Page 1 of Warrior Princess
PROLOGUE
DEMON FOX
The darkness consumed me from the inside out as I looked out into the lands outside of the Grasslands. My homeland. The land of my people. The people who were suffering from the injustice of others.
My blood was on fire as hatred consumed my soul. It was all I could think about as the darkness in my veins emerged and I readied to level all of Asteria in one single blow.
The power within me surged when a light from above temporarily blinded me. From above, Celeste came down before me, her crystalline blue eyes and raven dark hair flowing behind her. Her ivory skin was smooth to the touch. A touch with which I was very much acquainted.
She stood a good distance away from me and held up her hand, yelling, “Shiro, stop!”
We were in the mountains of the Grasslands that bordered the Central Plains, where I planned to start my destruction of Asteria’s people.
I pierced her with my crimson gaze. “There is nothing you can say to stop me, Celeste. I have made up my mind,” I growled.
Her face was filled with anguish. “If you do this, thousands of innocents will die.Mypeople will die. Is that what you want?” she pleaded.
“Valoria is not innocent,” I sneered. “And neither are you.”
She jerked backwards as if I’d slapped her. I might as well have. “You do not mean that,” she whispered. “I have only ever loved you, Shiro.”
I scoffed and looked away, hating to admit that her hurt gaze was painful to look at. “Have you told them about us? Your precious mages? If they knew, they would not ostracize my people.”
She gulped and stepped toward me slowly as if approaching a feral animal. “You are right. Keeping our relationship a secret did more damage than good. I have been selfish, but this can all be fixed, Shiro. Just … calm down and think rationally.”
“Iamthinking rationally, Celeste!” I shouted back with a heated glare. “Keldara is ready to invade at any moment and I have sat idly by because ofyou! Now look at the consequences!”
Theconsequencesbeing our way of life. It was all going to be destroyed. All because I fell in love with someone I shouldn’t have. I let my responsibilities fall by the wayside and now, my people were at risk. I disappeared and now we stood at the brink of war.
Her eyes glimmered. “I will stop them! We can negotiate. I promise to help you. Keldara will not invade the Grasslands; I will make sure of it.” She took another step toward me.
“Your peaceful ways will get us nowhere. OnlyIhave the power to stop it all, and I am going to use it.”
Sunlight glimmered in the single tear that slid down her cheek. “Not even for me? You will not stop for me?”
I shook my head slowly. “Not even for you.”
She swallowed loudly and raised one hand, her blood magic stirring the air around me. “Then you leave me with no other choice, Shiro. I cannot let you destroy Asteria.”
My face darkened and my jaw locked. “You think you can stop me?” I gritted between my teeth.
“I know I can.” She balled her fist and seized me, freezing me in place as she took control of my blood flow and forced me to my knees. “There is nothing I can say to change your mind. I know that now. So I have no other choice but to put you down.”
I growled and gave a dark chuckle. “You could never kill me, Celeste. I am the love of your life. You and I both know my control runs deep within you.”
She furrowed her brows and fisted her hands, chuckling dryly. “You might be right, my love, but who said I was going to kill you?”
I frowned, not understanding her train of thought. “What are you planning?”
“I think it is time you take a rest, Shiro. I plan to put you down for a long slumber where the only way for you to awake is with my blood …” She straightened her spine and raised her chin defiantly. “As of this moment, I curse my bloodline where no female blood mage will be born until you have thought things through.” Her voice grew in power and resonance with each word. “And when she is born, the only way to awaken you will be with her life’s sacrifice.”
“That will never happen!” I shouted, vainly fighting against her blood magic. “Do you truly believe you could be so cold?” I scoffed. “You would never leave me to rot!”
“I would,” she snorted. “Because once I do, I will put my life on the line and declare war on Keldara, thus saving your people.”
I frowned. “No,” I murmured. “You cannot do this. They will kill you!”
She nodded slowly and whispered, “If that is my fate, then so be it.”
