Crown of Embers

by Meg Anne

  As if he could feel her eyes on him, he twisted in a slow, serpentine fashion. He tilted his head as he observed her before letting his mouth fall open in the sinister imitation of a grin. “Kiri,” he rasped.

  Helena was stunned to hear him speak, although given his use of power it probably shouldn’t have been so unexpected. Before she could recover, he launched a liquid green orb in her direction.

  Snapping to attention, she reinforced her personal shield as she dodged it and let her own ball of Fire fly. Where the general’s orb made contact, the floor began to smoke and dissolve. Acid, she realized with growing horror. Just as Rowena had twisted her magic, so too had her general. Instead of the pure form of Water, this monster was able to conjure acid. No wonder Rowena only felt the need to send ten Shadows; the sheer amount of destruction he could cause with just a single ball of his acid made him a one-man killing machine.

  Letting the others deal with the handful of Shadows that were still standing, Helena focused solely on him. Around her wind began to whip past, thunder growling in the sky as a storm of power began to rage. The sounds of battle were quickly drowned out by the roar of thunder. The Chosen began to scream in earnest, not realizing it was Helena who was feeding the storm. Bodies pressed against one another, frantic to escape the fury they felt building in the room.

  The general continued to smile as he lazily lobbed ball after ball of acid at Helena. He was not threatened by her display of power. Maybe he needed a little more convincing. Fire had been Helena’s go-to since she’d inherited her power, its scorching heat and ability to destroy a perfect complement to the extreme emotions that usually fed into it. But with the amount of people in the room, she didn’t feel confident she’d be able to control it completely, even with Von’s return.

  Helena felt a feral smile of her own begin to grow. She couldn’t burn, but she could bury. Channeling the energy of the storm, Helena funneled its power through her body to blast the raised dais on which Rowena’s general was standing. There was a loud crack as the wood splintered and rocked before it came crashing down. The general snarled in outrage as he lost his balance, collapsing with the wood. Helena wasn’t finished; she needed to keep him out of the fight long enough to give her Circle an advantage.

  The power of the lightning continued to crackle along her skin and pulse in her blood. She released it into the ground again, feeling the earth shake from the force. Try as he might, the general could not stand back up. He was too off-balance from the quaking beneath his feet.

  The earthquake was the distraction her people needed. They were down to just a few remaining Shadows. Darrin slammed his shield into a Shadow, stunning it long enough that Kragen’s sword was able to swing true. Ronan and Serena had another cornered. It was still coming after them even though one of its arms and most of its left leg had been removed. In a move only possible due to the years of experience between them, Serena swung her blade up while Ronan swung his ax around. The Shadow did not know which blow to dodge. Serena’s blade, reinforced with her power, rent the Shadow in half, while Ronan’s ax made easy work of his head. It crashed to the ground with a sickening thud and dark spurts of blood.

  Since the general was still struggling to get free of the rubble, Helena released her hold on the lightning, allowing the room to settle. Von was beside her, swinging a flaming sword to dispatch the only one still standing. The air sizzled where the flames made contact with its rotting skin. With a final, gurgling cry, the last of the Shadows fell.

  The general broke free from the wood, bellowing as he watched his final man fall. He glanced around as the Circle and their allies closed in. Ronan was spinning his ax in his hand, while Von and Helena held swirling orbs of power in their palms. The Sylvanese were bouncing on their feet and the two Endoshans wiping foul black ichor from their curved blades. Every one of them staring intently at the vile creature.

  He tried to find an escape route but there was none; members of her Circle had every possible exit blocked. Finally, he let out a laugh that sounded like the crackle of leaves. Raising both emaciated arms into the air, he threw back his head and let his tainted power arc out of him. Ronan charged, looking to tackle the general, but the horrified gasps of the others had him spinning around.

  Where the massive waterfall had once burbled there was now a rush of acid-green water burning a path through everything it touched. Helena’s mouth fell open. There was no time to think, she had to act. Diving deep into the pool of her power she cast a shield that surrounded her people just before the acid could make contact. It hit the invisible barrier and Helena screamed. She could feel the searing burn of acid as if it was touching her skin.

  Von growled in rage, feeling Helena’s pain as if it was his own. The rest of her Circle roared, desperate to protect and defend their Kiri. There was nothing they could do against such power and they lacked the time necessary to coordinate the complex blend of power required to diffuse the acidfall.

  Acting on instinct, Helena connected to the heart of her power. Her hair flew up around her, and her pupils contracted, disappearing completely beneath the iridescence of her eyes. The men that comprised her Circle transformed, turning into pulsing pillars of light. Von shone the brightest, the depth of their bond strengthening any power he held on his own.

  She plucked at each glimmering strand of their power, now illuminated by her un-dampened state, and wove them with her own substantial thread. With her power now liberally reinforced by her Circle, Helena called on Earth. There was a thunderous groan and then the world shook violently as a massive sinkhole began to grow where the waterfall had once stood. The roiling mass of acid began to slide into the gaping hole.

  Pushing more of her power into the earth, thick brown mud bubbled up, entirely replacing the dance floor. The mud, heavy with liquid, began to pour into the sinkhole, covering and eventually containing, the acid.

  The startled shouts of the delegates pulled Helena back. Banking some of her power and releasing her hold on the others who had started to look a bit pale, Helena turned once more to the general.

  He was gone.

  Chapter Eight

  Helena screamed in outrage. It was a feral, inarticulate sound that had the others wincing and covering their ears. There was an answering roar in the distance as Starshine and the Daejaran pack added their voices to the chorus. Seething, she spun, needing something, anything, to unleash on.

  “Mira,” Von called, feeling the desperation building within her.

  It was too late; she was too far gone for reason. She was balanced on a knife’s edge, the sheer intensity of her power combined with all of the emotional extremes of the last few days pulling her toward violence. She hadn’t been this out of control since under the effects of the Fracturing. That it was happening now, within the presence of her Mate, was terrifying.

  “We have to stop her before she brings the rest of the place down and kills us all!” Darrin shouted.

  “Is that your way of helping?” Ronan snapped.

  “This cannot be the Mother’s blessing. This is her curse!” Tinka wailed. The Caederan woman looked a child standing next to the warrior. Her entire body was trembling as her companion wrapped his arm around her and murmured softly.

  Serena, disheveled and covered in sticky black ichor, gave the woman a disgusted glance. “Get them out of here!” she ordered. It was unclear who she was speaking to, but Effie, the most used to taking orders among them, reacted first.

  “Here now,” she said, her sweet voice entirely unexpected after the horrors of the past few minutes.

  Tinka flinched when Effie held a hand out to her, and Darrin’s green eyes went flinty.

  “You either go with her, or you can go with me,” he snapped.

  “Let’s go, Tink,” the Caederan man said in his deep voice, eyeing Darrin warily.

  “But Khouman—” she whispered, fear still thick in her high-pitched voice.

  “None of that, Tinka. This is our Kiri. You cann
ot doubt the Mother’s choice when she just saved all of us.”

  With a slow nod and an apologetic glance, the Caederans carefully made their way out of the still smoking ruins of the room.

  “That goes for all of you!” Darrin boomed when the other six stayed behind. There were a few uttered curses and protests as the rest of the delegates fell into line behind Effie. Darrin stepped back.

  “There, that was much more helpful,” Ronan murmured.

  “Is everything a joke to you?” he asked, irritation giving his voice an edge.

  “Puppy, the day I stop taking the piss out of you is the day I die. Life’s too short to be a miserable bastard.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he bristled, chest expanding as he took a step toward Ronan.

  Kragen moved quickly, grabbing Darrin by the back of his shirt. “There now, let’s not go and do something stupid while we’re still in the middle of dealing with our first crisis.”

  “You may want to consider calming the fuck down. We already have one out of control person on our hands. Let’s not add you to the list.” Ronan sounded downright reasonable as he spoke. If it wasn’t for the way his worried eyes kept moving to stare at Helena, he would have seemed almost chipper.

  Darrin struggled to break free of Kragen’s grip, his cheeks and ears turning bright red with his embarrassment.

  “Do you promise to behave?” Kragen asked.

  “Yes,” Darrin bit out.

  Kragen released him and Darrin stumbled forward. Straightening, he looked to Von, “Help her, damn it. You’re her Mate, use that bond of yours and fucking do something.”

  Von lifted a dark brow, having mostly ignored the other men until now. “What exactly did you think I was over here trying to do? Egg her on?”

  Joquil stepped forward, “She needs a way to safely release the power. She pulled too much and has started to lose control of it.”

  Looking around Von tried to find something that she wouldn’t utterly destroy. As it was the room was almost completely done for, but the structure was still sound. If it collapsed it wouldn’t just be the people inside the room that were lost. Short of getting her out of the Palace entirely, Von was at a loss.

  Darrin’s words came back to him. Use that bond of yours.

  An idea sparked. Von turned back toward the fuming woman who held his blackened heart in the palm of her currently clawed hand. If ever there was a reason to risk annihilation… The thought drew out, loosely forming into a plan. The land could not handle the brunt of her power, but he could.

  Years of battle allowed him to remain calm, despite his growing concern. Placing a hand on either side of her face, Von called her again, infusing his voice with every ounce of love and wonder he’d experienced since he first met her. “Helena.” Her name was a prayer, reverently uttered and full of unspoken hope.

  Power exploded through him as her shimmering eyes focused on his, unable to ignore his plea. Von’s back arched from the force of it, everything she had been holding onto slamming into him. Her power was an inferno, burning him from the inside out. Gritting his teeth, he pressed his forehead to hers. He began to pant, his eyes turning molten silver as their joint power filled him.

  “Vessel,” he rumbled down their bond, his voice echoing with the harmonious voice-of-many generally associated with Helena’s power.

  Helena blinked. “Mate?” The word was a question, as if she was not entirely sure who was speaking.

  Her power was intoxicating. Von had never felt anything like its seductive pull and could easily understand how it could take over completely. As it continued to flow into him, Helena’s eyes began to return to normal, although flickers of iridescence remained.

  Unable to contain all of this power on his own, Von’s hands began to tremble. “I need you to take it back now, Mira. Not all at once; just a little at a time.”

  Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Refocusing, she placed a hand over his racing heart. Helena closed her eyes, drawing the power back into herself and through her, back into the room. Von braced himself, half-expecting what was left of the room to come crashing down around them. But instead of destruction, Helena chose transformation.

  He could still feel her need for violence, her power throbbed with it, but it was not all-consuming. Her priorities had shifted, righting themselves as the part of her that was compassion and light came back into control. At least for now.

  The room was suffocating. Helena felt as if each one of the souls of the fallen was trapped and screaming at her to release them. Peace; they all needed peace. It was too soon to feel this much grief and loss again. When will I get a break from burying people that I love?

  Von’s heart continued its steady, if rapid, beat against the palm of her hand. It grounded her, giving her something tangible to focus on. He was holding onto her excess power, but he would not be able to contain it for much longer. She needed to release it as quickly as possible.

  There were too many bodies for her to individually carry them, as she had done for the villages they’d come across during their trek to Daejara. Not to mention the fact that simply sifting the earth to make graves was far too delicate a task when she had so much power requiring immediate release. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t honor them.

  Helena refused to allow this room to be a haunted, feared place. She would not allow it to be a blight for her or her people. The Palace had been erected as a testament to the power and glory of the Chosen. It would continue to serve that purpose, albeit in a new way. With that determination in mind, Helena’s power flowed into the room.

  The others looked on in rapt fascination as all around them objects began to lift up off the ground before flying through the air. It was happening faster than any of them could track. The room that had started off the evening as a lush, glittering oasis and then quickly descended into chaos and carnage, was amidst yet another transformation. The mounds of smoking dirt and piles of bodies disappeared. In their place, trees and flowers bloomed. Helena was creating a forest right in the heart of the Palace.

  Let their blood bring new life. One for every one lost, Helena thought, not feeling the tears as they fell from her eyes. She had probably only met a small handful of the dead, but that was not the point. None would be forgotten. Even though she could not tell you each of their names, the trees could. If one was to place their hand upon the bark of the tree, they would hear the name of the one they represented whispered amongst its leaves.

  By the time she was done they were surrounded with life. The trees ranged in size and age, each reflective of the one whose name they now carried. A gentle breeze tickled the leaves, making them dance on their branches. Helena tipped her face up, enjoying the sparkling night sky, even though they were on the bottom floor of the Palace. At least there could be beauty in magic, as well as destruction.

  “It is a beautiful memorial, Kiri,” Timmins said in a hushed tone.

  Overwhelmed by the events of the day, Helena could only nod. She let her eyes wander around the forest. While she was pleased with the result, it didn’t lessen the pain of losing so many of those she was supposed to protect.

  Guilt ate at her. She had known, on some level, this would happen. There had been a moment in Vyruul when Rowena had taunted her from the balcony. She’d had a choice, go for Rowena or get her Circle out. She’d chosen to save the people she knew, the ones that had grown to mean more to her than all others. In doing so, she’d put every single one of the remaining Chosen at risk. These deaths were on her.

  The Keeper’s had warned her about this. Their words haunting her as she stood in this place made from the bodies of the dead:

  ‘The path you choose will decide our fate.’

  ‘The fate of all the Chosen.’

  A shudder racked her body. One thing was becoming increasingly clear. There might be peace for the dead, but until Rowena was stopped, Helena would have none.

  Chapter Nine

  It w
as either very late or very early. Either way, Helena couldn’t sleep. Every time her eyes fell closed, the piles of bodies were there to greet her. The weight of all that death, and knowing that she was the reason for it… that she was asking people to willingly place themselves in situations that guaranteed even more of it, was too much for her to handle.

  “Helena, you are not the only ruler to ever be faced with this,” Von murmured, using his thumb to gently free the lip she had been unconsciously biting. She looked up and the devastation in her eyes nearly undid him. She was in pain; he could feel it resonating through him. It was the kind of pain that gnawed at your soul until it incapacitated you completely.

  “Darling, you have to be kinder to yourself,” he said, moving to pull her into his arms.

  “It’s my fault.”

  “No more than it is mine.”

  “They are my people, my responsibility—”

  “Is it my fault every time one of my men dies in battle?” Von cut in.

  “Well, no, but—”

  “Do you blame or look at me differently because I have had to kill men in battle?”

  “Of course not!” she protested, twisting to stare at him.

  “Then why are you doing it to yourself?”

  The question threw her. Her brows furrowed as she tried to find an answer.

  Von gently stroked her face, running his calloused fingers lovingly over her skin. “You cannot keep holding yourself to a higher standard. It will cripple you. As a leader you need to make decisions. Those decisions will protect some, and they will lead to the deaths of others. Your people follow you by choice. They know what awaits them on the battlefield, and they fight anyway. Do not be so arrogant as to think you can control every outcome. Not only do you rob your people of their heroics, but you place such a burden on yourself. You need to be able to be decisive and defend your decision no matter the outcome. If it does not go the way you intended, you learn from it, and from your enemies, and then you move on. You have to, because there will always be another battle or decision waiting for you.”