by G. Bailey
“It’s mine!” I scream at her, tears falling and sizzling on her hands, but she doesn’t even flinch. A voice, sounding nothing like my own, speaks from my lips. “The princess is mine. You cannot stop me. She is mine to control!”
“No, Corvina Charles is my sister. My blood and she belongs to her mates and family. Remember them, Vina? Pitch, Jonah, Zander, and Gage,” Izora growls at me and reaches for my sword. She screams in pain as the sword shoots dark webs at her, covering her hand and making her bleed.
“The sword has killed them with your power,” Izora screams. “Don’t let it kill me. Stop it, Vina. Only you can!”
They’re dead? No! No, no, no, no, no!
I search my soul for the connection I’ve always felt to Pitch. I search for my other mates, for anyone, but it’s empty.
I’m alone.
For the first time in my life, I’m completely alone.
And it’s the sword’s fault. It did this…and the sword will fucking pay for it.
The sword screams in my mind as I slowly pry one finger at a time off from the sword, every movement hurting deep within my heart. Hurting my soul, cracking it into a million pieces. I grit my teeth and think of my mates. The sword hurt them. It took them and it won’t win against me.
Izora’s hand covers mine and she smiles at me for a long moment, both of us glowing as we float high in the air, a mixture of light and dark magic, covered in shadows. Time stands still as tears fall down my cheeks and I embrace my power. The magic I was born with. As my last finger rests on the sword, nearly letting Izora take it from me, I whisper one last message to the sword as a goodbye, it screams at me.
“You might be powerful beyond comparison but you are not us. We are the children of gods and shadowborns, and you will rot back in the sea you came from and never, ever rise again!”
The second I let go of the sword, the magic booms so loud that I can’t see anything but light and flickers of darkness as I fall down in tremendous pain. My body crashes onto the hard ground below and the darkness I know so well takes me under, soothing me before I have to face reality.
“It’s time to wake up, sleepyhead.”
“Dad?” I open my eyes to a room full of darkness. “Where are you? I can’t see anything.”
A silver flame drifts towards me, growing brighter and larger until it forms the shape of my father. “Hello, Button.”
“Dad!” I jump into his arms, inhaling his familiar peppermint scent with the tinge of tobacco. His beard scratches my cheek as I hold him close. He’s exactly as I remember him, tall and young, with his blonde hair swept back and his blue eyes weary but kind. His arms wrap around me and he runs a hand through my hair, just like he used to do when I was little. “I can’t believe it’s you,” I say. “Where are we?”
He holds me back, a pained smile on his face. “We are in a place you’ve got to leave.”
“Leave?” My throat tightens. “But I don’t want to leave you. Is Mum here, too?”
I barely finished speaking when a warm breeze drifts over me.
“Darling,” my mum says, and I turn to see her beautiful smile.
The tears in my eyes fall down my cheeks. “I’ve missed you both so much!”
My dad hugs me to his cold chest and I feel my mum’s similarly cold arms wrap around me. The three of us embrace for a moment that I never want to end.
I commit the weight of their arms around me to my memory, desperate this time to not forget. For so long, I have wanted to hug my human parents. I wanted to hear their voices and breathe in their scents, and now that I’m finally able to, I don’t want to let go.
“But you need to,” my dad whispers.
“We love you so very much, Corvina.” My mum smoothes a hand over my face, brushing my hair away from my eyes. “But you don’t belong here. You belong with the fae. You always did.”
More flames flutter down around us—five in total. They each flicker around me, but their glow is dim and quickly fading. It makes my heart clench in my chest and the air constrict in my lungs, though I can’t tell why. It’s not like the flames are people.
“Am I dead?” I croak out, looking back at my parents. “I let go of the sword.”
“You are not dead, but yes, you dropped the sword,” Dad says with a proud smile. “Your mother and I knew you were destined for greatness from the moment we first held you.”
I let my tears roll down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“Oh, my darling, no!” Mum turns me around and forces me to look at her. “Everything happens for a reason. Just like these flames, we can’t burn forever. There will come a time when the flame is blown out, but that doesn’t mean it is gone for good. It simply gets ignited elsewhere.”
“But I—” I choke on the words, a sob tearing from my throat. “I’m the one who blew yours out.”
“And by doing so, you let us burn a new flame,” Dad says, his hands falling onto my arms.
Another flame appears, this one brighter than the others, beaming like a star in the night sky.
“What are these?” I ask, reaching out to touch it, but it flickers away.
“These are your way home. You must return to the living world,” he answers softly.
I look between my parents, watching the glow in their faces fade like the flames dying around us. Panic grips me as I realise they’re returning to the spirit world.
“Please don’t go—I need you!”
I reach out to grab them, but my hand falls through, causing my panic to soar.
“Never forget how much we love you,” my mum whispers, fading into a silver flame that merges with the others.
My dad vanishes with her, but his voice still carries to me ever so faintly.
“It’s time to wake up, Corvina.”
And with a blast of light, I fall back into a warmer embrace, the darkness vanishing.
“Wake up, Corvina!” Narah screams, rocking me in her arms. “Wake up, we don’t have time!”
I blink at her, my body shivering in her tight grasp, my head resting against her chest covered in blood that sticks to my hair. Ash and dust brush my lashes and I look up at the sky, knowing even though it is clear and full of stars, my world is about to crash and burn.
Flickering my eyes from my frantic mother, I notice the mess we are sitting in, the rumble of the palace around us. We’re still on the battlefield but there are no more Titans, and whatever followers Eva had fighting with them are no longer here. There is a silence—a quiet after the storm. When Narah sees my eyes open, she presses my face to her chest.
“Oh, thank Selena! I thought I lost you too.”
“What…happened?” I croak out, wincing at the pain seizing my body.
“When you let go of the sword, your magic shattered it into pieces.” She pauses, her arms tensing around me. “Corvina, it… it killed them before making itself whole once more. I sent it away with the last of my magic, thankfully it was weak from losing its connection to you.”
Hysteria threatens me with her broken reply. What does she mean my magic killed them? We wanted to win the war, right? So why is that a bad thing?
Gently pushing her away, I prepare to stand on my feet, but I stop when I see what lies before me. Pitch rests on the ground, his dirt-covered face almost peaceful, but I don’t sense our bond anymore. It’s like someone has cut the string that tethers us with a knife. Beside my shadow, Zander, Gage, Jonah, and even my friends Ambrose and Izora rest peacefully. Again, they just look like they’re sleeping, but I know that they are not.
They’re dead!
The hysteria I tried holding back explodes from me. Plaintive screams claw from my throat as I crawl over to their bodies. I touch and shake them, trying to wake them up, to heal them, but nothing happens. How could the destruction of the sword do this? It doesn’t make sense. But now they are gone.
“No…” The word barely leaves m
y lips. “Pitch, get up. Get up now!”
He doesn’t move.
I move on to Jonah and Zander, my tears splashing onto their faces.
“It’s time to wake up,” I sob out, repeating the words my dad used, hoping by some miracle that the flames will appear again and bring them back to me.
My guys.
My friends.
How can they really be gone?
As my screams turn into wails, and I bury my face in my hands, I realise that the six flames belonged to each one of them. Now they have been blown out and will no longer burn at my side.
Narah pulls me back into her arms and I cry into her, my sobs turning into shuddering gasps until I can no longer stand from exhaustion and heartache. Nestled in my mother’s arms, I cry until I have no more tears to shed.
“Ambrose sacrificed himself trying to save the others,” she says, but it only makes me glance at their bodies again. My lips quiver and I turn my face away, unable to look at them. I feel numb inside as Narah embraces me, running her hands through my hair like my mum used to do. “Now it is my turn to make a sacrifice.”
Numbly, I look up at her, my entire body drained. I’m surprised by the tears I find in her gaze. One of them slides down her cheek as she smiles at me.
“All of my life, I searched the darkness for a light, yet I could never find it.” She holds me tighter, her arms wrapped around me like a warm blanket. “It’s because you were my light, Corvina. But now I have the chance to be your light.” Pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead, she whispers, “Let me guide you through this darkness.”
I thought I had no more tears to shed, but realising what my mother is saying, my eyes fill with them again.
The Dark Fae Queen is going to sacrifice herself to bring the others back.
“I love you,” I tell her, hugging her one last time. “You will always be my mother… Thank you.”
Narah closes her eyes and lets out a sigh of relief as if she’s waited her whole life to hear those words. She spreads her arms and I move back, watching as the ashes lift off the ground around us and whirl around her. They turn into black rose petals that flutter over the bodies of my fallen loved ones, making them glow, and I feel each of their bonds returning to me. First Pitch, then Zander, then Gage and Jonah. Each of them, including Izora and Ambrose, stir awake and my heart is once more made whole again. As the flowers return to Narah and cover her entirely, I just catch the smile on her face before the wind carries her spirit off into the night sky.
Tears stain my dirt-covered cheeks as I think about Narah and what she sacrificed for me. I will never forget what she did in her final moments. My mother loved me in her own, slightly messed up way, but it’s because of her love that my mates and friends are alive again. For that, I will always be thankful.
I light the black candle and Izora lights the white one at its side in front of the academy. Thousands of other candles surround the building and one by one they light up for all our fallen, for everyone we have lost.
I returned to the academy where all the fae and shadowborn from the war came and told them the war was won, but the Dark Fae Queen had died. Many cried, many bowed to me, and everyone shared the same sense of loss and joy that we were safe. One of Izora’s mates suggested we find a way to say goodbye, to mark this day, and these candles will forever stay alight; lit up outside the academy grounds like the stars in the night sky.
The Enchanted Forest will never forget.
This is our way of saying goodbye.
I step back into Zander’s arms as I cry, and he gently rubs my back as my mates all step around me, touching me somewhere for comfort. For a long time, we stand like this as I say my farewells, knowing my mates will keep me safe.
“Vina, look,” Pitch whispers.
I pull away from Zander, watching in awe as dozens of wisps float around the candles. They bounce from candle to candle as we all watch and I almost smile as three wisps come to me, flying around my body as my guys step back. I look over to see three other wisps doing the same to Izora and we smile at each other.
“I think they want to take you somewhere,” Sage says, stepping in the middle of us. “You should always follow a wisp. The gods send them after all.”
I float my hand above one of them and nod, knowing Sage is right. It was a wisp that brought me to the academy. I wonder where they want to take me now.
“I will be back soon,” I tell my guys, knowing this is a part of my story I have to do alone. Two wisps stay at my side and one moves to float in front of me as I follow it through my people and to the forest. I look back to see Izora following her own wisps somewhere else in another direction. So we aren’t going to the same place it seems.
I follow the wisps for a good half an hour before reaching a clearing in the forest. On a glowing black rock lies the crown Narah had for me in her mausoleum, and surrounding it are dozens of other wisps, each floating together like they are dancing to a song only they can hear.
“I guess you want me to take the crown and become queen?” I ask the wisps, but it’s not them that answers me.
“My child, yes, you deserve the crown.”
A woman who glows white from every inch of her body appears behind the rock and slowly her features come more into view. She is stunning in an otherworldly way. Looking at her hurts and soothes me at the same time.
“I am the soul of Selena, but you know this, child. Come and kneel before me.”
In pure awe, I all but stumble to the goddess and kneel before her. Her hand rests on my head and I feel her magic wash over me. I look down to see my ruined clothes have been replaced with a black dress. It’s beyond beautiful, covered in ravens, and it has a high neckline with long lace sleeves. My hair half up and not the messy, blood-covered state it was a few seconds ago.
“Thank you,” I say nervously, and she laughs. It’s the most melodic sound in the world.
“I cannot have my new queen accepting the Throne of Luna in such clothing,” she answers me and I smile bashfully at her. “Now, you can never speak of this moment. Every queen or king that takes the throne will meet me or my sister soul for a moment. This is a gift given to only true heirs.”
“Thank you for his gift,” I whisper.
“Do you accept the Throne of Luna and promise to always protect its people and the forest?” she asks me, the weight of her question pressing on my soul for the answer.
Sensing my next words mean everything, I straighten my back and bow my head. “I accept the throne and promise to always protect my people and the forest.”
Selena rests the crown on my head and offers me her hand. “Now rise, Queen Corvina of the Dark Fae Kingdom. Long may you rule. Long may you live.”
In seconds, she fades away, and I miss her light almost instantly, but I know in my soul that was the last time I will ever see the goddess. Holding my head high, I follow the wisps back through the forest to the academy. When I get there, all the light fae and shadowborn are on their knees, bowing at Izora on the other side of the forest. She has King Urlic’s crown on her head and is wearing a silver dress covered in wolves. We both smile at each other as the dark fae begins bowing to me, and my mates all grin before kneeling. Even Ambrose nods his head and kneels. Without another thought, I run to my sister and she runs to me, too. We crash in the middle of all our people and hug each other.
Two sisters brought life into the Enchanted Forest all those years ago.
And now, two sisters will protect it, love it, and be the best royals the fae has ever seen.
Five years later
I wrap my arms around myself, rubbing the chill from my arms. Staring out into the Enchanted Forest from my balcony, the wind whips my hair around me and lifts the hem of my black dressing gown. The forest hums and sings with harmony and peace, much like it has done since I took the throne and promised my soul to the forest and its people. I glance back into my bedroom behind me where my mates are all laid out in various positions on our
enormous bed. My dark soul belongs to the forest, but my heart belongs to them.
It always has and always will.
Flickering my eyes around our bedroom, I think again about how much I adore it. Our bedroom takes up the space of about three rooms and most of that is the bed in the centre. The giant dark wooden headboard stretches to the ceiling. Pitch spent days creating it from a large tree outside the palace. The tree can still be seen as its roots are the sides of the bed and the main bark of the tree has dozens of ravens and wolves running and flying around a crown in the middle.
My crown.
Soon after the war, I announced Pitch, Jonah, Zander, and Gage as my kings of the Dark Fae. They each took over a section of the kingdom to help get Zorya on its feet. Together we have spent five long years putting it back together, and it’s better than it has ever been. Magic and blood have been poured into the very castle walls I stand in now, and we will never forget.
I walk to the edge of the balcony and look down at the centre of the royal courtyard where something special to me rests. Closing my eyes, I turn into my raven and fly down to the courtyard, landing on the rose covered ground before shifting back and looking up. The statue of my mother doesn’t look down at me but stares up at the sky above, her one hand reaching for the stars. Her crown rests on her long hair that falls down with her ball gown, and even though this is just a statue, it is so much more. I feel her soul here, watching over me, protecting me. Using my wings, I fly up a little, so we are face to face.
“I miss you, Mother,” I whisper as I place my hand on her cheek.
I sense the god before he speaks. “I suspect she misses you as well, little queen.”
“Ambrose!” I chuckle, spinning around. I fly to him, and he opens his arms, embracing me in a tight hug as I rest my head on his chest. After the war, Ambrose decided he wanted to see the human world and live in it for a while. He still comes back every so often to check on me, mostly because he knows I would hunt his ass down if he didn’t. I pull back and Ambrose rests his hands on my shoulders. Even with the biggest smile on his face, the sadness never quite leaves his eyes.