Shadow & Storms (The Legends of Thezmarr, #4)

by Helen Scheuerer

‘To experiencing the world at its fullest,’

But nothing this good lasted forever.

Artos made a garbled noise from beneath his chains, muttering something about his daughter. ‘Surely he knows we’d never hurt an innocent woman?’ Drue said from the shadows.

Ohh well, it looks like she might not be exactly innocent.

‘The battle for Aveum was a diversion,’ he said, gripping the sword at his belt. ‘Osiris has welcomed the reapers into Thezmarr. The fortress has fallen.’

I FUCKING KNEW IT!!! But Osiris? That's news

‘If you want to dabble in revenge rather than save what’s left of this world, then be my fucking guest. But maybe you should think about how you wish to leave the world… Better, for having had you in it? Or a mirror of the pain you experienced? If that is what you want your legacy to be, then so be it. Just know that it doesn’t make you different. It makes you the same as all the rest.’

‘All fair points,’ Kipp said. ‘But let’s talk about what we do have and what we can do.

Strategic positive thinking king!

He looked around as though they were all mad – the near-manic grins the Embervale sisters were sharing hardly dissuaded the notion.

YES GIRLS

Wilder already pitied his fellow Warsword. Arguing with an Embervale sister was like arguing with a brick wall. Torj would be better off saving himself the hassle and admitting swift defeat.

Ahahaha

Their usual rough, frenzied fucking was replaced with something more aligned with the moment: a slow and decadent worshipping of one another. He moved inside her with luxurious strokes, building their pleasure together, the drawn-out sensations utterly intoxicating.

As Thea slipped the poison pellet inside, she wondered if this would be how she left this world – by her own hand.

Nooooo. You are going to live. I just know it.

A former child of Thezmarr, a girl turned warrior, Althea Nine Lives, the Shadow of Death, the wraith slayer. The storm-wielding Warsword. Althea Embervale.

Now that's a long list of names

Together, they were unstoppable, and they became a beacon for the others.

At the heart of all that darkness was Princess Jasira.

Seeeeeeee. I KNEW IT!

‘The Furies won’t do a fucking thing,’ Wilder told him. ‘But the Embervale sisters might.’

My three power ranges.🫶

‘I’m sorry —’ Her voice broke. ‘I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t want to die, not yet.’

Why don't I feel like you are going to die?

‘You’re not the one who’s going to die,’ Anya said, crouching at Thea’s side. ‘Chew this.’

Don't tell me its Anya that's going to die. Did she give her necklace to Thea? Nooo

But Thea’s gaze drifted to Anya, something about her words niggling at Thea. ‘Who’s going to die?’ she rasped. ‘You said I’m not the one who’s dying… So who is?’

Right? Who?

She pulled Thea’s fate stone from beneath her armour, snapping the knotted leather cord as she took it between her fingers. ‘This was never yours.’ Thea could only stare. ‘You had it in your hands when we arrived here. It used to stop you crying. But it was mine. It was always mine.

Noooo

‘I will leave this world worse than I found it,’ Anya rasped, a tear tracking down her face. ‘No —’ ‘You can’t lie to a dying woman,’ Anya said weakly.

With a cry, Wren fell to her knees beside Thea, just as the light left their sister’s eyes.

Nope. You are also coming back. I don't believe this. What is this?

For a moment, unimaginable anger coursed through Thea, all directed at their dead sister. Anya had let Thea believe she was not long for this world, she had — But the anger morphed into something deeper, something far more painful than rage. Grief.

For Anya’s magic was leaving her body. And surging directly into them.

Nooooo.she's still alive. Don't Play with me.

This was it; it truly was to be their final stand. Had they made it worthy of legend? She didn’t know, not anymore.

Audraaaa. It's about damn time now

And then, Thea saw her at the helm. Audra.

Speaking of the devil!

Here, in the face of unending darkness, the laws of old men meant nothing. Their words and rulings held no weight.

‘We are all daughters of darkness, Thea. We were born into a world of it, a place that would dictate the way in which we defend ourselves, the way we live our lives. No more. That world is no longer. And the next one will be what we make it.’

‘There are few who can face themselves as well as their nightmares and emerge whole on the other side,’

There, he lifted Anya’s lifeless body to his chest with a broken cry.

Pretty sure it's not going to be lifeless anymore. Somebody do something for God's sake.

And they had lost Anya twice: once as small children, when she’d been ripped away from them, and now, after they’d just found each other once again.

I seriously think she's coming back again.

But she understood, as best she could, that people had to grieve in their own way,

The number that had been engraved there was gone.

Is she coming back to life?

‘Now, we say farewell.’

I refuse to accept this. She's coming back in the next series. I'm not giving up on Anya.

No one had heard from Dratos since he’d found Anya’s body, and Wilder didn’t expect they would for some time. He didn’t know if the nature of their relationship went beyond friends,

Yep. He's going to bring her back somehow.

‘I miss our son and his menacing ways. Take me home, husband.’

This is cute

‘Did you think I’d have no stomach for what needs to be done? When it’s deserved, it’s an easy choice.’