Queen of Stars and Shadows (Dark Fae Guardian #3)

Zyren

Chapter Twenty-Five

Zyren

I look over at Sarielle, standing on the mountain peak, framed by the night sky, cloudless and glittering with stars. She’s still streaked in dark blood, and she looks so fierce, so sure of herself, that no one could ever doubt she’s a queen.

But then, as I watch, she sits down cross-legged in the snow, belying her regal appearance of just moments before. She closes her eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Shh. I need to concentrate.”

I do as she instructs and a moment later, a small swirl of shadows move up and around her. My inner nightmare stirs, answering to the call of her magic. It’s my nightmare that has remembered her this whole time, even when I did not. And that makes me wonder if my darkness is the deepest, truest part of me. I’d always been afraid I would lose myself to that part of me, that my darkness would take over, but if it’s that part of me that’s bonded with Sarielle so strongly, it can’t be bad.

After a couple of minutes, Sarielle opens her eyes and climbs to her feet. I shoot her a questioning look.

“Now we wait,” she says, and doesn’t offer more.

We wait, listening to the wind across the mountains, for nearly an hour. Just when I am beginning to lose faith, there comes a great gust of wind from the south. I turn, and suddenly a huge, winged beast surges into view on the far side of the mountain peak. Flapping its ginormous wings, it circles the peak once and then lands, wings flared out behind it, with such force that the whole mountain shakes.

“Astherius,” Sarielle says with a smile. “Thank you for coming.”

The enormous nightmare narrows its eyes at me but bows low to the ground before Sarielle. I’m not often speechless, but I’m so surprised that it takes me a moment to find my words.

“How—what—?”

“I called Astherius, and she came. She will escort us to the Court of Nightmares.”

“Just like that?”

Sarielle reaches out and squeezes my fingers. “I feel more… myself than I ever have before. In balance. And with that, I realized my bond with Astherius, my ability to communicate with her, had grown even stronger. Well, and I did also promise her the best roost in the cliffs over Selaye.”

“Nightmares have never lived in Selaye,” I say slowly.

Astherius narrows her eyes even further, issuing a low hiss.

Sarielle shoots both of us stern looks. “Seems strange for the Court of Nightmares to lack nightmares, don’t you think?”

I contemplate her words for several long moments. “I suppose it does. If my queen commands it, then so shall it be.” I offer my own small bow to Sarielle, and the nightmare’s evil glare lessens in intensity. A little.

“Come on,” Sarielle says. “We don’t have time to waste.”

She approaches the nightmare, who, to my shock, lowers herself down so we can climb up her foreleg. Sarielle settles herself into the spot right at the base of her neck, and I sit behind her.

“We’ve done this before?”

Sarielle nods. “We have. Right before we went through the rift into Eldare.”

I wrap my arms around her, and she nestles back into my chest. Nothing has ever felt more right in the world.

“Hold on,” she says, and Astherius launches skyward with a whoosh of her leathery wings.

I have flown myself, but not like this. The powerful force with which we cut through the night sky takes my breath away. We’re so high it seems we’re skimming the stars, the air cold as death. I still don’t have a shirt, and it would be unbearable except for Sarielle’s warm body against mine, and the heat coming off the massive creature beneath us.

Below us, the mountains look like the waves of an endless ocean, each capped with snow like diamond dust. I’m filled with a sensation of incredible peace, a perfect moment I wish I could freeze. A moment without the risk of death hanging over my head, a moment without crazed, power hungry traitors or demons or stolen thrones.

But then I hear the sharp exhale from Sarielle’s lips and the moment is shattered.

I look down to see a massive gash in the mountains below us, as if the earth had been split apart by giant claws. Smoke rises out of it. Countless times I’ve traversed the Forever Mountains, and this chasm has definitely never been there before. It stretches for miles, cutting like a jagged scar across the land.

“The earthquakes,” Sarielle says over the wind. “They must have gotten worse.”

Astherius cuts north, presumably at some unspoken command by Sarielle, and we head out over the plains and forests beyond the mountains. As we fly, we see more evidence of destruction. More deep chasms that seem to cut to the core of the realm, towns and cities razed to the ground.

Eventually, we cut back south before reaching the ocean, which I can see far in the distance. We fly back over the Forever Mountains again, and then I see Selaye in the distance, and the Court of Nightmares sitting above it. Astherius circles the valley once, and even from high above I can see that half the buildings are demolished, lying in piles of crumbled stone. It’s also swarming with warriors from House Septarus, no doubt left by Avonia to guard the place while she pursued Sarielle across two realms.

I’m about to ask Sarielle what our plan is when Astherius dives from the sky. She swoops in above the palace of white marble, landing on the highest tower with a tremendous boom . A sky-shattering roar blasts from her jaws. The city below us erupts into chaos. Soldiers dash back and forth, several teams of archers in the courtyard below turning and aiming for Astherius.

“Take us down,” Sarielle commands.

Astherius dives from her perch atop the tower and plummets toward the courtyard, pulling up at the last moment. The earth shakes beneath us and the stone tiles crack outward like spider webs. Astherius flaps her wings and a huge wave of shadows moves across the space, knocking warriors over where they stand, sending the archers tumbling off their posts along the palace walls.

Sarielle rises into a half-crouch on Astherius’ neck. Her voice carries across the courtyard for all to hear.

“I am Sarielle Otreyas, rightful Queen of Nightmares! Bow before me now and I will show you mercy. Selaye is mine . Any who stand in my way will know pain tonight!”

There is a moment of silence, followed by the cacophony of weapons collectively clattering to the ground.

Sarielle continues. “Warriors of House Septarus! Release any prisoners from the dungeon and place yourselves in the cells there. Anyone found outside a cell in a quarter hours’ time will become a meal for Astherius.”

To punctuate the statement, Astherius sends another wave of dark magic across the courtyard. The warriors begin to rush madly for the gate on the left side of the courtyard, which leads to the prison. Within a few minutes, a few dozen dirty and starved looking warriors emerge from the dungeon, and no one wearing the house sigil of the Septarus can be seen. Sarielle and I climb down from the nightmare’s back and go to check the cells, ensuring our enemies are secure.

“I thought you never showed mercy?” I ask Sarielle as we walk back out of the prison ward.

She snorts. “I also told you I was finding balance with my darkness.”

We return to the courtyard, where the warriors we’d just released are waiting, staring nervously at Astherius. We greet them, and several servants exit the palace to help with getting everyone fed and properly clothed. Including us, since I am without a tunic and Sarielle is without pants. Within a short time, we’re fully dressed, and the warriors are sitting down to a meal.

Giving them a chance to enjoy their freedom, we turn toward the palace. It’s been years since I’ve seen this place, or at least, since I can last remember seeing this place. The palace and the throne that should have been mine, if I hadn’t forsaken my inheritance and become a guardian. Shame fills me as I look up at it, the reminder of what I gave up because of the darkness living within me. But also hope. Because Sarielle is shining light on things I never considered before. A way to be at ease and balance with my inner nightmare. A path to possible peace in Valaron between fae and nightmare, an end to the struggles of more than two thousand years.

Sarielle pauses and looks back out over the courtyard. A frown tugs at her lips, her expression grim. “Taking back Selaye from a few dozen soldiers was the easy part. Avonia is going to catch wind of this soon, and then she will come for us. The battle hasn’t even begun.”

“We’ll be ready when it does,” I reply, taking her hand and squeezing her fingers in mine.

She nods and we stride for the steps leading into the palace. When we reach the base of them, I see a figure standing at the top. He’s wearing robes, and has long, straight hair several shades darker than flame.

“Xinius!” Sarielle calls, her tone carrying surprise.

We reach the top of the steps and the sorcerer bows to us. “Queen of Nightmares. I’ve been waiting for you.”