by G. Bailey
“I cannot accept,” I say, looking him dead in the eye. “The thrones belong to Corvina Charles, and my only wish is to protect her. I do not desire to take either throne from her. She has fought in blood and magic for her people, for the thrones, and she came from nothing. She was nothing but a lowly shadowborn for many years, and yet she fights for the world which abandoned her. Corvina has earnt the thrones. They are hers and my place is at her side.”
“That is your final answer?” His tone is calm, which surprises me.
“Yes. My heart belongs only to her.”
“And your loyalty?” He takes a sip of his drink, his eyes pressed on me. “Does a father not deserve the loyalty of his son?”
“You were never a father to me,” I point out. “Narah was scarcely a mother, but she was still there when I needed her.” A pause stretches between us and Hades clenches his jaw. I believe I’ve touched a nerve. “If you want to be part of my life now, you will let me return to my mate and win this war on my own terms. You will also stay out of it. This is not your fight.”
Hades remains silent for a long, tense moment. I keep my eyes pressed on him, refusing to back down or be swayed or manipulated. I might not be a god, but if Hades refuses to let me go, I will destroy this abyss he calls home.
“I will agree,” he answers at last, “but know this, Pitch, you are my firstborn son. Once you depart the living realm, you will rule here, as I have done, for the rest of eternity. Your fate was written in blood before you were even born, but perhaps your queen and her mates can rule with you. The underworld respects love and bonds made in life…”
I nod with a small smile, extending him my hand. “Until then, Father.”
Hades shakes my proffered hand, and a ribbon of dark magic wraps around us. “Until then, my son.”
The magic materialises into a portal that sends me back to the Forest. In a mere blink of an eye, I’m standing outside Jane’s cottage. A white light blasts my eyes and throws me off my feet. I release my wings and steady myself before I land on the ground. Ambrose lands beside me, his skin glowing with fury.
“Eva has taken her!”
I snap my gaze around the area, watching as Gage sends Ronan falling onto his back. Their magic collides, along with Jonah and Jane’s, who are both standing beside my mother. She’s using tremendous amounts of power to ward off something lurking in the shadows.
Another blast bounces off the cottage, but I use my wings to hold me steady and fly to her side.
“Mother!”
“I am not strong enough to banish the Titan,” she bellows, her magic weakening before my eyes. “I can bide you time to escape.”
The trees fall down behind the cottage as the Titan stomps its way towards us.
“We are not going without you,” I tell her.
Although it is weak, she smiles at me. “This is not where I’m to see my end. Go now. Use your magic to open a portal to my kingdom. I will meet you there.”
A loud cry shrieks behind us and I turn just in time to see Jonah plunging a dagger into Ronan’s leg. I fly over, using magic to drag the weeds out from Jane’s garden. Ronan wails as Jonah twists the blade around in his flesh. I land with a thump, wrapping the weeds around Ronan’s throat.
I want to watch him die.
I want my face to be one of the last he ever sees.
“This is for what you did to Corvina. Turns out you sided with the wrong queen,” I snarl, tightening the weeds until he no longer breathes and his head explodes. I would savor his death if not for the Titan charging into view. Narah is on the brink of collapsing as she struggles to hold the god back. With Ambrose, Gage, and Jonah at my side, we stand beside her, combining our magics to hopefully penetrate the Titan’s flesh. The stone slowly gives way, allowing Ambrose to shoot a lightning bolt right into its chest. With a pained bellow, the Titan shatters into pieces like a cracked shell and explodes into a whirlwind of ashes. The wisps flutter around us as Narah pulls me into a tight embrace.
“My son!”
Unexpected warmth spreads through me, filling me with relief. I can count on one hand the number of embraces my mother and I have shared, and this one means more than all of them combined.
“Where is Sage and her mate?” I ask, looking around for them. “Are they safe?”
Narah lets me go, her dark eyes filled with tears. “Yes, they are at my palace. I have since taken my army back and we are preparing to free Corvina and put an end to Eva’s madness. I have already sent a raven to inform Zander.” She glances to where the Titan burned into a pile of ashes. “The Titan will resurrect itself soon. We must go.”
I step back and watch her open a portal. With a backward glance at the Titan’s remains, I pause. The ashes gather and swirl around, forming the Titan we just defeated.
They can’t be stopped.
I must find Corvina before the titans destroy the world.
Eva shoves me onto the cold dirt as we appear somewhere cold. I roll to a stop, picking myself up quickly to face my sister before she stabs me in the back again.
Literally.
Dark wisps flutter around me as I stare at what is left of the Princess of Helios. Her once pale skin is smothered with black veins and I can almost taste the wrong and destructive magic flowing from her. Pure evil is not just in her soul anymore it seems. Her once beautiful hair is no longer soft. It looks like a wave of jagged levels and the static from her magic makes it almost move. Resting on her head is the princess crown she has always worn and I wonder how much she is itching to wear our father’s crown now that she thinks she has won.
“How rude I am to my sister!” Eva exclaims, spreading her hands out in a derisive bow. Not playing her games, I search the space we are in. Nothing but ash and dust line the ruins of the room, but the wind whips around us so fast it makes me wonder how high up we are. “I have not introduced you to my new friends.”
I scream as wind slams into me, shoving me hard onto the floor. Ash puffs up in a cloud above me and turns everything dark. My heart beats so loudly in my chest I just barely hear the large footsteps of the Titans as they surround us. Their shoulders rest above the ruined walls of the room and their empty faces stare down at me.
“You need new friends, you crazy bitch,” I bellow, but my insane sister just laughs in response.
She skips around me in a circle, humming a song I don’t know but sounds like a lullaby you would sing to a child. By Selena, she has lost her goddamn mind. My body starts to float into the air and I close my eyes, using my own magic to fight the hold on me. But nothing happens. I feel empty inside where my magic should be. Not even the sword feels as though it’s part of my being anymore. It’s like Eva has paralysed me with that creepy lullaby.
Just as I start to move my hand and get control of my magic again, I open my eyes, and shock makes me forget everything as I stare at the remains of the light kingdom. It’s nothing more than fire, ash, and rubble now. The once sweet smell of the kingdom is replaced with an awful burning scent that chokes me with every breath. Now I know it’s the smell of Vasili burning to the ground. Eva flies in front of me, still humming away as she gets super close and looks into my eyes.
“Why destroy the kingdom you wanted to rule?”
My whisper floats between us as she grabs my chin, her nails making me wince as they cut me. “The light and dark kingdom honoured the gods,” Eva says, digging her nails harder. “This is but a shrine to them and their old ways. The new kingdom I will build will honour only me.”
“No one will ever honour or love you, Eva. You’ve become unloveable,” I spit at her, tears falling from my cheek and onto her hand. “I could have loved you once. You’re my sister but you’ve destroyed everything that could have been. You are nothing more than a monster now.”
For a second, her cold and impassive demeanour cracks. I see it so clearly in her eyes like a wave crashing into the ocean, but it vanishes just as quickly, leaving only the sea behind; a sea of darkness
in which Eva will never be able to rise ashore from.
My sister has to die.
Eva laughs again, her cackle making the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge. Before she can do anything, a booming noise blasts in the distance. I turn to see a wave of dark fae floating in the air, and on the ground is an army of fae and shadowborn mixed in together. Sensing my mates and mother in the crowd, tears of relief and fear fill me.
They have come for me.
“Titans, do go and kill the remains of the old world,” Eva orders, sweeping a hand dismissively to the wreckage below.
“No!” I scream and my voice is cut off as Eva punches me hard across the face. The blows never stop, and the pain is indescribable as I cower into myself, wishing I could break free of the magic holding me down. As Eva screams and continues to laugh, hitting me again and again, I stare at the sky and my father’s words come back to me, almost like he is speaking in my mind.
“Look up, Corvina. The stars are welcoming you home.”
The goddess herself is never going to let me down, and the stars will never turn dark for me. My father might not be here anymore, but my mates and my mother are, and they are fighting for me.
I need to fight for them.
I’m Corvina Charles, Princess of the Light and Dark Fae, and I am also shadowborn.
No darkness can hold me down. No light can either.
I scream from the top of my lungs as power slams out of me in waves, knocking Eva across the room. I fall to the floor with her, breaking the magical hold she had on me. It’s time the world says goodbye to Eva once and for all.
With the raven’s message repeating in my mind, I soar through the clouds towards the dragon kingdom. I need to get the Draconians on our side now more than ever. There’s no other option if I want to save Corvina and help her win this war.
Her fate now rests in my hands.
If I succeed here, there’s also no chance that my parents can deny my victory. I am doing the work of the crown, after all. But more than that, I am protecting my mate. Corvina means more to me than their approval.
I can’t fuck this up.
I hold my breath as I fly into Draconia, keeping a wary eye on the dragon warriors watching me from the ground. To my relief, I’m able to enter without combusting into flames. A strange sense of belonging sinks into me as I glide over the caverns. This is the first time I’ve ever been here, and instead of fear and trepidation, I feel like I’m home.
I swallow the lump of emotion rising within me and swoop down into a dark cave. Streams of sunlight pour around me, catching the sapphire crystals embedded in the stone walls. Emerging from the other side, I immediately see that everything in this kingdom is built around plunging waterfalls, winding caverns, and breathtaking lakes.
The palace is the first thing that grips my attention. A statue of a ginormous dragon with its claws wrapped around an egg protectively towers over the palace. Pouring out from underneath is a waterfall that plunges into a lake, wrapping the base of the building in mist. It’s almost like the palace is sitting on a cloud.
I breeze through, sweeping my advanced vision over the kingdom below. The lake is split up into countless fractions that each contain miniature cities. Bridges connect them and link to an enormous garden with iridescent trees and flowers. Only the palace remains segregated. As I fly closer, I see that it’s sitting on the edge of the largest waterfall I have ever seen. It looks like it’s perched on the edge of the world.
Entranced by Draconia’s beauty, I don’t see the chained shackle shooting towards me. It wraps around my ankle and disrupts my flight. I let out a roar as I crane my neck to see what the hell is going on. By the time I do that, another chain latches onto me. They don’t penetrate my scales but they have a strong hold on me and drag me down to the earth. I just manage to stop myself from smacking into the concrete, and, using every bit of strength that I possess, I yank the shackles off with my teeth.
Three blue dragons surround me, each of them wearing a silver breastplate with Draconia’s sigil.
Another dragon appears, and I assume by his gold breastplate and sheer size that he’s the highest-ranking.
I straighten so that I’m at my most imposing size.
The dragons are silent for a long moment, probably discussing whether or not I’m telling the truth.
After a long, strained moment, the leader shakes his head.
I glare at them, white-hot fury pounding through my veins.
One of the other dragons speaks up.
“What’s going on here?”
A tall, cloaked figure emerges with a gold medallion around his neck.
All I can see is red as I struggle not to punch sense into these spineless warriors.
The Draconian hears me even in his male form. “I am the king’s royal advisor, Sir Julius Griscor.” His long blond hair flows around him as he comes to a sharp halt. There’s a strange, familiar air about the advisor, but I would remember seeing a blonde Draconian. It’s extremely rare among dragons.
“The king knows you are here.” He turns to the dragons. “Prince Drusus, Prince Draco, and Prince Drakon, thank you for your concern, but this visitor is no threat to us.” Turning to me, he adds, “Come, Zander. We have much to discuss.”
As I transform back into my human form and follow the advisor, I say, “I never told you my name. How do you know me?”
The Draconian pauses only briefly. “It is my job to know everyone in this forest,” he says, resuming his walk. “Hurry now. The king is not a patient dragon but he is keen to hear your plea.”
Flying back over the forest, I glance at the army of dragons now flying behind me and King Cyrus into battle. I wasn’t sure the king would believe me at first, but with the help of his queen and advisors, I was able to convince him to come with me by the time the moon claimed the night sky. Tapping into the king’s mind, I send him a message.
The king’s dragon, a fierce monster of a creature with huge claws, dark green scales, and shimmering blood-red eyes glances at me for a moment.
I make sure to meet the king’s eyes as I reply.
I have a fucking brother?
Pushing away the shock, or any thoughts of the father I have never met, I focus on the present and look at the stars now gleaming above. It is said that the fallen gods and goddesses have gone to rest up there to watch over us. I send a silent prayer to them to help Corvina. Take my li
fe if you must but not hers. Vina is everything this messed up world needs to save them from drowning in darkness. Fae and shadowborn, and magics alike must see that she is the future for them all. Selena, do not let her die in this war.
The first thing I sense is fire, so much of it, just before I see the Titans surrounding the ruins of the Light Fae Kingdom. They weave destruction in waves, killing everything in their way. Countless fae and shadowborn fall as we fly towards them and I search for anyone familiar. Sensing Vina in the palace which is surrounded by a dark bubble of magic, I know getting to her is going to be near impossible.
But I’m going to try.
The king’s roared demand pounds in my head as I join my fellow dragons and charge at the city.
Corvina Charles…I’m coming for you.
“Do you know what? I think we should do this the old way,” Eva says, dragging two swords out from thin air. She throws one at me and the metal clangs at my feet. “Father did always want my fencing skills put to good use. This is as good an opportunity as any.”
As I bend down to pick up the sword, just managing to hold back a hiss from all the pain, the magical sword speaks in my mind.
I straighten, holding myself as tall as I can while my magic heals the bruises left by Eva. I notice the injuries I gave her have also healed. With my strength restored, I tighten my grip on the sword and wait for her to make the first move.
“You know something, our father never truly loved me, Corvina, and do you know why?” she asks, pacing in front of the Throne of Luna. It’s the only thing in our father’s throne room that hasn’t been destroyed.