Chapter 83 Heart of Hearts #3
A hand locked around her upper arm and yanked her to her feet. Luella released a broken scream; she hadn’t been prepared for the shock of pain as she staggered to her feet.
The Tenebrae got before her face, seething. "They are here, conquered Princess, and you will watch as they die."
"No—" Luella ripped away from him, the movement strengthened by something unnatural—predestined. The spikes of the collar dug into her throat, choking her strangled roar of rage. "I won’t let you hurt them!"
The mountains quaked, and the top of the spires seemed to glow with an incandescent light, caught from the very moon where it shone above.
But the light stretched and grew, untangling from where it was wrapped around the spires, until it rushed through the air, swirling high above and dancing among the dragon’s shadow and flame.
Luella gasped. "Warm and playful. Stardust in my hand—the S-Stella. You’re here." Her hands rose, reaching for the shape of the warm pools of light where they rushed in the air and twisted and danced and…
Dove down into the Umbra, scattering into a thousand shards of light. They wrapped around the Umbra, dragging them high into the sky, leaving them to dangle before the dragon’s smirk. Teeth poked against the bottom of his maw as he opened his mouth wide and roared flames into their forms.
The Umbra screamed as the fire caught them, burning them alive, burning them in the air.
The Stella dropped the Umbra, where their bodies fell to the ground with a crack. Flames spread out from above as the dragon roared a symphony of vengeance.
Fire caught an Umbra nearby, his sword dropping with a clang against the stone path.
Luella surged forward, uncaring of the heat that licked against her flesh, as she slapped her palm against the horse’s rump, sending it galloping away from danger.
She would not let the horses be harmed by the cruelty of males. They were innocent in all of this.
Just as she turned, the Tenebrae grabbed her again, his shadows like ink as they tightened around her and kept her tethered to his side.
The Umbra danced as flames burned them alive, trying to escape that which could not be escaped from—fiery death.
"My damned sister," the Tenebrae spat as a small piece of the Stella undulated in the air before them, bobbing from side to side like it was shaking its head in disgust at the Tenebrae’s actions.
"You tell my sister to stay away from things that do not pertain to her," the Tenebrae roared, shadows swiping out to wrap around the Stella, crushing it. Its light was snuffed out, and Luella gasped in shock as sparkles of glitter fell to the ground.
The Tenebrae barked a laugh, lips against Luella’s ear as fire ravaged the chasm between them.
"That is what happens when you go against me.
I am undefeatable. I am vengeance. I am the Tenebrae.
" His arm released her, and she staggered forward, nearly toppling into flame as a burning Umbra shrieked, running from nothing. The Tenebrae raised his hands, palms out, facing upward, as he tipped his head back and screamed so loud that the dragon’s wingbeats died beneath the echoing boom from his throat. "Bow before me!"
Luella inhaled raggedly, feeling the fiery air scorch her throat. She coughed, forearm coming up to hover over her mouth. Her white cape turned grey with the ash that filled the air like snowflakes.
The dragon gave a warring, mourning roar, snapping his wings out as he dove lower, as close as he could get. The remaining Umbra ran and screamed, fighting a losing battle as they angled their swords up, attempting to stab the dragon’s scaled underside.
Onyx glinted as the dragon swept above, tail lashing out to knock Umbra to their feet.
One unlucky Umbra was caught beneath the end of the dragon’s tail, swept up into the air, where he crashed against the mountainside, head bursting open against the rock.
His lifeless body fell to the stone, the back of his head caved in.
It was chaos, and Luella stood in the center of it, trying to get away, trying to break free from the shadows wrapped around her.
Just like the dragon, the Stella did not stop.
Twisting in the air, seeking out the Umbra and bringing them up for the dragon to burn. Even when pieces turned to glitter and dusted the stone, they did not give up.
She wanted to be like the Stella. Brave, unyielding.
Something inside her reached out for it, and she saw a twisting piece nearby surge straight forward, turning into a long line midair, before cutting through the shadows that kept her tethered to the Tenebrae.
The line was cut, the Tenebrae roared, and Luella was free.
She saw the shadows in the Tenebrae’s eyes, saw the rage as he swept his hand out, shadows curling, hurtling for her, trying to get her back to his side, where he could force her to watch as he killed the males she lo—
Loved.
The Stella twined around Luella’s form as peaceful strength suffused her.
It wrapped around her like a glistening shield.
The Tenebrae’s shadows hit the Stella, surging up as if glass was between them.
The darkness of the shadows blotted out his shape for only a moment—it was enough for Luella to turn and disappear into the chaos, hiding from the god whose vessel carried the blood of the dragon circling overhead.