Page 109 of Rose and Shadows
Then he looked upon Velra’s despicable parents. “You beseeched me to banish one of our own, one who now stands here defending not just these creatures, but the good of our people and the kingdom?”
“She’s not one of us!” Lavra hissed.
“Because her blood is no longer pure Dark Fae?”
“Of course.”
Darethor looked at Velra, his lips lifting, before he glared at Lavra and Arvent. “That matters not.”
I jolted, a grunt escaping me as the last of the Celestial power was absorbed into my being.
It garnered the attention of Velra and Darethor.
“It is done,” I rumbled, eyeing Lavra and Ardent.
“No!” Lavra screamed. “This is not happening! We’ve come too far!”
They could not strike me through Velra’s shadow wall shielding me.
So they turned their attention to her.
Darethor slid in front of Velra, just as their streams hit.
And caught them.
In either palm.
His eyes flamed a wild blue.
There was definite struggle there, sweat glistening on his skin, his body trembling a little. But he held steady in spite of it.
He lifted his chin at Graceyn. “If you will, enlightened one.”
Graceyn’s lips quirked at his wording.
And then she commandedThryneto contain the remaining loyalists foolishly still supporting the warped ideology of Lavra and Arvent Tenebris.
“Unleash chaos!” Lavra called out.
In the next moment, those still with them ramped up their mind-meddling, taking control of the dragons and vampires in even crueler ways—sending vampires out into the sun but not tugging them back into the shade at the last moment this time, which forcedThryneto use their efforts to shield them and protect, rather than to subdue the hostiles. They also forced draconic beings to turn back into their dragon forms, whereinthe minions then whipped and cut into their dragon hide with their magic.
And a handful of others fired uponThryneitself, forcing it into a protective and defensive position.
A dangerous rumble sounded from Darethor, a moment before his blue magic flared exponentially.
And then he thrust his palms out, his power and that which he’d caught of Lavra’s and Arvent’s detonating over them and sending them careening fifty feet across the sand.
I saw him move to finish it, but he then noted a set of the minions coming at me, intending to go through Velra, all to force me to return the Celestial magic.
I collapsed to my knees, unable to remain upright a moment longer.
The Celestial magic threatened to burn me from the inside out because I’d had to ingest so much of it. I needed to unload the power, and I needed to do it now. But with this current calamity, that could not be.
Velra’s eyes swam with emotion, her worry clear—not to mention the pangs I could feel from her through the Soul Brand.
She looked away and squared her shoulders, then grasped the king’s arm. “You can’t cut out the mind-meddling, can you? Even with the Celestial aspect now gone? In your current state, it’s not possible like it would normally be?”
“Correct.”
