Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aelia
The cold wind off the Luminoc River stung my cheeks as I stood at its edge, the water churning dark and restless despite the burn of Raysa’s ever-present light.
Behind me, Reign, Flare Squad, and nearly a hundred other students who had chosen to follow us shifted in uneasy silence, the air crackling with tension and uncertainty.
Across the river, chaos had already begun.
I could see it all unfolding, dread scraping at my insides.
Farther down the Luminoc, Elian’s Royal Guardians, in their white and gold armor that flashed like shards of light, clashed with the black-clad Umbral Guard.
The Shadow Fae fought back with wild, desperate precision, despite likely having been completely caught off guard by the attack.
Smoke curled up from the banks, shadows rippling across the water as nox and rais collided, the clang of steel and the screams of the wounded carrying across the wind.
I clenched my hands into fists, the mate bond thumping beneath my ribs, a steady reassurance urging me forward. “This is madness,” I whispered as I scanned the battle lines, searching for any sign of peace that might still exist. There had to be a way to stop the bloodshed before it drowned us all.
Beside me, Reign’s shadows brushed against my wrist like a tether, grounding and protective. “We’ll stop it, Aelia,” he said, voice low and rough, the river wind snatching at his words.
Fury snapped at my veins. “This is exactly what Helroth wants, for us to tear each other apart so that he can step in and reap the spoils of war.”
His hand replaced his shadows, capturing my wrist and spinning me to face him. “You’re right, but you can’t just race out there into the middle of a battle—or worse, drag these students along with you. You’d be no better than Elian.”
The admonition stung, but the logical part of me knew he wasn’t wrong.
“Fine, then where is Ruhl?” I demanded, my eyes still on the battlefield, searching the shifting lines of shadows and light. “With Tenebris captured, doesn’t the role of king fall on his shoulders? He should be here, stopping this.”
“I’m sure he’s here somewhere,” Reign said, jaw tightening. “But if you’ll recall, it was Elian who was the aggressor. The Umbral Guard are only protecting their lands from an invader.”
“I know that!” I hissed. Realms, this was a disaster.
“And even as interim king, Ruhl’s power is fragile. He must undergo the Ritual of the Shadow Throne before he can hold any real sway as ruler.”
“You really don’t believe the Umbral Guard will obey him?”
“I don’t know,” he gritted it. “Besides, Elian came for blood, and some in the Shadow Court are more than eager to spill it in return.”
“Then I’ll stop it,” I hissed, my wings flickering with light as they threatened to unfurl. “I’ll tell the Royal Guardians the truth, just as I did at Luce. They’ll have no choice but to back down.”
Reign’s hand moved up my arm, shadows flaring in warning. “You can’t. If you go out there, they could cut you down before you have a chance to even speak a word. Let me go instead.”
“No.” My voice was steady, even as fear tried to claw at the edges of my resolve. “They need to hear it from me. They need to see that I am real.”
“Aelia—” His grip tightened around my arm, his shadows twisting around my wrists like chains. “Please. Let me protect you.”
I turned to face him, the wind whipping my hair around us, the cuorem burning as my power met his. “You can’t protect me from this, Reign. This is what I was born for.”
His shadows pressed closer, desperate, but I lifted my free hand, the tendrils of night loosening enough for me to reach up and press it against his cheek.
Then, tilting his face, I forced him to meet my gaze.
His eyes were wild with fear and love, and for a heartbeat, I let myself feel it all.
The flurry of emotions swept through our bond, more powerful than the will of Raysa herself.
“You’re going to be my ruin,” he whispered again, shadows trembling.
A sad smile touched my lips. “Isn’t that what the prophecy proclaimed?”
I tore myself from his grip, the shadows snapping away as I stepped toward the river. My wings burst forth in a flare of light and shadow that sent ripples across the dark water. Power gathered around me, raising the wind, lifting me off the ground as I prepared to cross the river.
“Aelia, no!” Behind me, Reign’s roar echoed, torn between fury and fear.
But I didn’t look back.
I launched myself into the air, the wind screaming past me as I flew toward the battlefield, racing to stop a war before it swallowed us all.
An answering cry filled the air an instant before powerful wingbeats thrummed across the sky. Not just one dragon, but two. Sol and Phantom streaked closer, cutting through the silky midnight across Shadow lands.
Do you know what you’re doing, little Kin? Sol’s admonishing tone reminded me a bit too much of my mate’s.
No, but I have to try.
Forcing my ethereal wings to flap harder, I skirted the edge of the battleground from above.
Steel clashed against steel, the air thick with the scent of blood and scorched earth.
Rais flared, clashing with the deep, pulsing shadows of the Shadow Fae as they fought back with a desperation that tore at my heart.
Screams and battle cries tangled in the wind, each one carving another notch into my resolve.
Already, I could feel Reign quickly approaching, his wrath surging through the glittering strands that connected us. I had to move now.
I dropped lower, taking in the chaos from close up.
Luminescent blades clashed against umbral weapons in a maddening staccato, blood and gore already staining the dark earth.
A blast of searing light exploded ahead, forcing me to throw up a shield as shards of burning air pelted my skin.
When the dust cleared, in the center of it all, I saw him.
“Ruhl!” I shouted, angling my wings to land in the midst of the melee.
His shadows lashed out in sharp spears as he parried the relentless strikes of a Royal Guardian twice his size. The Guardian’s blade, gleaming with light runes, slammed down, forcing Ruhl to one knee. His teeth were bared in a snarl.
“No!” The word tore from my throat as I surged forward.
The Guardian raised his sword for the killing blow, but before it could fall, I lunged. My daggers rippled with infernium vein as I crossed them above Ruhl’s head, catching the blade with a shower of sparks.
“Get off him,” I hissed, light flooding my being and rippling down my arms.
A burst of rais exploded from my blades, sending the Guardian stumbling backward. Ruhl’s stunned gaze snapped to mine, shadows flickering around him.
“Aelia?” he rasped.
“Get up, my king,” I ordered with a smirk, pulling him to his feet as light and shadow curled together around us, shielding us from the anarchy.
Behind me, a thunderous crack split the air as shadows erupted, swallowing a dozen Light Guardians in darkness.
Reign. Flare Squad fanned out behind him, Rue’s arrows glowing with light and Symon’s luminescent sword sparking as they pushed into the fray.
One by one, they forced back the attackers to form a loose circle around us.
“Aelia!” Rue shouted, sweat and blood splatter already streaking her face as she fired another arrow into the dirt to block an advancing Guardian.
“Are you all right?” I cried, one eye on her and the other on my mate, who was now cleaving through the battlefield with his raging shadows.
She waved a nonchalant hand. “Oh, I’m fine. It’s not my blood.”
Sy grimaced beside her. “She got a little too close when an Umbral Guard’s shadow blade sliced off a Light Fae’s arm.”
“That’s gruesome.” Shaking my head, I shouted, “Be careful,” before stepping into the center of the chaos, and the storm within me raged to life.
I lifted my hands, the trio of powers—rais, nox, and zar—twisting together in a spiral of light and shadow, along with the deep, cold hum of the night. Power crackled across my skin and blinding light streaked with pure darkness as it built. The wind whipped around me in a furious gale.
“Get down!” I shouted at my teammates, just before I released it.
The blast erupted outward in a wave, rolling over the field in a pulse that sent Light and Shadow Fae alike stumbling, weapons dropping as light flashed before their eyes and shadows tangled around their feet. The ground trembled under the force, momentarily dazing everyone and freezing the chaos.
Silence rang out, sharp and merciless.
I stepped forward, wings flaring and catching the moonlight. Rais burned across the battlefield as shadows coiled around me. Sol and Phantom circled overhead, their mere presence bolstering my conviction.
“My name is Aelia,” I called out, cutting through the smoke and fear. “Some of you may have known me as the powerless Kin, the weak student who didn’t belong at the great Conservatory of Luce.”
Faces turned to me, bloodied and dirt-streaked and eyes widening with disbelief.
“But today, I tell you the truth in hopes of ending a pointless war.” I lifted my chin, letting the power settle around me like a mantle, letting them see me.
All of me. “I am the daughter of King Alaric of Ether, the heir to the Court of Ethereal Light. And I am also the child of Light and Shadow. I was born bound by a prophecy, but I refuse to be the child it speaks of. I will not destroy this realm, but rather, I am here to save it.”
The sounds of shock rippled across the field, some stepping back, others forward, uncertainty and hope tangling in their expressions.
“You have all been lied to, used, and turned against each other by those who would see Aetheria burn to protect their own power. But this ends now. We are not enemies.” I swept my gaze across them—Royal Guardians, Shadow Fae, students, and my own Flare Squad as Reign’s dark, steady figure watched me with pride burning in his eyes. “We are Aetheria’s last hope.”
I let the silence stretch. I allowed it to settle over them as the weight of the moment pressed into their souls.
“And I will not stand by and watch you tear each other apart while the true enemy, the Night Fae, gather in the dark.”
My wings folded behind me, the cuorem thundering through my veins with a single, defiant beat. “Choose now. Not between Light and Shadow. Not between your courts or your kings. Choose Aetheria. Choose the future.”