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Furies fed on fear, their magic recharged by the terrors of others, and his gifts could form monsters such as these hounds with nothing but a thought. He could sense every Fae’s nightmares and bring them to life before their eyes, exposing them to their greatest terrors over and over, all the while taking possession of their bodies and minds, forcing them not to fight back.
“I didn’t even have to possess you before. And in all the months that have passed, still you haven’t trained well enough to lay a scratch on me.”
“Your death wasn’t worth the time it would have taken to clean my sword,”
Kaiser Brimtheon.
His ambition, desire for power and hunger for recognition all hummed in the air between us and I was left with little doubt that our rivalry was the cause of it.
After all, I was a woman of small stature born at the wrong time and cursed with the blood of my enemies, but I had forced the kingdom of air to sit up and notice my power regardless.
War of the four, divided and torn asunder. Flame, sky, rock and sea collide, While the stars bless the valiant souls of battle. Seek the void, for it shall guide the victor to their glorious path, A weapon of purity, and the gift of null. In a web of lies and cruelty, fate will favour the cresting wave of destiny, And a bountiful empire shall be reborn under one all-powerful rule, Garnering the fortune and favour of the almighty sky.
“I have a right to question the world around me. Fae who accept it as it is are fools with minds easily bent to the will of others, fire harlot.”
I entered the cold room and willed the everflame back to life beyond the grate, that I heard an echoing scream. Stilling, I listened, straining my ears as I moved to the low-hanging pipes where I was sure the sound was coming from. Some dark, twisting sensation in my chest set me on edge. The scream didn’t sound again, but it wasn’t the first I’d heard in here and though I tried to convince myself it was just the groaning of the pipes, my gut told me I would be a fool to believe that. But here in the lonely dark, I had no one to tell.
“I hadn’t expected this until the blood moon,”
“You think the Grand Maester will act?” a more feminine rasp replied. “You seriously think he might not?” Silence followed for several seconds but my instincts held me in place. “The neophytes won’t be coming through here now. Let’s witness it for ourselves,”
“Yes. I’ll lock the doors.”
I fell still, my eyebrows arching as I took in the sight of The Cobra suspended with air magic high enough for the entire crowd to see as the Grand Maester drove bolts of iron through his flesh and another Reaper cast chains of flames to burn the skin from his bones.
Even so, I couldn’t help but be shocked by the barbarity of the pious Reapers as it played out. They had always seemed so above the bloodshed of war, but this proved they were creatures just as capable of it as the rest of us.
“Heal him,” a deep voice commanded, and I flinched from the closeness of it, afraid for a moment that I had been discovered, but it came from beyond the wall to my right. “Just enough to slow his passage.”
“Not true. I pay attention.” “So do I.” “No you don’t. Not really. Not to the things that are closest to you or which you deem to be no threat. You only look at me when I have a knife to your throat or if I happen to get within striking distance. I watch you when your guard drops. I watch you when you think you are nothing but shadow and I see those truths you hide so well.”
“You’re important,” Cayde sneered. “I don’t have to like it to admit that it’s true. You matter in the war and you matter to the prince. This place is more dangerous than all the battles you have fought in purely because it is nothing like any of them. There are snakes in every corner and enemies at each turn. It’s important you don’t fall prey to any of them. You matter, Vesper.”
if there is any question as to your whereabouts for the last hour, I will swear on all the stars in the sky that you were training in swordplay with me.” He moved towards the door and I watched him go with narrowed eyes. “Why?” I demanded before he could slip away. “Because despite how the two of us might feel about one another, sweetheart, we’re supposed to be on the same side of this war.
Cayde Avior wasn’t really the biggest problem on my plate though, so I shoved him from my thoughts as I focused on my main meal, leaving him there in case I found myself hungry for dessert.
My mind kept slipping back to the memory of that Flamebringer, The Cobra, being so brutally executed in the Heliacal Courtyard. He had killed a Raincarver during the fight he had started at the Astral Sanctuary. Though I hadn’t known the girl who had been killed, a bitter kind of hatred had found me at knowing The Cobra had murdered one of my people. But watching the vicious execution hadn’t brought me the satisfaction I’d expected. Instead, I’d felt sickened by the display, and found myself thinking about my own death.
My magic was recharging. And despite the fact that my Order still hadn’t Emerged, I had this single clue about it now. I’d realised it during my very first week here, soaking in a tub in the bathhouse - showers weren’t good enough, I had to be submerged at least partially to restore my magic. The trouble was, there were several Orders I knew of that recharged using water, but none I could pinpoint specifically to bathing.
A low chirruping sound made me jolt out of my thoughts and I found a small blue lizard crawling between two ferns. It had tiny wings, a flat sort of head and large eyes, like a little dragon.
It was hovering on its wings down at the bottom of the pool house near one of the stone walls. It landed on the stone, slithering away into a crack, then appearing a moment later out of another one a few feet away. The creature did it time and again, appearing from crack after crack and I might have been crazy, but I could have sworn it was painting a shape there. Something just big enough to be a door.
Everyone around me was laughing, muttering or sniggering and my eyes met those of the Sky Witch for a moment, the only one in the courtyard who seemed moved by what I’d said. In the depths of those storm grey eyes, I saw a river of belief, like perhaps for some unknown reason she accepted my truth.
I landed on four large white paws, my clothes hanging loose around my new form, and a hiss of surprise left my lips. I’d Emerged, my Order was here and it looked like I was some kind of large cat. And in the puddle of water over the flagstones, I saw my reflection staring back at me. A leopard of some sort, a Relic Leopard perhaps, though their fur was tanned, not white like mine with these dark black spots, and I was smaller than one of them too.
I was used to owning my power – used to thriving in battle and bloodshed and shining within the heart of chaos and pain, of drawing on ether and paying the price for wielding it but that was simply me harnessing the raw power of the world.
This week in our Cardinal Magic instructions we had been taught how to power share, meaning we could combine our power with that of others through physical touch. It required full trust to open the channels of magic between one Fae and another
The roiling tempest of my Order form rose to the surface of my skin, my shoulder blades burning as I held his gaze, the taste of his desire coating my tongue as I took measure of him. Oh, he wanted power. He hungered for it with a desperation which was likely only rivalled by my own. He wanted to be seen, he wanted to wrap his hand around my throat while sliding the other beneath my-
Cayde’s hands were gripping my waist, his mouth hovering over mine so that I could almost taste the intoxicating-
“I can’t see any other dense assholes lingering close by – oh wait, Cayde is still here so I apologise, but I’ve already had a taste of him and I found him indigestible,”
I’d come close to choking on it but I’d take it, every inch-“ I snatched my hand from his as that image forced itself into my mind, except I was the Fae on my knees before Cayde, my body burning with lust as he used me for his own pleasure and I loved every fucking second of it.
“So you’re assassinating targets for the prince and investigating the Reapers?” Dalia confirmed. “You’re not supposed to know that the prince asked me to-”
If he wasn’t tasking you with an assignment then you were definitely fucking, and as much as I know you pant over him, I haven’t picked up the smug bitch vibes I think you’d have been glowing with if you’d actually been riding his cock, so-” “I hate you,” I said flatly and she cackled obnoxiously.
Multiple elementals were rare and they would be trained well to take up their positions as Reapers.
I cursed, reaching my magic toward it and trying to work out the intricacies, needing to unravel it. But I simply didn’t have the skill, or at least, I thought I didn’t until a twist of magic in my chest and a strange, roiling power slid from me into that barrier and it fizzled out of existence.
Kaiser Brimtheon had a formidable look on his face, one arm hanging loose over the side of his chair. His black tunic was long-sleeved and he seemed to be the most clothed person in the room, even his boots in place, done up tight over his dark trousers.
“North likes them to fight for it, he encourages it,” she said. “He says it’s his Alpha Werewolf nature.”
“Well, Ella, Kaiser Brimtheon is not your regular, everyday psycho. And the women he takes to bed come back scorched.” “Scorched?” I whispered. “Burn marks,” she clarified. “They wear them like trophies, it’s pretty fucked up if you
She eyed Kaiser appreciatively. “But I don’t think his brand of fucking is for the faint of heart.”
She caught hold of his shirt, pushing it up over his abs and I noticed a ring of scars on his side, like some beast had clamped its jaws around him and left its teeth marks there. Her hand lowered, riding over his cock, but Kaiser snatched her arm, forcing her away from him with a movement so sudden that it made my heart jolt. Fire
Kaiser Brimtheon was a desolate soul housed within a body built for power. He towered over me and I was consumed by his shadow as he lifted a hand to grip my chin between his forefinger and thumb, jerking my head up to look him in the eye.
“Why?” he mused, something akin to intrigue crossing his features for once. “I fuck to feel something. That’s what you’ll provide me.”
His mouth came down on mine and my shoulders stiffened, his kiss anything but sweet as he forced my lips apart and took a taste of me while I refused to return the favour, leaving my body thrumming with the touch of him.
“I don’t normally kiss the women I bring here,” he said against my mouth. “But I’m curious about how far you plan on taking this.” “What do you mean? I want it all. All of you,”
“You think I didn’t know it was you from the moment you stepped into the room, bare footed and as lost as a lamb in a slaughterhouse?”
“Keep your attention to yourself, whore,” the first Flamebringers sneered, spitting on the step I had been about to place my foot on.
He was predictably bloodthirsty, pathetically hungry, ambitious to the point of jealousy, the rot of which speared out towards the Flamebringers who all gathered around him, particularly the one with the soulless eyes.
“You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he moaned, trying to move closer but his friends grasped his shoulders to hold him back. “Stay away from her, North,”
“Please,” he groaned, reaching for me. “Let me touch you, let me sniff you, I need to lick your boots, brush your hair, explore every perfect inch of your flesh. Anything. Everything…”
“Release him,” the unreadable one growled, taking half a step closer to me, but leaving that void in place between his kind and ours. I let my gaze roll over him, sneering openly while trying to get a sense of what he wanted, to find a way into that blackened soul which peered out from within his hard expression.
