“What are you talking about?” Ambrose spat, leaning forward in his chair. His full attention now on the dark Lord, who was smiling like a Cheshire cat.It wasn’t entirely an act, when Sephora’s eyebrows furrowed, looking confused at Vince. What did he mean by surrender? He said nothing in their plan about wanting Ambrose to surrender. Surely all he had to do, was wait for Sephora to find him a route to the veil-stones. For Vince to be asking for a surrender, would mean-“What is he talking about?” Ambrose whirled upon Sephora, his green eyes flashing with confusion and wrath.Sephora almost trembled at the anger in his voice, but she could only shake her head, “I – I don’t know.”She turned her head to Vince, who seemed to be enjoying their confusion. Ravyn had gone silent over in the corner, and was now staring at Sephora wide-eyed, no doubt suspecting the worst. Even Joe now looked to Sephora, his dark eyes questioning. But Sephora didn't dare say a word, not when she could possibly
Ambrose let out a frustrated cry, throwing his hands in the air, “No, Sephora!” His face almost became pleading, “He’s not going to just change the veil-stones, he’s going to destroy them!”Sephora blinked, the breath suddenly knocked out from her. “What? But he – ”“You can’t just change the veil-stones, Sephora.” Ambrose had stopped shouting, and now his voice almost sounded like he was pleading for her to understand. “He has to destroy them, before he can create a second Veil. Which he can only create with new veil-stones – which he can’t do without the consent of all the Lords. And he can’t destroy the veil-stones, without exposing all of humanity to our atmosphere, and killing half of them!”Sephora could only shake her head. She couldn’t believe it, Vince had manipulated her. And yet it wasn’t a surprise. But this was all her fault. She’d set this army into Ambrose’s lands, which he now had to go and defend. After all her efforts to stop a war from happening, all she’d done was
Sephora's breathing was ragged, her throat burning as hot as the flames around her, from her screaming. That's right. Flames, fire. Engulfing her, surrounding her, protecting her - as Vince continued to gape at her from over the other side of the throne room. Where he'd been blasted back from the sheer force of her explosion.Sephora was trembling, trembling from fear and horror. Fear at her Soulborn power, that was now turning the floor and walls around her, into a glowing molten ore. Fear at the dark Lord before her, who could still strike back at her at anytime with that darkness. That terrifying, hideous darkness, that held her back, that had chained her to the wall while he...Her knees buckled from beneath her, just as a whirl of shadows speared into the room, from the corner of Sephora's vision. She waited for the shadows to hit her, to hold her down - to stifle her flames. But nothing happened, Sephora forced herself to stand upright, despite her legs feeling like someone had
[Sephora]In the week that followed, Sephora had taken to her chambers and did not leave them - not even to go and eat. She couldn't stomach it - any of it.No matter how many times she bathed and washed herself - she never felt clean. She could still feel everywhere that Vince had touched, that he'd kissed and caressed. She could still feel the chains of darkness around her wrists, ankles and throat - so much so, that there were often nights when she would wake up screaming. Her entire room would be engulfed in flames that didn't burn, but only searched for some invisible threat.And everytime without fail, Ravyn would instantly be by her side. She would materialize into Sephora's room, her shadows soothing and hushing her flames until they extinguished, and Sephora was left trembling and sweating in her bed, eyes wide. Ravyn hadn't even hesitated, she sat herself on her Lady's bed, calming her down, and quietly asking Sephora to speak the nightmare out loud to her.Sephora had refuse
Ravyn's eyes burned with their own fire now, as she swung her legs off the chair to lean forward across the table, to put down her tea. "You were not the one who let Vince's armies into Ambrose's lands - so stop blaming yourself. You were not the one to build up Vince's armies in order to start a war - so stop blaming yourself. And you were not the one who accepted Vince's invitation to come to the palace, he didn't have to come - so you need to stop blaming yourself."Tears were now streaming down Sephora's face once again. Tears of relief, because everything Ravyn was saying was true. She should stop blaming herself - she was just a pawn in another's game. She was of little consequence, in comparison to what Vince had been planning for years. She didn't realise how much guilt she'd been carrying, until it finally lifted off her in that moment. All thanks to the Shadow's belief in her.Ravyn got up from her chair to crouch before Sephora, her hands braced on Sephora's knees - and for
Sephora frowned, now completely oblivious to the half-eaten carrot still in her hand, "Ravyn never told you what was going on?"Joe scoffed and gave Sephora a long look, that answered her question, but he elaborated all the same, "That sneaky little Shadow doesn't tell me anything. The only times she's ever spoken to me was to hurl insults at me, or reprimand me on my table manners - that or she has some comment to make on how I 'objectify' females."As if she'd been there the entire time, Ravyn appeared from behind the General from a cloud of mist. Sephora's eyes flicked to the Shadow's and she had to bite on her lip to stop from laughing. Joe followed Sephora's gaze, that was no longer on him and he slowly closed his eyes with dread."Shit." He rasped. Sephora snickered, as Ravyn walked round to stand beside Sephora with a bemused smirk."Indeed." She purred to the General, who now looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. Ravyn huffed a laugh, "Didn't anyone warn you that the w
Sephora slowly walked down the marble hallways leading to Ambrose's study. She may have taken the slightly longer route up to the second floor of the palace, and may have stared out of more than one window on the way down. It was as though all the confidence she had down in the breakfast room, had been drained away and now she was a dawdling nervous wreck. She had no idea what she was going to say to him. None. What do you say to your mate after you've been avoiding him for a week, betrayed his trust, and flinched away from him after being forced upon by his greatest rival?Sephora only hoped the words would find her once she made it to Ambrose's study. But that wasn't the only thing Sephora was worrying about. Ambrose hadn't attended a single one of his council meetings, and after her not leaving her bedchamber for the whole week. His people must feel completely abandoned, and right after they'd just suffered losses from Vince's attack on the veil-stones. Sephora realised they both n
"What do you mean, 'we're having guests'?" Sephora whined, twirling a strand of hair, while she stared up the sky, lying on the grass in the gardens.Ravyn sat cross-legged beside her. Who now chuckled, and poked Sephora in the ribs, eliciting a hiss. "It means exactly what I just said," The Shadow drawled, "You and Ambrose both need allies now that Vince has waged war against you. We have always been close with Lord Rhonan, and so Joe has invited over a group of his Emissaries and Ambassadors to come and discuss an alliance."Sephora groaned, a loud and undignified sound, that made Ravyn chuckle again. Sephora sat up and glanced to her friend with a frown, "I'm going to have to play hostess aren't I?"Ravyn snorted, and picked a daisy from the grass, "I'm sure Ambrose would want you to just be yourself. An ally is an ally, if they don't accept us at our worst, then why should they see us acting our best?"Sephora gazed at Ravyn with an unending measure of respect - a small part of he
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