REAPING

51

A sea of mostly Erdanean fae bowed to Vera where she stood on the balcony of her estate the morning of the equinox. Although, stood was not quite accurate. She was floating, really. No wings required. Her lips curled upward smugly at the thought of what she must look like to them. Her followers.

Her army.

Finally, she was going to take what was owed to her.

"Stand," she commanded, her sonorous voice carrying across the crowd with little effort.

It was barely dawn, but the faces of her people were still lit brightly in a golden hue from the glow of her skin as they looked at her cautiously. Many of them squinted, holding a hand at their brow to shield their eyes. Murmurs spread amongst her people, most of them realizing for the first time who they had been following for so long. At least, the ones who recognized her. Those were the ones whispering to the others, who couldn't tell who stood before them.

She was nearly unrecognizable now. Not just as Vera, but as a fae at all. No, she more closely resembled the legends of their old, forgotten gods and their luminescent, fiery terror .

She hadn't been becoming more youthful as she'd initially thought. She'd been morphing into something else entirely. The unbearable pain of the last few weeks had subsided into a dull thrum, her transformation nearing its climax. But her state was enough that her staff and guards could not be near her any longer, could not look at her too closely or stand the heat that emanated from her.

As her power grew, so did her isolation.

But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was that she had her wish, and these people were going to help her achieve it.

"Stand, my children, and we will take what is ours. We will return home as the leaders of a Unified Wren!"

The crowd roared beneath her.

Good , she thought. They are energetic. Excited. They would need that for the long flight to the Denover Legion Academy and the battle that would ensue. Once they won, she would reward Garreth handsomely for quelling their worries for so long and keeping their spirits high.

Yes , she assured herself. Once they won. And they would win. Her god had forbidden her from testing her powers, but she could feel what lay inside her, dormant. Dormant, but rumbling. Ready to be freed. In just a few short hours, she would unleash three centuries of fury on the dragons and the rest of the shifters who had changed the course of her life forever.

Even if some fae became collateral damage in the process.

Her wings unfurled behind her and she emerged from the balcony, hovering over the crowd. "Fly!" she howled, her fist in the air. "Fly toward your freedom! And let nothing stop you from claiming victory!"

Another roar from the crowd echoed as they joined her in the air .

She led the way south, toward the shifters. Toward her last remaining family. Toward her dreams.

And thousands of fae followed her.

***

The sentinel dragon, one of Shara's personal guards Aria recognized from her brief visit to their estate, came barreling through the doors.

"They've crossed the border," he panted, doubling over from the strain of his sprinted flight back. The room hung on his every word. "She's brought an army with her. And they're moving quickly, the winds are strong."

"How many." Shara commanded.

"At least a thousand," his brows furrowed between gasps. "Maybe two."

Aria's head swam. How had Vera gathered a force that large under their noses? It was not nearly as many as they had in their own troops, but they still had no idea what else she might have in her arsenal.

"There's something else," he muttered. "She—She's glowing," his head shook in violent disbelief. "I've never seen anything like it. Even her wings produce light. Like… Almost like flames."

No one knew what to say to that. Shara blinked at him rapidly. "Was she on fire?"

"No, General. I don't know what to make of it. She was the only one who glowed like that, but she was bright enough to light the sky. There were no flames in sight, but I left swiftly before she could spot me so I didn't get close enough to see more than that. I… I'm sorry. "

"No apology needed, Captain. Thank you for making it here so quickly," Shara looked at him grimly before addressing the rest of the room. "We will stick to our plan. We will assume positive intent until we have no doubts. Protect your fellow soldiers. And above all else, protect yourselves."

King Arach stood from where he sat along the dais, the Legion Council to his right and Joyen and Aria to his left. He surveyed the crowd of fae and shifters that looked back at him with serious faces. "The queen and I cannot express to you the respect and admiration we have for every single person in this room. You will be the ones who save the people of Wren, who give us the chance at a future of peace. No words of thanks will encapsulate the enormity of our gratitude. But when we succeed tonight—and we will, " he said, "I will personally ensure your names are marked with bravery in the books that will be written of this day. Everyone in Wren will know the truth of your sacrifices here. Of what you risked to protect our lands. All of our people."

General Glacius gave him a nod before addressing the room. "Take your places."

Anyone who had grown drowsy during the wait was now wide awake and milling about the room, some resuming their stations outside the walls, wine glasses in hand to keep up appearances. Aria caught Luka's eye where he stood looking out the balcony doors where the light of the full moon was now hidden by thick cloud cover. He gave her a thin, encouraging smile.

They'd shared a dozen kisses in his room before joining the others in the great hall, none of them enough. They'd refused to say goodbye, but that's what it had felt like. Now looking at him across the hall, she saw that nightmare again. Vera, waiting to strike him. It made her stomach lurch .

Three months of planning had come to this.

Another grueling, dreadful hour passed before the sounds of thousands of wings clattered outside. The sound of Aria's fears, coming to life.

"Remember, good intent," Shara reminded the crowd.

"She's headed for the balcony," Luka shouted from his station. Not a moment later, there was an approaching glow and the light thud of feet hitting stone through the open balcony door. Luka backed away from the doors, mouth agape, as Vera sauntered into the grand hall, the soft music halting in her presence.

"Oh, don't stop on my account," she smirked. Gasps and murmurs of shock spread through the room.

Monster , Aria thought. Straight from the dark realm . Straight from her nightmares.

She realized, now, why her grandmother had hidden behind her gates, barring herself from view. She wasn't just younger. She wasn't even fae anymore. She was…

Aria swallowed hard.

Vera's veins, like lava, illuminated crooked lines through her pale skin. Bright enough that she outshone the braziers along the wall. Her eyes were black like hardened rock and her white hair was a wild crown. But she was alone. She must have left her troops outside, but Aria couldn't hear any sounds of battle, though she didn't dare take that as a good sign. Not yet.

"Vera, thank you for coming," Joyen stood to greet her mother, but she did a terrible job of hiding her terror. Aria dared a glance around the room, finding more of the same. Everyone—even the most fearless of soldiers—stood frozen in shock at the beast in front of them that threatened to burst from the petite woman's body .

Shara followed Joyen's lead, only doing slightly better at masking her emotions. "We appreciate you traveling all the way here to join us for our celebration. We look forward to discussing a path toward peace with you."

"Peace?" Vera scoffed, an oily laugh oozing from her lips. Well, so much for that , Aria thought. "That's adorable. There was no chance for peace when your kind lured my parents toward their death. There was no peace ," she spat the word, "when they were disintegrated into ash, where they now lie under your precious Sanctum—conveniently protecting your lands, I might add. And there was certainly no peace half a century ago when your pathetic excuse of a husband tried to attack our people—"

"You know that's not true," Shara cursed, snarling. Smoke followed her words, curling around her face. On the balcony, Luka made a lunge toward Vera, but another guard held him back. Aria stood in stunned silence. What was Vera talking about? She was spewing nonsense, perpetuating lies. Seeking to divide them further.

Just like she's always done.

"I don't want your peace," Vera continued. "I just wanted to see the looks on your faces when I wipe you from the face of the world, just like your ancestors did to my family. And since my daughter is a traitor to her own kind," Vera finally glanced to Joyen whose fists shook with rage, "she and her family can join you among the ruins."

The corners of Vera's lips curled into an evil smile before her glowing skin brightened to an almost blinding level, causing the crowd to shield their eyes from the shine. Above them, the stone ceiling began to melt, fiery streams of molten rock dripping in a circle around her before she launched herself through the opening into the night sky .

Vera's inciting demonstration set the great hall into motion, the unnatural skylight now growing and causing the ceiling to collapse around them.

"Evacuate!" General Brune shouted, but his voice was drowned out by a crack of thunder that shook the walls.

Luka immediately jumped off the balcony, shifting mid-flight, to follow Vera into the sky. "Luka!" Aria called after him, but it was too late. He was already close behind Vera with a few other fae and dragon shifters following his lead.

The roof was crumbling in great chunks now, the structure dotted with melting holes and caving in. "Get out! Everyone out!" the king shouted over and over, ushering everyone through the exits and up through the gaping ceiling for those who could fly. The room was in chaos, now half animal and half fae, all of them springing into action, not needing to be told that Vera's act constituted war.

With the dark sky now visible, Aria spotted leagues of dragons and fae circling Vera where she hovered over the coast, a bright ball of light, her back to the ocean to keep her sights on destroying the land and people in front of her, no doubt.

Aria leapt through the opening above, her heart pounding unbearably hard against her ribs. Whatever she had expected, it was nothing remotely close to the scene that played out in every direction. She couldn't take it in fast enough.

Groups of fae and dragons battled in the air, earth and wind soaring around them, arrows flying and swords clanging. Panthers and wolves leapt high and snatched Unifier wings in their teeth, shredding the skin on their way back to the hard earth. The Unifiers who remained on the ground were mauled by claws and swords, sometimes simultaneously. Streams of dragon fire speared the lines of Unifiers that had held back, sending them falling to the earth in clusters of charred skin .

In the midst of it all, Aria searched and searched for Taren. For Evelyn. For Kam, Leah, Finn, Nyvia. Her friends. Her family. She could not see any of them in the chaos that erupted across the landscape. She didn't have time—

Hills—no, mountains —began forming in every direction at Vera's hand. They rose up randomly, quaking the earth as the lands shifted beneath them. As the points erected in the middle of groups of dueling soldiers, fae from both sides slid down the sloping earth, their wings and limbs marred by the ragged rocks.

The Academy building below her was now near collapse, more closely resembling a pool of lava than the solid structure it had been just moments ago. Similar spots of molten rock dotted the land around it, popping up like open sores. It was unlike anything Aria could have imagined, and it had all happened so quickly. And here she was, hovering like a coward. Frozen.

Worthless.

Do something , she urged herself. Anything .