Page 52 of Death Comes for Her
Flickers of surprise only lasted half a second. Chaos erupted around the room. I closed my eyes, ready to accept my fate,because nothing else mattered with the taste of hard-won victory coating my tongue.
Sanctus Ambrose crumpled into the marble. His skin dried, peeling off his bones, and flaked away. His bones turned into ash and swirled into nothing. His clothes drifted into a forgotten heap of fabric.
Hundreds of vampires lunged, ready to tear me apart.
Two of them jumped between me and the hungry, vengeful predators. Questions flitted from their mouths; panic singed the air as the tension surged.
“And I have won the war,” I repeated under my breath.
I dropped the necklace on the floor and crushed it under my heel. Then the world exploded in a tidal wave of gold and divine heat.
Epilogue
“A century ago, there was an evil entity who schemed in the shadows. He used corrupted magic to steal the power of the sun from the sky.” Several gasps interrupted the theatrical tone of my voice. I bit back a smile at the dozens of little round faces peering up at me. “For over a decade, that monster and his children hunted our kind to near extinction.”
A little girl with violet eyes and nervously twitching wings shot her hand into the air. “Your Majesty, is it true that the sky was red during the Everdark Age?”
I nodded sagely. “Yes, Tanya. As dark and red as mortal blood. It was a terrifying time for the fair folk.”
“My daddy said that lots of fairies lost their wings like you… er… Your Majesty.” The voice of a young boy chimed in. I glanced at Lucas in the back who had returned his thumb to his mouth, staring up at me with pale brown eyes and blushing freckled cheeks.
My smile at the topic was no longer sad. A hundred and twenty years had passed since that time. I’d grieved, mourned, and accepted my fate long ago with help.
“Indeed, Lucas. Many fairy parents did the unthinkable in order to save their children and give them a better life. A life in hiding, but they were alive. Once the terrible monsters were taken care of and the sun returned to the sky, fair folk came out of hiding. We took up arms once again, bolstered by themagic of the sunlight, and sent those nasty creatures back to the shadows.”
“Are all vampires bad?” Another young fairy girl asked.
“No,” I shook my head. “In fact, I have a great many vampire friends. One of my closest friends is Chancellor Imani.” Their youthful, innocent eyes went wide. A breezy chuckle escaped me at their brilliant stares, full of awe.
Another eager hand shot up, the boy’s wings fluttering in his excitement. “Your Majesty! Is it true that you’re the one who freed the sun and killed the bad vampire? My mommy told me you won the war.”
My heart swooped in memory of that day.
“Yes, Leif. But I didn’t do it on my own. That’s a reminder to you all to ask for help when you need it. You need not undertake difficult tasks on your own.” I gestured at the sprawling city beneath the massive balcony of the Golden Palace. Hundreds of fairies soared through towering, gilded spires that reached the clouds, dotting the orange and violet sky like fireflies at sunset. “Look at what the fairies have done in a hundred years since the survivors came together. Our capital is bigger than ever, and our people are flourishing.”
I breathed in the late summer air, carrying the salty, sweet scent of the gilded sea in the distance and the floral smells of the nearby gardens. Fluffy clouds drifted lazily overhead, almost close enough to swipe my hands through. The fluttering and twitching golden wings of all the children sitting cross-legged before me caught the fading sunlight, glimmering with their magic.
“We’ve had ambassadors from the mortals aid in our rebuilding efforts over the years. There are human kings and queens who we have trade agreements with all over the continent. Even a few of the well-behaved vampires workalongside us,” I giggled at their expense, knowing I’d earn a glare for ‘well-behaved’.
“But isn’t that dangerous?” An older child asked. A girl with knowledge swirling in her eyes. I noticed the thick history book in her lap and my lips curved up. “Vampires are our natural enemies. My book says that Sanctus Ambrose—”
“He was a bad one, yes,” I gently interjected. “But not all vampires are bad, just as not all humans or fair folk are bad. Vampires have instincts and urges that might not be in our best interest, but they know now that we aren’t helpless.” The dagger always sheathed at my hip almost hummed in response. “We protect ourselves and we protect one another.” I pointedly glanced at all the children gathered, hoping they absorbed the wisdom I offered. “We love, we suffer sorrows, we heal, and life goes on.”
At the end of the lesson, dozens of fairies fluttered onto the balcony, arriving to pick up their children. I shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, politely refused gifts, and said goodnight to the young ones. I remained at the edge of the balcony long after they’d departed, taking in the serene and joyous vision of a bustling fairy kingdom.
After the first new dawn following Sanctus’ death, the fairies had used the renewed sunlight to take back the day and our lives. Hundreds of survivors had flocked to me, finding me through my innate magical connection to all fair folk as a Monarch. Gathered as a unified force, once again fair folk ascended on our ravaged capital and rectified the damage done under crimson skies.
I found my father’s wings. We built a pyre on the cliffs, burning them as he deserved. As the sun set, I spread Father’s ashes in the wind, praying that he and Mother were together beyond the veil. And hoping that they were proud of me.
On the morning of the New Dawn, over two hundred vampires of their high society and newly developed government burned to ash. Direct contact with erupting sunlight eviscerated all traces of the undead creatures before they had a chance to avenge their fallen leader. The explosion of unfiltered power left most of the Ambrose Manor as charred ruins, and only a handful of vampires survived.
Without their prominent leaders, the vampires scattered like rats. Their armies fell apart, no longer protected by darkness and red skies. We hunted and executed the worst of them like vermin. In the wake of a golden new era, the fair folk rose again, reclaiming our freedom.
Stars are born when nebulas collapse. We consumed our gods to the point of ruination. So much of what we once knew collapsed. But it was not to our detriment, not entirely. The Everdark Age was not the destruction of the fairies, merely a dark blip in our long-lived history. Rebirth followed devastation, and joy replaced sorrow.
Two decades after the Golden Palace and capital city expanded, blooming with new life and swelling developments, they crowned me as Queen Lorevain, Bringer of the New Dawn. By then, repopulation efforts were underway, and the cheers of my subjects could be heard across the world.
I remained on the balcony, watching and waiting as the sun kissed the horizon. Stars blinked to life in the darkening dome overhead and anticipation coiled tight in my belly. Even after all that time, tears swelled behind my eyes as I surveyed my kingdom and fairies filling the sky. Wings fluttered as far as my eyes could see, and I’d never grow tired of the sight.
