Page 108 of Rose and Shadows
And then it was time.
I stepped through the barrier, sparks emitting from the concentric circles spinning before me, and then the minions were crying out in protest as I began to siphon their borrowed Celestial magic, gold streams weaving their way toward me from each of them.
“Stop him!” Arvent roared.
Velra threw up a wall of her shadows in front of me, one I could still siphon through, because she was allowing me to be unaffected by her magic. But one that the minions were having to fight to break through.
She sent out pulses of her purple power, forcing many of them to duck and dive to avoid direct hits.
I saw her parents healing their hands, while Velra was distracted holding back their minions.
And then Arvent stepped forward and went to invoke the mind-meddling spell against me before I siphoned all the Celestial magic, gesturing for minions nearby to bolster him.
Lavra lunged at Velra.
But sudden rapid-fire surges of power pulled her mother up short.
In the next moment, a small army of fifty Dark Fae materialized right there on the peach-gold sands.
Fronting them was a fierce blond figure who I knew from Velra to be Graceyn, the current leader ofThryne. To her right was also a familiar face in Kelsana Torl, Velra’s friend from Wraeven Academy.
And then somebody else emerged through the crowd, that had both Velra and I reacting in surprise.
Jet-black hair tousled in harsh waves framed his youthful face that belied his true centuries of age. He wore a fitted black shirt and leather jacket which combined both modernity and a distinct regal heir. He stood broad-shouldered and muscular, albeit with faint brown markings marring his skin, evidence of the magical sickness afflicting him. A twisted gold crown glinted vibrantly making itself known, especially with the multicolored gems adorning it.
King Darethor of the Dark Fae Realm.
Collective gasps ran out.
A third of the minions released dragons and vampires from their mind-meddling and dropped to their knees, bowing their heads.
Their vampire victims collapsed in the shaded areas, clutching their heads and whimpering, dealing with the aftermath of what they’d endured, the fact that the mind-meddling wear down took time to reconcile.
The handful of dragons who were now free shifted back to their human forms and sank onto the sand weakly, curled up into themselves.
All this damage… it was beyond sickening.
As I continued siphoning, holding my magic steady despite what I was witnessing, Darethor took clear note of Velra’s wall of shadows protecting both my process and defending against personal attack from her parents and those minions who had not knelt at the arrival of their king.
He stepped forward, his voice booming through the area, as he glared at them each in turn. “Warped subjects, kneel to your King. Beg for my forgiveness.”
Another handful over by the Cove lowered themselves to their knees, shaking and fighting pained utterings as Icontinued siphoning, pulling harder as I felt it nearing its end—just moments now until all the misused Celestial power was collected.
The golden streams weaving toward me sped up, coming faster, more determinedly, and it had me taking a couple of staggering steps back as I fought to absorb the weight of it.
“I was able to gain us access to Celestial power!” Lavra shouted at Darethor desperately. “And now you stand here allowing him to take it from us!” She gestured angrily at Velra just a few feet from her and Arvent, shielded by shadows. “And you witness this hybrid filth using magic against our own and simply allow it?”
“Hmm…hybrid filth,” Darethor mused, seemingly calm, yet his palms had sparked with his power, a deep blue tinged with black, and now glowed more vibrantly with every passing moment. “You speak such foul words against your own daughter.”
“She is not our daughter!” Arvent bellowed.
“Certainly not! Don’t let her actions reflect upon us,” Lavra spoke.
“Oh, I won’t.”
They frowned out at him, their minions calling their power in preparation from a snap of Lavra’s fingers. She and Arvent readied themselves also, magic flaming beforeThryne, very careful not to actually aim at the king himself.
Darethor took note, but didn’t address it directly, moving closer to Lavra and Arvent, as his gaze flicked to me, studiously assessing the state of my siphoning.
