Chapter Sixty-Four
Reign
An unnatural stillness cloaked our ranks as we soared above the war-scorched canopy of Feywood.
Below, the forest bled. Blackened earth, twisted trunks, and the acrid stench of smoke and blood rose to meet us on the wind.
Just ahead, I could already see the clash of forces where Ruhl and the Umbral Guard held the line against the advancing Night Fae.
Noxus, protect us. Protect her.
I risked a glance past Phantom’s wing.
Aelia. My warrior queen. Forged in fire and shadow. Crowned in light. The unyielding heart of this war.
She rode Solanthus like a star descending to end the darkness, her presence defiant and blinding. And yet, a whisper of dread coiled low in my gut. My fingers found the inner pocket of my cloak, brushing the cold edge of the Moirai Shard.
It had called to me this morning from the old armoire, subtle but urgent. Not in words, but something darker... As if the gods themselves had placed it in my path for this moment. Perhaps it hadn’t been meant to destroy the bonds of the blood vow, but for something else entirely.
I didn’t know what it would demand. Or what it would cost.
But if it could grant her even a fraction of more time, one breath or one heartbeat, it would be worth it. Because by nightfall, Aelia would stand victorious. She would raise this broken realm from ash and shadow and carry us into the dawn. I felt the truth of it in the deepest marrow of my bones.
Even if it meant I would not rise beside her.
I love you. I sent the thought through our bond, and Aelia’s gaze snapped to mine over the powerful flaps of our dragons’ wings.
Don’t you start that, professor. A hint of amusement laced her tone, but something darker lay just beneath.
Start what? I can’t tell you how much I love you?
Not before we descend into battle… it sounds too much like a goodbye.
Never, starlight. I threw her a smirk, forcing a nonchalance I didn’t quite feel. The cuorem bond is forever, remember? You’re stuck with me for all eternity.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Will you two stop chattering on and on? We have a war to win. Phantom’s voice rushed through our bond.
Be nice, Phantom. Solanthus chimed in next, gently scolding his mate, although I definitely heard something akin to humor in his voice.
Yes, I thought you’d be in a better mood now that you’ve been mated, old girl.
My dragon snorted, angling her wings toward the earth. I’ll be in a better mood once this is all over.
Well then, let’s finish it now. Aelia’s smile was fierce, determination surging through our connection.
Our skyriders dove in perfect unison with the rest of our aerial forces following suit. As not all of our warriors were blessed with winged-beasts, the rest of our troops would come by other means, traveling by light or shadows and forming the second wave.
The moment Phantom’s claws touched the scorched earth, the world erupted into chaos. Ruhl was the first to greet us with blood streaking his temple, one sleeve torn and charred. His sword dripped with black ichor, his expression grim.
“You’re late,” he growled.
“We came as quickly as we could,” I replied, vaulting off Phantom’s back just as Solanthus landed beside us with a roar that shook the trees. The ground trembled under their combined weight, and several Night Fae faltered mid-charge.
Aelia slid down with grace that contradicted the oppressive weight of battle. “You held the line.”
“Barely,” Ruhl replied, wiping his umbral blade on his thigh. “We’re being pressed hard. They came through the southern glade an hour ago and haven’t stopped.”
All around us, the forest howled with war cries. Trees snapped, fire crackled, and the shrieks of dying beasts split the air.
“Then let’s end this,” I growled, echoing my cuoré’s earlier words to our skyriders and drawing both my blades, one of pure shadow, the other steel.
My shadows hissed and curled across my shoulders, anxious for the fight.
Aelia stood beside me, peering across the smoky field.
Reaching for her through our bond, I felt nothing but sheer determination as she hardened her gaze.
With a quick scan of our gathered forces, Flare Squad along with some of our closest friends, she lifted her dagger, the infernium blade catching the light of the mid-day sun. “For Aetheria,” she cried out.
An answering roar echoed across the assembled warriors, Light and Shadow both fighting as one. As we should have been all along.
To my left, Rue, Symon and Devin charged forward with matching wild grins, each slightly wind-blown from the flight but filled with fiery defiance.
“I told you she’d bring us to the heart of the slaughter,” Rue quipped, not even glancing at me as she loosed an arrow into a Night Fae’s chest.
“And I told you I look excellent in battle smoke,” Symon retorted as he buried his luminescent blade into the belly of a Demon male.
Heaton stumbled up next, his leathers slightly too big after all the weight he’d lost and a light spear clutched in his hands.
Aelia turned, alarm flashing in her eyes, and I felt the fear for her friend shoot down the bond. “Heaton! No. You’re not—”
“I am,” he interrupted, planting the spear into the dirt like a declaration. “You need every blade. And I already told you I’m not hiding in some tent while our world burns.”
Aelia opened her mouth to protest, but I gently touched her arm. “Let him fight. He’s made his choice.”
Before she could respond, Belmore and Ariadne flanked our side, the male barking orders while Ariadne conjured sweeping gusts of ethereal light to knock back enemy archers from the tree line. I never thought either student would amount to much, but I’d been wrong. Happily, so.
Kaelith emerged from the fray moments later, cloak ripped at the hem, staff glowing with zar as he incinerated a cluster of advancing Night Fae with scorching hellfire.
Just behind him, a familiar form took shape.
Oh, gods, no. Gideon appeared, panting, his armor glinting beneath the moonlight.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him brandishing a weapon.
“Reign!” he called, waving with one hand while wielding a sword of writhing shadows in the other. “I’m here to help!”
I stared at him in horror. I loved my best friend, but he did not belong on the battlefield. The library was his domain. “Stay behind us,” I growled, knowing full well I’d never be able to convince him to leave. “Don’t move from Kaelith’s side. If anything comes near you, run.”
He nodded, gripping the hilt with both hands. “Give me a little credit, my broody prince. I may have never been the warrior you are, but I can hold my own.”
“Just be careful.”
“Of course.” With a mock salute, he raced behind Kaelith into the skirmish.
Aelia and I turned in unison to face the approaching wave. The Night Fae came with beasts stitched from smoke and sinew, eyes glowing red, limbs too long and twisted. Their riders bore obsidian blades, dripping with venomous zar. A shriek pierced the air, and the charge really began.
And so did ours.
We met them in a collision of fire and fury. Aelia moved beside me like liquid light, her blades singing with rais. I struck low, shadows curling from my wrists, pulling enemies into the dark where they didn’t rise again.
Then, I felt it. Not just the cuorem, but something deeper. Older.
Power. Pure, living, breathing power coursed through the bond. I reached for Aelia through it and found no resistance, only welcome.
It was like nothing I’d ever felt before in battle. Or ever, really.
It wasn’t only Phantom’s power now. I could feel Solanthus, his fire smoldering in my chest and his fury fueling my limbs.
I could feel Aelia’s rais, as if the sun had slipped under my skin and was burning away every shred of hesitation.
My nox, it responded like it never had before; it was sharper, hungrier, alive.
And beneath it all, the murky zar surged, rippling through my blood like lightning in ink.
With a shout, I splayed out my fingers on instinct as potent energy rushed through my veins. A vortex of shadowfire laced with starflame and powered by Solanthus’s roar exploded from my fingertips. It obliterated a creature in midair, scattering its remains into glittering ash.
Aelia spun at me, eyes wide. “Well, that’s new.”
“It certainly is.”
Without another word, she turned back to the fight and arched her luminescent daggers, her blades blazing white-gold and violet, carving through armor and bone like silk. Her face was alight. She was a goddess, queen, warrior, all in one.
The Night Fae regarded her in horror. And rightfully so.
From above, Phantom shrieked a war cry, casting an umbral veil over half the field. Solanthus followed with a pillar of golden flame that set the sky ablaze. The beasts of smoke fell one by one. Even the resurrected Night Fae revenants succumbed to their fury.
We fought as one. Four hearts. One breath.
Ariadne screamed a warning. I spun, too slowly, and found a Night Fae blade coming within inches of my neck.
Only, it never landed.
Kaelith slammed the attacker with a blast of zar so violent it sent the Night Fae female hurtling against a tree, and with it came his dry smirk. “You’re welcome.”
I threw him a matching grin.
“Thank you,” Aelia breathed beside me.
But then the lavender-haired female pushed herself off the ground and turned her matching lavender gaze on me, then Aelia.
Something twisted in my gut as I took the female in.
That face. Those eyes. They were different, yet familiar, somehow. Sharper. More angular. No longer masked in soft illusion. It was her, but not. A darker reflection. One that sent every instinct in me screaming.
Aelia’s expression faltered, confusion rippling across her features. “Liora?”