an alliance? How can you be ok with that?" Sephora turned and asked her mate. Just as the doors of the throne room, slammed shut behind the exiting entourage of Lord Rhonan's Emissaries and Ambassadors.Ambrose glanced down at her with a delighted smile and he let out a little chuckle, turning toward the great obsidian throne, "Oh, they'll get over it, and I know Rhonan - if anything he'd have wished he could have been here to witness the whole thing." Sephora raised her brows, Ambrose smiled at her again, as he sat on his throne and rested his hea
She knew Samhain was approaching once again, and she could only pray that none of her family would be picked, that she wouldn't wake up to see her brother standing before her throne. Life as an Ardanam wasn't all that terrible, but it was not a life she wanted for her brother. No matter how long Sephora would live, she would always feel different, she will always live her new life, knowing that she was once a human. That small part of her was still there, that human side of her hadn't been entirely destroyed within the Veil. It was probably the reason the Veil hadn't given her Ardanam immortality - because under everything, she had fought to keep that one part of her human. And it was that part of her, that wouldn't allow Vince to destroy the veil-stones, that would give everything she had and would fight with all her might, to ensure the same thing didn't happen to her family.Dressed in her favourite leather armour, Sephora jumped into the fighting pit and landed with a smooth roll,
Sephora changed into a special black dress that she had chosen specifically for visiting the families of the fallen. It's strapless design was comfortable and free-flowing. The black glittering skirts encrusted with beads and embroidered flowers, made the dress look cheerful enough - compared to the dark colours. What Sephora liked the most about it, was the subtle black ombre merging into grey along the bottom third of the skirts, making it look like she had been walking through ashes.She only hoped the families would appreciate her acknowledgment of their loss, and her utmost sympathy and understanding of their situation. Losing a family member... Sephora was still getting used to the idea that she would never see her own family again. Sephora tied her long auburn hair into a quick plait, and went down to meet Ambrose, who was waiting for her down in the court yard.Her mate was also dressed in black. A black shirt under a black suit, formal and yet brutally simple. But then again
Sephora couldn't have been more amazed at the reactions they got, and by the time they had visited all the families - it was safe to say that Sephora was utterly exhausted. Ambrose noticed."You should get changed out of that heavy thing, and have a rest - you've earned it." He mused, on their way back to the palace. Sephora's feet were screaming at her from all the walking, and she was obliged to agree with him."That sounds like a wonderful idea," She breathed, and then quirked a smile, "As long as you carry me to my bedroom."Ambrose laughed, just as the gold and silver gates breezed open for them. "I would never carry you in that monstrosity -" He nodded his head toward her black dress, with an amused grin. "It's so big and puffy, I would most likely drop you on the way up the stairs."Sephora chuckled, as they walked up to the huge obsidian stone doors at the entrance of the palace. "Who said I had to be wearing anything?" She purred, casting him a side-long glance for his reacti
[Warning: Contains Mature content]For a second Sephora could do nothing but stare at her mate in bewilderment - she was certain she was dreaming, she had to be. But she blinked again, tears rolling down her face with pure joy, and she had to rule out the fact that she wasn't dreaming, this was really happening.Ambrose must have started worrying about her silence, as his face now flashed with concern, his green eyes uncertain as he stared up at her with nothing but utter devotion."Did I say it right?" He muttered, his eyebrows furrowed. Sephora huffed a laugh, still overcome with tears and joy and managed to nod. He slumped a bit in relief, "Only, I know it's what the humans do, right - so I realised it would be important to you if I asked you in this way and -""Yes!" Sephora cried, tears still trickling down her face, a wide happy smile making her eyes glow, "I will be your wife, Ambrose - yes!"Ambrose let out a sound that might have been a sob, and his own eyes began to line with
The next few days were the happiest of Sephora's life. Her combat training with Ambrose had resumed, and now she was learning how to wield a dagger. It was harder than it looked, and most of the time Sephora managed to cut herself more than the wooden training dummy Ambrose had provided for her. And Ambrose... Ambrose was her joy, her happiness, her soul. He was everything she wanted and more.He was so patient with her, as she tried and failed to throw her knife at the targets he'd set up. Carefully instructing her how to angle her wrist, how throwing knives was all about flicking your wrist with the correct amount of force and speed. He'd demonstrated how it was done, by throwing a dagger of his own at the target, and hit the bulls-eye first time. It was such a good shot, that even Ambrose had been rather proud of his aim, as though it didn't happen very often - Sephora chuckled at that.Frustratingly, Sephora still hadn't managed to wrangle out of Ravyn what had made her cry. She k
Sephora's training was progressing rapidly. She'd moved on from daggers and knives, to learning how to fight with a sheild and a short sword. Sephora enjoyed these lessons much more than her Soulborn training. She was no closer to summoning her power at will than she was before, and she was starting to get frustrated. Even Ambrose was starting to get a little tired of options at getting her power to show itself."This is useless." Sephora yelled at the red dirt of the fighting pit. Dressed in her favorite fighting leathers, that she now wore on a daily basis. Gone were the casual clothes and beautiful dresses, and in their stead was thick tunics, leather trousers and wool lined boots. Winter was here.Ambrose sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking rather tired and frustrated. "Ok, well at least we know that ice doesn't trigger your Soulborn power..." He shrugged, but his face betrayed his defeat.Sephora turned to glare at him, anger turning her blood colder than hoarfrost. S
The blacksmith smiled at her, as she stared transfixed at what was in his hands. As though it were an extension of his body, a blade of steel was protruding from his dark palm, and growing in length. Sephora was fascinated and almost wanted to vomit at the same time. It was like watching a sword eater regurgitating a blade from his mouth, only this time it was coming out of his hand. Sephora tried to ignore the phantom slice of pain that followed, as she imagined it. Ambrose chuckled from beside her. Sephora looked up to glare at her mate, he knew what she'd been imagining. She playfully elbowed him in the ribs. Ambrose grinned and this time the blacksmith released a huff of amusement, just as the blade reached it's end and he caught it with both hands."There you have it." He stared proudly at the blade, before offering it to Sephora. She wordlessly took it out of his hands, marveling at how light the blade was, how sharp -"Ouch." Sephora sucked on her finger angrily. After all her t
The seven of them stood around the twin pyres in silence, watching the flames climb high into the sky, the wood splitting and crackling under the heat. The yellow of the flames reflected in each of their faces, sorrow and loss weighing down their steady gazes.Lady Valda's eyes were ringed with red once again, only this time the tears did not fall - she would never cry in the presence of Lord Rhonan, regardless of how she felt toward Lance and Megan. No, she had already cried in front of Sephora and Lord Daemon when she'd come out from seeing the healer, and that had been enough for the Winged Lady.There had been worry as to why her wing still hadn't healed 12 hours after she'd been hit by Vince's spear of darkness. Turns out he hadn't just shot through her bone in her wing, but through some vital arteries as well. Her accelerated healing had stopped her from bleeding out altogether, but in doing so had stopped the blood getting to the important muscles in her wing that helped her to
AmbroseHis body trembled, his grazed and bloodied hands shaking. He wasn't entirely sure how he was still standing, not just from the exhaustion in his body, but from what he'd just witnessed - what his mate had just done.He'd been battling with Vince relentlessly, the sly devil had always been quick where he might have lacked power. But where Vince lacked power in his physical side - he'd more than made up for in his tactics and the strength of his Soulborn power. That hideous darkness had hit Ambrose again and again, obliterating several of his obsidian shields before Ambrose could even get close enough to scratch the dark Lord.And all the while, Ambrose had been bellowing for Sephora down their bond. Trying to warn her about the shard of veil-stone, that it would kill her, that he couldn't lose her again, not again. He could endure anything else but losing her.Because if Sephora died, there was nothing to stop this new side of Ambrose dying as well - the side that only his mate
SephoraHer plan had worked. She had poured every ounce of fear and love and anger, every shred of her heart and soul into that shard of stone in her hands as she gave a mighty roar.The blast of her power being unleashed rippled across the crowds, people crying out and wailing in terror, just as that shimmering wave of atmosphere began to descend over the town. Only to be stopped by a blazing sheild of fire. The same sheild of fire she'd once used to stop Ambrose from falling to his death by the cove, Sephora now used it to sheild her family and her people from that toxic Igritann atmosphere.A small part of her trembled though, at the knowledge of what she was doing, at what she was sacrificing for her people. She knew she'd never be able to see her family again, but to loose Ambrose after all that had happened...Sephora's heart bled at the thought, but grit her teeth and continued to pour her soul into that stone. This was bigger than just herself and her mate, this was about the f
SephoraHer plan had worked. She had poured every ounce of fear and love and anger, every shred of her heart and soul into that shard of stone in her hands as she gave a mighty roar.The blast of her power being unleashed rippled across the crowds, people crying out and wailing in terror, just as that shimmering wave of atmosphere began to descend over the town. Only to be stopped by a blazing sheild of fire. The same sheild of fire she'd once used to stop Ambrose from falling to his death by the cove, Sephora now used it to sheild her family and her people from that toxic Igritann atmosphere.A small part of her trembled though, at the knowledge of what she was doing, at what she was sacrificing for her people. She knew she'd never be able to see her family again, but to loose Ambrose after all that had happened...Sephora's heart bled at the thought, but grit her teeth and continued to pour her soul into that stone. This was bigger than just herself and her mate, this was about the
Sephora let out a piercing scream of grief and rage as she watched that pink red Veil slowly ripple away like a wave drawing back into the sea. All sense and reason vanished from her mind as her knees buckled from beneath her and the world swayed from under her feet.She vaguely heard Ambrose roaring from behind her, followed by the clashing of steel. Lady Valda was crumpled in a heap on the bloodied ground, Lord Daemon's face was pale as he ran for her. Ravyn was still crouched over Joe, blood continuing to gurgle from the General's chest, his lips turning a feint shade of purple.But none of that mattered now.With tears streaming down her face, Sephora burst into a sprint with all her strength, toward the broken remains of the Veil-Stones.Massive, pale opal-like boulders and rocks lay scattered everywhere, armoured limbs left slightly exposed beneath them from where Ambrose's men had been too slow to get out of the way. Sephora ran
[Ambrose]The Lord of mountains sprinted toward the dark Lord with a earth rumbling growl. Not even waiting for Sephora to give the order to attack, before Ambrose was summoning spears of diamond and obsidian to his hands and hurling them with all his immortal strength.Vince had barely enough time to respond, before his grey eyes went wide and he dodged, summoning shields of black mist to block the oncoming attacks. After 500 years of knowing each other, they both knew how each other moved, knew how powerful each other's Soulborn power was.So it was hardly a surprise to see the fear flickering behind the dark Lord's eyes, hidden carefully behind that serpentine grin of his. He knew what Ambrose was capable of doing, knew what kind of terrors he could achieve with his power.Ambrose was barely holding that side of him at bay. The mere sight of Vince, already stirring his rage into something dark and wild.Punches and cannon balls of flame shot past Ambrose, their heat and intensity en
[Ravyn]The Shadow of Queen Sephora Beltane and Lord Ambrose Stone, laughed as she thrust both her blades into the stomachs of Vince's soldiers, not even waiting for their corpses to fall, before she moved onto the next. She was a whirling mist of death and fury. Fighting for her freedom, her people, an entire race who had no idea just how much the Queen loved them. And now, they stood a chance at winning - now the odds didn't look so impossible.Reinforcements had come. They had finally come, and boy - did Lady Valda train her legion well.Winged warriors, male and female alike, dropped from the skies like fallen angels. Scooping up grown men into the air, taking off and dropping them like a stone, or barreling them into a group of dark soldiers. Their incredible feathered wings tucked in tight, as some of them wielded swords or spears, their movements swift and graceful, despite the weight on their backs. They were a force to be reckoned with.It fired up Ravyn's own spirits enough,
[Sephora]The sky was still darkened with what seemed like a cloud of infinite smoke and death. The tidal wave of Vince's men continued to slam into Sephora and Ambrose's defenses. Though they were holding strong, a line of silver holding back the inky black darkness - the line was beginning to crumble and the men were starting to tire. They couldn't hold this up forever, something had to give.But they had no reinforcements. No reinforcements were coming to their aid.Over the sounds of battle cries and the screams of dying males and females, Sephora tried to wrap her mind around what that meant about the fate Veil-Stones. And more importantly, what it would mean for her family's fate, the fate of the Mortal world.Neither could she think of a solution. Those extra armies were all they had as a plan of defense, and now...Sephora's bloodied hands began shaking again, that familiar fear and hopelessness was beginning to paralyze her once again. New doubts began swimming around in her
Because if that sheild was broken, there was nothing stopping Vince from getting to the stones, and all it took was for one stone to be destroyed and the Veil would come down."Tell me what you're thinking."Ravyn turned her head to find Joe's powerful dark eyes focused on her, his face open in question, but his brow evidently laced with worry and nerves.The Shadow had to fight to form words, since her tongue had become leaden with anxiety. "I'm worried for Sephora and Ambrose." She confessed, surprised that she'd chosen to be honest with the General for once.Even Joe seemed to be surprised, his eyebrows raising a little, before forcing a light smile, "And what about me - you're not worried about me?"Ravyn couldn't help but roll her eyes, "No, I'm definitely not worried about you."Joe chuckled, "So cold, even to the end." His mouth twitched with laughter, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "And what if I was to die tragically, heroically killed in battle? Would you still n