Academy of Falling Kingdoms Box Set

by Marisa Mills

  By mid-afternoon we could hear the sounds of battle. The din of ten thousand swords; the whoosh and boom of magical explosions. Following the noise, we came to a wide, flat section of land, covered in mud and flattened grass. Dorian held up his hand when he saw the white tents that had been set up in the clearing.

  “It’s okay,” Alexander said, pushing forward. “They’re waving Reverie flags.” Somehow the red banners showing the king’s winged lion motif didn’t put me at ease. The others seemed to share my concern, but Alexander pulled his arm away.

  “I am still a prince,” he sighed. “I’m not going to hide from my own army.”

  We followed him through the clearing to the muddy street that ran through the settlement. The tents were fixed to the ground with heavy ropes, and full of thin cots and injured men. A larger tent near the center bore a red cross. A row of open stalls were stewing soup and meat for those men who returned from fighting.

  “It looks like half the Scraps is here,” Sterling muttered. Nobody stopped us, so we pressed on again, through a short stretch of woods. Here the trees were scarred and burned, and the bodies were so tight we had to step over them. The sounds of battle grew to a roar that shook the ground. Through the trees we saw flashes of bright lights and explosions. We ducked behind a broken wall once the trees cleared, so we wouldn’t be exposed.

  Somehow it was raining over the battlefield. I could feel the wet drops against my cheeks.

  It’s blood, Lucian said. The sky is thick with it.

  I peered over the hewn stones, trembling as the wet, red air made the concrete slick and formed deep, frigid puddles. Thunder rumbled from a dark cloud that appeared out of nowhere, slashing lightning down into the sea of soldiers, that rose and crested like the tide. Blood rushed to my ears, drowning out the screams, clashing swords, and sharp cracks of magic. My head filled with a ringing buzz. The stench was even worse. Blood, iron, and death coiled together, so thick that I gagged against them.

  I’d been raised with tales about the mage wars, of how the mages descended from high and destroyed everything before returning to their shining kingdoms in the skies. I knew war was bloody and vicious, the ruination of humans who lived in the Lower Realms. But none of Gabriel’s stories, told with sadistic delight and gruesome details, had prepared me for this. Steam rose from the carpet of bodies, as black vultures dug their beaks into exposed flesh.

  “How are we going to find the king in this?” Viviane asked, her voice shaking. “Or Celeste?”

  “Not easily,” Dorian replied grimly. “Reverie is in the blue, although they’ll probably try to kill us, too.”

  “Lucian, can you help?” I asked.

  Sure, he replied, but I may not have any more luck than you. I felt him leave and saw a shimmer as he lapped around the battlefield. A minute later he was back.

  He’s in the eye of the storm, Lucian said. You’ll never reach him.

  I flinched as a burst of lightning shattered part of the concrete wall near us.

  “We’ve been found,” Alexander said.

  Dorian unsheathed his rapier and thrust it forward. The ground crackled. Ice swept over the ground with incredible speed and a battle mage screamed as his legs froze to the ground. Dorian kicked his chest, and the man’s body broke away from his legs with a loud snap. Dorian swept past him, towards the small group of warriors charging towards us.

  I took a deep breath and followed, gripping my sword tightly.

  I’d never killed anyone before.

  There’s a first time for everything, Sibyl said. Let’s get your blade wet.

  There was a pause, as I felt my heartbeat pounding in my chest, the foreign soldiers lifting their blades, roaring as they came… then they were all around us. A blade swept forward to meet mine. I parried, half-blinded by the light coming from its edge. Decay spread along my attacker’s blade, snapping it in half. He thrust the jagged edge of his broken blade into my abdomen, knocking the wind out of me, but it couldn’t pierce the dark leather of my brother’s furs or the tight knitting of my red dress. His eyes widened as I swung wildly, my sword sinking into his neck. I faltered as he fell to the ground, choking on his own blood.

  Keep going! Sibyl exclaimed. There was no time to pause as my friends and I met the onslaught of blades and enchantments. Decay was a merciless power. Lucian’s blue flame filled my sword with roaring flames, keeping the metal hot enough to sear through bone. Decay smoldered like smoking tar in my left hand, and when I cast it forward, Sibyl galloped forward, destroying everything in her path. For a while, I ceased to think. My movements became fast and mechanical. In minutes, I’d killed a dozen men, and my arms were shaking with exhaustion. With the power of two demons flowing through me, sometimes my arms seemed to pull me along behind them, slaying threats before I even saw them coming.

  A large man covered in furs picked me off the ground and slammed me into the earth. He looked familiar. I scratched at his scarred face as he held a knife to my throat.

  “This is for Gabriel,” he said with leer. I flailed my fingers, making contact with the bare skin of his ankle. His skin fell away from his bones like a roast pig, leaving his skeleton kneeling over me next to a steaming pile of flesh.

  A sudden thrill rushed through me, and I smiled victoriously. I rolled away, stumbling to my feet. Why was I enjoying this?

  Because I’m enjoying it, Sibyl giggled. It’s been ages since I got to kill so many mages.

  I felt like I might vomit, and although my knees shook, I forced myself to my feet. Reverie was depending on me. My friends were depending on me. I’d gotten separated from the others, but I heard their shouts not far away. They were surrounded by dozens of men. I unsheathed my blade and swung. The ground trembled before me, black bile bursting forth as the ground tore apart. Decay spread like a plague, staining the ground. Soldiers from both kingdoms, in red and blue uniforms, rotted from the inside out, shriveling into old men before collapsing into a pile of bones. The soldiers at the edge of my radius eyed me warily, as the wind pulled at the frays of my red dress and whipped at my dark hair. I could see the others past the newly made pile of ash and rust, and behind them I saw the trees we’d come through earlier. We’d barely moved a dozen paces.

  I swayed on my feet, my sword suddenly heavy. I looked down at my hands, which were covered in blood.

  You can’t falter now, Nyx hissed from somewhere near me. But the gap was already closing as soldiers filled the empty spaces in an endless barrage of violence. I raised my sword as nearly a hundred soldiers circled around me, wiping away the blood dripping from a gash on my forehead.

  “I’m so tired, Lucian,” I said. “I can’t…”

  Dimly, Tatiana’s scream reached my ears. I blinked, realizing the soldiers had stopped moving. Expressions of horror fixed on their faces as their blood froze. Dorian and Viviane were fighting their way towards me, cutting through frozen solders like thick weeds. I heard Tatiana’s voice again, and realized she wasn’t screaming, she was singing. Wings of fire swirled around her shoulders as her voice reached higher and higher notes. A slash of soot was wiped across her eyes, and her red hair waved like flames.

  Then suddenly, the frozen soldiers exploded like champagne glasses. I ducked under the chunks of human shrapnel. Viviane and Dorian ran towards me, with Alexander and Sterling right behind them.

  “We’ve got to get to the king,” I gasped.

  Let me carry you, Sibyl whispered. I nodded, and a cloud of smoke lifted me off the ground, before forming into a large black horse. I held a hand out to Alexander, who grabbed it and jumped on behind me.

  “Here,” Tatiana said, wiping blood away from her nose. “I’ve already used too much.” She pulled off the ring and tossed it to Alexander, who slipped it on his finger.

  “Right behind you,” Sterling shouted as we charged forward, Sibyl’s powerful muscles flexing between my thighs, with Alexander gripping tightly around my waist. I felt Lucian�
��s wings flutter behind me and glanced back to see dark feathers, slashing like a hundred knives and cutting a wide path through the battlefield. Decay rotted the soldier’s weapons and armor, and Nyx’s flames burned in front of us, making it look like Sibyl’s black hooves were on fire. I lifted my sword, as we trampled over fallen soldiers and cut towards the center of the fighting.

  A flash of light arched towards us, cutting out Sibyl’s legs from under her. I was thrown forward by the momentum of the horse, back into the din of battle. Here there were fewer uniforms, as the battle-mages chose to wear their own weaponry. Silver and black armor, swirling capes and swords slashed around me, and the air practically boiled with magic. Up ahead, black veins burst from the ground, the signs of decay. But it wasn’t me doing it this time.

  That must be the king, Lucian snarled.

  My heart leapt into my throat. I clambered over the broken concrete, trying to ignore the dead as my foot stepped through another skull. I halted abruptly when I found King Gregory, his red and gold armor flashing in the sun.

  “Your Majesty!” I shouted.

  The king’s head snapped to me, and I froze. He looked like the monstrous, bloodthirsty mages from Gabriel’s stories. The mages who came to the Lower Realms and stole away children to eat. King Gregory’s face was thinner and sharper, his mouth and neck stained with blood. He bared his teeth at me.

  “You have to listen to me!” I yelled, struggling to keep my voice above the rest of the noise. He shouted an order and at least twenty battle mages lined up, forming an impenetrable ring around him. The others caught up to me, and there was a sudden silence. I searched their faces, wondering if I’d recognize any of them in Reverie.

  “I’ve got this,” Jessa hissed, her eyes flashing green. She cast out a hand and Hyacinth snaked forward, a river of bright green moss. Vines grew into sharp branches, skewering the battle mages and tearing them into pieces, until they looked like chunks of raw meat on a stick.

  With a flick of his hand, Alexander lit them on fire, before stepping under the burning branches to face his father. The king walked towards me, his sword lowered. For an instant, it seemed as though we were the only people left in the world. But then, the dead bodies littered around the king turned to ice, and it began to snow. Dorian and Viviane swept through the carnage like a snowstorm, and blood crept through the white canvas like the earth was bleeding.

  “You,” the king spat, glaring at Dorian with blood in his teeth. “I was hoping the Chancellor would kill you. I guess I’ll have to finish you off myself.”

  “The Chancellor of Reverie is dead,” Dorian said. “But I remain a loyal servant of Reverie. I will not raise my hand against the crown, but I will defend myself if you attack.”

  “Enough fighting!” I yelled, raising my voice above the rest of the noise. “Celeste can access the chamber, she’s going to sink Reverie.”

  My heart raced as the king halted, barely a foot away. Blood and sweat dripped from his beard.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, looking towards the sky. Reverie hovered over the trees, close enough I could see the waterfalls cascading over the rough stones near the base.

  “We think the rebels have a device to free many demons at once,” I said. “It’s what they used at the Academy. Celeste is coming for the pendant so she can open the chamber.”

  “Then let her take it,” the king grinned.

  “She’s too strong unless we all work together,” Jessa said.

  “Aren’t your parents in my prison?” the king spat. “Maybe it’s time you joined them.”

  “Alexander,” Gregory said, as his son approached my side. “What are you doing here?”

  “Saving Reverie,” Alexander said, flourishing his blade. Nyx’s fire sprang along the sharp edge, and a cape of black feathers settled over his shoulders.

  “You’re siding with a demon?” Gregory snarled, sweeping a hand towards me. “And some noblewoman’s mistake?” My mother’s pendant pulsed against his chest like a heartbeat.

  Alexander moved into a fighting stance, tightening his grip on the sword. The sigil on his arm glowed brightly, drawing the king’s attention. His eyes widened, and he looked between me and his son with a hint of panic on his face.

  “Where did you learn that?” he asked.

  “From my father,” I said.

  “Nicholas is alive?” he asked, a look of panic crossing his face.

  “He was, until recently.” Alexander said. “He told us what you did to him, and Gwen.”

  King Gregory smiled, blood staining his teeth. “I should’ve killed them all,” the king sneered, “to ensure no one was left to scheme or avenge her death. I won’t make that mistake again. You’re going to die by my hand, just like your mother.”

  I tightened my grip on my sword, but hesitated when I realized the king was still looking at his son.

  “He wasn’t talking to you,” Alexander said slowly, his eyes widening. “He was talking to me.”

  Twenty-Four

  “IT WAS YOU?” I GASPED, as realization set in. “You poisoned the queen?”

  “Someone had to save Reverie. The nobles and the Council would never have agreed to deploy our armies unless the threat was dire. Nobody resisted after the attack on the Academy.”

  My heart froze in my throat. I couldn’t breathe.

  “You attacked the academy,” Viviane said, her voice shaking. “You killed all those people. All to get this stupid war?”

  “It was the only way,” the king said. “Reverie was dying a slow, silent death. I refuse to be remembered as the king that drove Reverie into the ground, the last king of Reverie. The one who failed to keep the kingdom afloat. Once Aubade surrenders, we’ll invade their kingdom and fill our chamber with their crystals. We’ll be twice as strong as we ever were.”

  “You’re mad,” I said.

  “Maybe,” he leered. “But nobody will ever believe you, not that it matters. You won’t live past today, and then I’ll kill the rest of your miserable family. I’ve sacrificed far too much to stop now.”

  The king swept up his hands, a cloud of ash and fire around him, before unleashing a wave of decay. Eleanor threw up her hands, blocking the attack with a shimmering magic shield, but the force threw her backwards. Decay shriveled the trees around her and turned the corpses into bleached bones. My mother’s charm pulsed from the king’s chest like a beacon. Nick had given her this power, the same power Sibyl held. I could feel it in my veins. I forced back the bile that rose in my throat, remembering how I’d used it against Celeste. She’d melted like candle wax. Could I really do that to Alexander’s father?

  “Stay away from my family!” Viviane hissed.

  “You don’t make demands of me, little girl,” Gregory snarled.

  He curled his fingers into the air like he was summoning more wine, and the earth trembled. A hundred swords and arrows lifted off the ground, surrounding him in a halo of sharp objects, before exploding outwards. Viviane spun around, the movement so sudden that she fell to the ground. She raised an arm, and ice burst before us, crystallizing into a wall that blocked the attack. Gregory raised his hand and cracks split through the ice shield. Then he reached out and tore it to pieces like he was ripping a sheet of paper. Viviane fell back, her nose spurting blood.

  I didn’t see Gregory charge forward and thrust his blade until it was too late, but Viviane had. She ducked beneath the king’s blade and pulled me out of reach. But when Viviane’s green eyes met mine, I realized she hadn’t moved swiftly enough. Blood welled from her chest.

  “Viviane!” I screamed. The king swung again, burying his blade into her shoulder.

  “You have caused me enough trouble for the last time!” the king snarled, pulling her close.

  I raised my sword and lunged, but before my blade could connect with the king, he shoved Viviane’s limp body towards me. I scrambled to catch her before she could fall. Viviane gasped an
d spat blood against my shoulder.

  “Run,” Viviane whispered, her breath quick and hot against my neck.

  “I’m not leaving you,” I said. I backed away, supporting Viviane’s weight as the king attacked again. I parried with my blade and unleashed Sibyl’s decay. Black veins split the king’s skin. Hissing, he fell back. Then, he smiled and rolled his shoulders, as his skin knitted itself back together and all damage vanished.

  “You stupid girl,” Gregory hissed, clutching the golden lion and blue stone pendant between his meaty fingers. “Did you forget this charm also contains healing?”

  “Wynter, you have to go,” Viviane rasped. Blood was pumping out of her chest and shoulder, covering my hands and arms. If I ran, she’d die. I looked up desperately towards the king. I had to get my mother’s pendant to save her, but I’d already used too much magic. The world was spinning, and a heavy exhaustion fell over me. At the back of my mind I could hear Lucian and Sybil shouting something, but the noise was too weak. It sounded like two flies buzzing around my head. The king stepped forward and I lifted my sword weakly, protecting Viviane as the king attacked.

  Blue fire burst from the ground, separating the king and me. I sprang back, as Lucian’s roar boomed inside my mind. Alexander stepped through the fire, his eyes gleaming in the flames.

  “I won’t let you kill Wynter, Father,” Alexander said. “Or anyone else.”

  “Hector and Art both died in this war,” Gregory said. “They died to save Reverie. Don’t make their deaths for nothing.”

  “Enslaving more demons isn’t the way to save Reverie,” Alexander snapped. “Who does our kingdom serve, Father, if it makes monsters of us all?”

  “You know nothing of monsters,” Gregory hissed.

  “I know you,” Alexander said simply.

  Alexander thrust, his form flawless. Fire leapt from his blade. Gregory raised his hand. Sigils glittered, but he screamed when Lucian’s fire broke through whatever protections he had.