Page 209 of Wrath of the Fae

The dragon. The Desert Demon. And the creature of molten rock and lava.

They stalk the land, hunting the half breeds that run into the trees until they disappear altogether.

In the darkness, I watch that mass of gold, light and smoke swirl around one another. Like they’re dancing as they fly freely.

They collide, and the sky illuminates like a cloud of fireworks, rippling above us and spreading outwards.

On. And on. And on.

The entire heavens sparkle, like a million stars have come to life above our heads, so close I could reach out and touch them all. I watch it through my tears, images of her flashing before my eyes.

The way Raven held me as a child in the cells. How she stroked my hair and sang to me.

I see her after I returned from years as a monster. She was the first face I saw, and she hugged me close. Her hug was everything that day. It was everything for all the days that followed.

I see us laughing in that farmhouse. Swimming in the pool of the old palace in the caves. I see her dance with the men she loved. I adored how she smiled as they kissed her. It warmed me to see her so loved. So happy and complete.

I thought I knew grief. Pain. Heartbreak.

Up until this moment, I knew nothing of it.

I stare numbly at the shield that reforms over our world before it disappears like nothing ever happened.

And everything is as it was.

No human world. No crack. No tear.

Nothing.

My sister’s blood is on my face. I taste it on my tongue and feel it cooling on my clothes.

She just… she cut. So deep and without any hesitation at all.

I keep staring, praying that this is a nightmare. That this is all just a nightmare and I will wake up in bed beside Raven, who is sleeping soundly at my side. Or that she will stroll through the trees with a smile, telling me she figured out a way to stay alive. To stay in this realm with me. That everything is okay.

But it’s not okay.

Is she alive? Did she reform after the shield was made? Is my sister trapped over there, surrounded by monsters? By humans?

Or is she forever that shield, swirling unseen for the rest of time, protecting us?

She was in agony in that portal. Constant and unending agony.

I sob at the thought of her like that now.

Trapped in hell either way.

Forever.

Thousands of Fae returned home three months ago. All so broken and devastated by what they had been through.

By what they had been forced to do.

They were welcomed back by those they were forced to leave behind.

And the entire realm mourned the ones they lost.

We became a Realm of healing. All Kingdoms joined as one as they mended their homes, hearts and souls.

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