Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight

On a scale of one to totally fucked, I was sitting at an eight point five. I was under a table, the Shadow Beast sniffing the air as it stalked me while I caught my breath and held tight to the white sword that had been sent flying under here during our fight.

I could hear Orion still in the throes of battle with Tharix, and I sent him some good thoughts while focusing on what the hell my next move was.

Without my magic, I was relying solely on my physical strength, and I knew I couldn’t go on like this forever. The wound Stella had cut into my arm was stinging, though the blood had stopped flowing, but now I had a collection of bruises and cuts to add to it, including a slit across my forehead and a deep scrape over my shin from one of the beast’s claws.

I’d lost my other boot, so I was now shoeless too, and my breast plate was badly dented, pressing in on my chest a little too tightly. Not to mention the blood which was dried and caked against every inch of skin from the nice little bath Stella had given me.

All in all, I wasn’t in the best shape, but I wasn’t in the worst shape either. I just needed a plan to finish this before I made an error that let the Shadow Beast get its venomous teeth in me.

The beast dropped its head, sniffing deeply, too close to me for it not to pick up on the scent of blood I was trailing everywhere I went. It roared keenly, lunging at the table and flipping it into the air, unveiling me beneath it.

The monster aimed a swipe at me and I brought my sword up with a yell of effort, slashing at its huge paw. The Shadow Beast howled in pain, stumbling back and limping, blood leaking from the deep wound I’d sliced into the pad of its foot.

I gained my feet, pressing my advantage and lunging to strike its exposed throat, my pulse raising and hope fluttering through me. My blade slammed against it, then bounced off with a judder that ran right down the length of it.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, stumbling back a step, then remembering the collar of shadow that was in place around its neck.

The Shadow Beast lunged forward, teeth snapping, and I ducked, narrowly avoiding a fatal bite. I was forced to run between its front paws, then I jumped, catching its fur in my fists and climbing up and over its shoulder. The Shadow Beast swung around, baying in anger as it tried to shake me off, but I clung on tight, clambering higher until I was sat astride its back.

I hefted my mother’s sword over my head, but the Shadow Beast started running the length of the armoury with a furious howl tearing from its lips that set the hairs raising along the back of my neck. It was moving so fast, I was forced to hold on or be sent flying off of it, so I tucked myself in tight, gripping my sword and waiting for my next chance for a kill.

We crashed through the back wall and I ducked behind the beast’s head, flattening myself to its body with a gasp, holding on for dear life as it tore through another room I couldn’t focus on before slamming into another wall, dust and debris tumbling over me. I somehow avoided the falling bricks that were cascading everywhere, clinging on even tighter as the Shadow Beast found itself in a stairwell and began running up the steps at speed.

We made it into a wide corridor where candelabras hung above us, and the Shadow Beast slowed its pace a little, giving me a chance to act. I sat up fast, lifting my sword and driving it brutally into the fleshy bit between its shoulder blades. The Shadow Beast yelped in agony, stumbling forward and crashing to the white carpet beneath us.

I jumped off of its back before I was crushed when it rolled, landing between its paws as blackish blood oozed out all around it.

I drove the sword into its chest in a vicious strike that made the Shadow Beast scream and from that wound spilled light. A glorious, blazing blue light that forced me to raise a hand to shield my eyes. Confusion raced through my head, and I moved forward, ready to finish the Beast once and for all, but as that light caressed my skin, I gasped. The touch of it was so familiar that it made me hurt inside, a noise of pain falling from my lips as I reached for it in desperation. Magic. And not just any magic. It was mine.

My fingers slipped deeper into the light, and it poured out of the Shadow Beast in a flood, slamming into my chest with such force that I was thrown to the floor at the monster’s side. The light rushed all over my body like it was kissing me hello, then dove deep into my chest.

I sucked in air, my back arching against the floor as a moan of delight left me, the power of water spilling through my veins like a torrent of swirling rivers and roiling oceans living in me at once. Next, a green light flooded from the Shadow Beast and crashed into me, the power of earth thundering beneath my skin like an earthquake, rumbling its excitement at finding its way home.

Vines curled out along my arms, hugging my body and I all but sobbed at how good it was to feel it again. Then a deep, reddish glow poured from the Shadow Beast into me, and the warmth of my fire Element returned, heating me through to my core and promising I would never be cold again. No more frozen tiles draining the warmth from my bones, my fire would always be there to breathe heat into my skin like my very own sun living inside me.

Finally, the power of air came rushing towards me in a gleaming arc of white light, my blue hair flying around me in a storm before it slipped into me, and a laugh of purest joy burst free of my lungs. A hurricane of power twisted through me in a wild, glorious tempest that set my skin buzzing with energy. It was life itself, a storm in the summer and the freshest wind whipping through the highest peaks of the tallest trees.

I lay there with my Elements, bathing in the sensation of them washing together and finding a balance between them once more as all that power settled inside me where it belonged.

But there was one vital piece missing that made me ache, and as I turned to look for it, it came to me. A beautiful Phoenix bird flew from that gaping wound in the Shadow Beast’s chest, wings of red and blue fire bursting from inside it and flying above me in a circle, a heart wrenching cry leaving its long beak.

Then it swept towards me, and I opened my arms wide to embrace it, the bird diving into the furthest regions of my chest and reuniting with my soul.

Tears of happiness slid down my cheeks as my Order fused back to the core of who I was, fire exploding out along my arms and laying claim to my skin at last. I twisted my fingers through their loving heat, my head falling back against the soft carpet as a sigh of sheer rapture left me.

I was me again. Whole, and unbreakable. And no shadow would ever find its way into my body from this day until my last.

As tempting as it was to buckle under the magnitude of what had been restored to me, I couldn’t let myself linger there any longer, knowing Orion still faced Tharix. I had to move.

I got up and stepped towards the Shadow Beast to retrieve my mother’s sword, picking it up and holding it tight as I examined the monster before me. It was still breathing, but only just.

I lifted the bloody sword higher, darkness coiling inside me as I looked down at this creature who had stolen away my will and forced me to kill time and again. It was easier to see it as separate from now that it no longer resided inside me. Orion had been right. I wasn’t responsible for the terror caused by this animal. It had infected me with its cruelty, but it had never been my will behind the deaths it delivered, though I wasn’t sure I’d ever really let go of the guilt. Or my rage over the injustice of the curse.

My upper lip peeled back, and I walked around to its head so it could see me, free from its binds, ready to make it pay for what it had done. It didn’t try to rise, already too close to death, and acceptance glimmered in its pain-filled eyes.

I took a moment to press my hands into its fur, feeling for the collar around its throat, my fingers hooking around it. I pushed the fur aside, frowning at the dark and unwelcoming power it emitted, telling me exactly who had put it there.

“Lavinia,” I spat her name, my frown deepening as I glanced at the beast’s dark eyes and a thought crossed my mind that made me shudder inside. “Are you a prisoner too?”

I called on my Phoenix and felt it rise, a moan leaving my throat as I wielded that deeply innate power, red and blue flames dancing in my hand, filling me with the most riotous kind of joy. I pressed them against the collar, driving them deep and burning away the power which held it there. With a hissing noise, the collar broke under the intensity of my flames, and it hit the floor beneath the Shadow Beast, turning to ash.

The Shadow Beast whined, the sound so mournful that it tugged on my heart strings. It was grief, regret, and I shared in that exact same pain, knowing it far too well.

I moved cautiously around in front of it, finding its hellish black eyes changing until they were a beautiful burnt umber colour instead.

My lips parted and that ounce of pity I felt grew to a leaden weight inside me which I couldn’t ignore. I made a decision, knowing I might regret it, but having to take this risk, because if this creature had been bound by Lavinia’s power, then it was as innocent as I was in all of this. But then again, if it wasn’t, I was about to make a grave mistake.

“I’d hope someone would take the risk if it was me,” I whispered, reaching out and pressing my palm to the soft spot between the beast’s captivating eyes, not letting myself back down on this. It was instinct, and I had to trust it.

I sent a flood of healing magic into the beast’s body, not knowing if it was even capable of healing this way, but I found unknown magic inside the creature which was entirely alien to me, and somehow, I latched onto it, fuelling its ability to heal and letting it do the rest of the work. Shadow coiled out from its limbs, unlike any I’d seen before. It was pale grey and shimmered with an iridescent light which seemed to glow from within.

The Shadow Beast whimpered pathetically, but after a few moments, it let out a bark that made me stagger back and raise my hands defensively. A thump, thump, thump noise sounded, and I side-stepped cautiously to see where it was coming from, expecting an attack at any moment as the creature raised its head. Its fluffy tail was wagging, hitting the carpet like a dog happy to see its master.

“Holy shit,” I exhaled.

The Shadow Beast rose to its feet, and I cast a firm air shield around me, ready to go back to war with it if I had to. But as it ran forward, grunting happily, it leaned down and licked the solid shield around me, making me stall in shock.

“Blue, get back,” Orion barked, appearing behind me at the top of the stairwell that had been all but ripped apart by the monster which was now licking me.

“It’s okay,” I said quickly, achingly relieved to find my mate was alright.

He raised a black metal sword in his hand with purple fire licking along the edges of it. It looked like a sister to the white sword I’d claimed.

“What do you mean ‘okay’?” he demanded, stepping froward with his eyes locked on the beast. The huge shadow creature sat down in front of us, wagging its tail more excitedly, its tongue hanging out the side of its mouth.

“It was a prisoner,” I blurted. “Like I was. But I got my magic and Order back from it and-”

‘You did?” he gasped, rushing toward me with hope blazing a trail through his eyes.

“Yes.” I smiled widely, casting a flame in my palm as proof and loving how my magic reserves swelled in response.

“Thank the sun,” he said, happiness lighting his features despite all the darkness that still surrounded us.

“Um, also, the Shadow Beast is free too and… I think it’s coming with us,” I added quickly.

“What?” Orion growled, his expression falling stern in an instant.

A shrill cry came from behind him, and he turned with a curse, raising his free hand and blocking the stairwell with a thick wall of ice, closing up every gap before turning back to me. “We need to move. My magic will hold it for a bit, but-”

Tharix broke through the ice and I raised my hand, casting a huge, impenetrable wall of Phoenix Fire across the width of the corridor to hold him back.

“I can take him,” I growled determinedly. “Go to Gabriel and get him out.”

“No, Blue. Tharix can’t die. I think he’s fed by his mother’s power,” Orion said gravely, taking hold of my wrist. “We need to get out of here. My magic is running low and it’s only a matter of time before Lionel returns with the full force of his Dragon Guardians.”

I released a sharp breath of frustration, looking into his eyes and seeing the truth in them. Tharix screeched beyond my wall of fire as he tried to get through it but failed, and I figured that would have to be good enough for now. We couldn’t waste time trying to kill an unkillable thing.

“Come on then.” I turned, running down the hall, but Orion slammed into me, scooping me into his arms and speeding away from the Shadow Beast through the palace as I tucked my mother’s sword to my chest. I took a moment to create sheaths for each of our newly claimed swords with my earth Element, binding them around our waists. Hell, it felt good to cast magic again. It was like the roots of me had been restored and were flourishing inside me, expanding to fill all the empty spaces.

“How exactly did you retrieve your powers?” Orion asked in awe, glancing down at me as I gripped his arm for support.

“I nearly killed the Shadow Beast, cut its chest open and they all came rushing out with my Order.”

His mouth twitched up at the corner and a wild delight filled his eyes. “Fuck, I wish I’d seen that.”

“I’ll give you the play by play when we get out of here,” I said.

“Counting on it.” He slammed to a halt, and I nearly got whiplash as I realised that we were outside the Royal Seer’s Chamber.

I jumped from Orion’s arms, blasting the door off its hinges with air magic, sending it flying across the room and hitting the wall. I ran to Gabriel who was slumped on the glass throne at its centre, unconscious and lined with cuts to his face. My heart tugged and vengeance stole through me at the motherfuckers who’d dared do this to my brother.

I woke him with a touch of magic to his temple, pouring healing magic into him too to wipe away his injuries.

Gabriel gasped awake, his eyes full of visions as Orion took hold of his chains, tearing them apart with his Order strength.

My brother reached up and clasped my cheek, a smile lifting his lips and knowledge filling his gaze. “You did it.”

“I did it,” I confirmed with a grin, pulling him to his feet. “And now we’ve gotta go.”

My heart leapt as the Shadow Beast arrived, grunting in greeting and bounding over to us, but it didn’t attack, only looking happy to find us once more, and I was pretty happy it had too.

“By the fucking stars,” Gabriel breathed as Orion moved to break him out of his magic restraining cuffs.

“It’s okay. He’s on our side now. I think,” I said. “Or maybe it’s a girl. I don’t really know.”

“It’s not coming with us,” Orion muttered, and I arched a brow at him.

“It is,” I said simply.

“It is not,” he insisted. “And who’s to say it won’t turn on us all as soon as it gets hungry?”

“It’s free now. It won’t hurt us,” I said firmly, hoping I was right about that, but I couldn’t just leave it here to become Lavinia’s prisoner again. At the very least, it was a weapon that could be wielded against us if we left it behind.

“Even if that were true, how are we supposed to smuggle a huge beast of death out of here discreetly?” Orion pushed.

At his words, the Shadow Beast turned to smoke, though now it was that pale grey colour instead of the dark, festering colour of rot it had been under Lavinia’s command, and it moved to hover by my shoulder like it had understood him. I snorted and Orion gave me a dry look.

“No,” he growled.

“Yes,” I retorted, and Gabriel got up, stepping between us.

“This really isn’t the time for marital bickering,” he warned.

“It’s not marital if we’re not married,” I pointed out.

“We will be married,” Orion said in a growl.

“Says who?” I balked.

“Says me,” he snapped. “I will wed you the moment this war is over.”

“Oh you will, will you?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “We’re already mated, why would we get married too?”

“Again,” Gabriel cut in. “Really not the time. We need to go.”

“Can you see the safest path out?” I asked my brother, and he took a moment to look into the future before nodding and gesturing for us to follow him.

“It’s best we move without our Order gifts for now, there are guards outside the palace, but they’ll move to new posts soon. We need to time this just so,” Gabriel said mystically.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing his arm before he could exit the chamber. “There were tracking spells cast on us before, what if you have one?”

“I doubt they’d bother putting one on me, they would be fully aware that I could see such a fate if I ever escaped. But I will make sure.” Gabriel took a moment to investigate his future then came back to me with an encouraging smile. “Nothing.”

“Good,” I sighed, and he led the way out of the room.

I hurried down the corridor at his back with Orion beside me and he leaned low to speak in my ear. “You will marry me.”

“You know, people usually ask someone if they want to marry them, not just command it,” I whispered.

“You’re already mated to me by the stars, what’s there to ask?”

“Just because we’re mated doesn’t mean you get to skip a proposal.” I shot him a sharp look. “So you’d better ask really, really nicely the next time you bring this up. And I am making no promises that I’ll say yes.”

“Or that I’ll agree to it,” Gabriel tossed back over his shoulder.

“And since when do I have to ask your permission?” Orion asked in shock.

“I second that question,” I called to him.

“Since I’m your brother, it’s my duty to look out for you,” Gabriel replied, taking a sharp left down a short hallway and we hurried after him.

I scoffed, but Orion frowned, looking like he was taking his friend’s words super seriously. Which was ridiculous because as much as I loved Gabriel, I sure as shit wasn’t going to be waiting for his permission to marry Orion if I wanted to.

“Darius didn’t ask your permission to marry Tory,” Orion said.

“I know. And I’ll be taking it up with him beyond the Veil, but as we’re currently on two different planes, and I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, he’ll have to wait for the ass kicking I plan on presenting him with in the afterlife. You, however, don’t get to escape me via death, so you’d better be nice as pie to me if you’re determined to marry my sister.” Gabriel darted right, then slowed, pressing his back to a wall as his eyes glazed with a vision.

Orion and I moved in protectively around him, swords lifted and magic crackling in our free hands.

“Love you.” Orion shot me a wink and I melted for him as always.

“Love you back. Let’s get home.”

“Where is home these days?”

“Wherever our family is,” I said with a tug in my chest, missing them all so damn much. We had to get out of here and find our way back to them.

“And who are we counting as that beyond us three, Tory, Xavier and Caleb?” he asked.

“Max, plus Sofia and Tyler. And don’t act like you’re not dying for a Seth snuggle,” I said with a hint of a smirk around my lips.

“Actually, I think I’ll go back to the cage,” he deadpanned.

I shook my head at him, but then my thoughts turned to the girl missing from our family, my heart ripping open at the loss of Geraldine. There was no way the world would ever be the same without her in it.

“This way.” Gabriel jolted back to alertness, rushing ahead of us once more.

I forced away my grief, focusing on what needed to be done now. We couldn’t make a mistake, we had to get out of here. If we were caught by Lionel and his Dragon Guardians, there was no reason for Lavinia to hold back on him killing us anymore.

We crossed through a smoking room and slipped through a door into a vast hallway of imposing paintings of Dragons and a silver edged glass doors leading out to a wide stone balcony. Gabriel slowed to a halt in a pool of moonlight and I moved to his side, frowning up at him, finding his eyes glazed and a crease of concern on his brow.

“What is it?” I asked in a whisper as he came back to us.

“The way is clear, but…I have a terrible sense of something ominous in the air.”

“Can we go fast now?” Orion shot to his side. “I’ll run while you and Darcy fly.”

“Yeah, it’s time.” Gabriel took his shirt off, tossing it aside and revealing the myriad of tattooed symbols he had all over his body. His black wings burst free of his back, and he turned to the balcony doors, pushing them wide. “Climb down here, we’ll stay above you, Orio, and we’ll make a straight shot for the woodland beyond the grounds. The moment we breach the wards, Lionel will return, but so long as we keep moving, we should be long gone before he can catch up to us. And I’ll be able to use my Sight after that to evade him.”

He flexed his wings and I breathed in the clean, crisp winter air as it whipped through my hair. Freedom was begging me to claim it, demanding I find a way back home, to my sister, my friends. I was on the path to them, a new fate unfolding at last. For a second the weight of Stella’s sacrifice hung in the air, and gratitude swept through me for what she’d done. She may have been a toxic woman who had followed a road of destruction and foul deeds, but in the end, she had chosen to offer her life for me and her son. And there was no denying the good in that.

With only the breast plate covering my upper half, my wings were able to stretch free and I called on them, a thrill buzzing through me in anticipation of feeling them again.

I all but moaned as they came to me, the bronze sheen of feathers rising at my back and my Phoenix singing inside me.

Orion’s eyes lit up as he watched me. “That feel good, beautiful?”

“So good,” I exhaled.

“Come on,” Gabriel urged, hopping up to crouch on the curved stone railing of the balcony, his eyes moving across the ground like a bird of prey hunting for a kill. “We’ll fly low. Let’s use the cover of those trees to move.” He pointed to a path that headed through a woodland toward the perimeter of the vast grounds.

I nodded, moving up behind him, hungering to fly once more, my wings beat at my back, ready to cast me into the sky.

A shadow crossed the moon and all three of our heads snapped in that direction. I threw an air shield around all of us and Orion grabbed my hand, his power merging with my own to strengthen it further.

Lavinia appeared, hanging above us, almost hidden against the dark sky that was woven between the stars.

She descended like an omen of certain death, huge lashes of shadows sweeping from her hands and striking the dome of power surrounding us with a terrible strength, making us stagger back as we fought to hold it in place.

Gabriel jumped back down onto the balcony with a curse, looking to the sky as Lavinia hovered above us, vexed and hostile, shadows coiling from her body and her face set in a snarl.

“What have you done?!” She pointed at Orion in livid accusation, and I let Phoenix fire spill out over my wings to draw her attention to me, making her screech in horror. “No!” she cried. “How is this possible?!”

“The curse is broken,” I spat. “We’re no longer bound to you.”

“Where is my Beast?” she snarled. “Come to me. Rip these traitors apart.”

The Shadow Beast hovered closer to me in its smoky form, but didn’t answer her call. It was no longer her captive, and I would offer it a chance at true liberation this night. I was on the doorstep of escape, and I would be walking through the exit with my entourage in tow, so fucking help me.

“No one’s coming to your aid, Lavinia!” I shouted, throwing more power into our shield while keeping my gaze firmly away from the thick vines Gabriel was summoning up from the ground beneath her, sneaking their way into the sky behind the shadow bitch.

Gabriel added razor sharp thorns along the length of the vines, weaving a net ready to capture her. All we needed was a chance, but as my mind turned to the Imperial Star and the curse that plagued my bloodline, I knew I was going to have to muster the strength of every Phoenix who had come before me to twist fate in our favour. But so be it.

Lavinia growled, the air shuddering with the guttural noise. “Are you sure about that, little Princess?” she hissed and at a movement of her head, Nymphs crept out of the woodland below, all of them having merged so well with the trees, we’d not seen them coming. There were tens of them, perhaps hundred more hiding out there in the dark, but even that new challenge didn’t make me falter.

I’d risen from the belly of the palace, had bathed in the blood of a hundred Fae, battled a monster, and retrieved what had been lost to me. Now we were perched on the edge of salvation, and by the stars, the sun, and the moon, we would be leaving here together tonight.

Lavinia whipped our shield once again and Orion and I dug our heels in as the dome of air magic was forced back a foot.

A Nymph let out a horrid shriek, pointing to the net with its long probes and Gabriel threw it at Lavinia before she could turn to stop it. The net slammed over her, wrapping her up, binding tight and spilling blood as the thorns dug deep.

“Go!” I commanded and we ran for the edge of the balcony while Lavinia was fighting her way free of the net.

Gabriel glanced my way and I let my plan unfold in my head, his eyes glazing for a second before he saw what I wanted him to do, and he nodded his agreement. He lunged at Orion, grabbing hold of his right hand and carving his palm down it. Water magic ran between his fingers, and he used it to gather Stella’s blood from Orion’s palm, before trapping it in a red crystal of ice.

“What are you-” Orion started, but as Gabriel tossed me the blood crystal, he grabbed Orion and leapt from the edge of the balcony, wings snapping out and catching them on the breeze.

Orion shouted my name and fought to get free, the two of them heading out of sight beneath the trees where an army of Nymphs awaited them. But I couldn’t let my mind snag on that fearful thought, knowing I had my own part to play in this escape, and trusting them to forge a path between our enemies.

I bound the crystal to my wrist with a pouch cast from leaves then sprang from the railing, racing into the sky towards Lavinia, my wings burning a blazing trail through the air at my back as I locked her in my sights. She was still thrashing within the net, trying to break free and I readied to attack, my pulse warring and vengeance purring my name.

Phoenix fire tore out of me, and I released a roar that was fuelled with all the anger and pain this witch had caused me and Orion.

Her shadows sliced through the net caging her, but she was still too distracted to notice the fireball of death coming her way. It collided with her in a shower of deadly sparks, knocking her from the sky and she screamed in terror, tumbling down towards the trees.

I dove, chasing after her and the Nymphs’ rattles burst into my skull the lower I got, locking down my magic. But I didn’t need magic when I had my Order and a plan to destroy Lavinia once and for all.

Lavinia’s hands raised before she hit the trees, her features a picture of vengeance as she sent coils of shadow towards me, snapping around my wings and binding them tight.

I lost control, and a scream escaped me before I hit the tree canopy and tumbled to the ground below, landing in a patch of grass. Lavinia hadn’t been so blessed, her body smouldering as it lay in a crater, her spine bent backwards over the burning husk of a log.

My Phoenix fire flared, burning through the shadows as they fought to hold my wings, but Lavinia’s dark power turned to nothing under the intensity of the blaze.

The clash of battle in the distance told me Orion and Gabriel were facing fights of their own, but I couldn’t turn my attention to them now. A fight for retribution was waiting for me, a chance opening up for me to avenge all of those who had fallen prey to Lavinia’s malice.

I ran towards my enemy, Phoenix fire twisting from my fingers and crashing into her while she fought to get up, her shadows already healing the burns and broken bones I’d caused with my attack.

Shadows exploded out of her, slamming into my fire and working to keep it back, my Phoenix flames eating through her dark power just as ruthlessly.

I screamed my hate at her, all the injustice of what she had done to Orion tearing a fissure in the centre of my chest. I wanted her to pay, wanted her to hurt. And I’d take pleasure in watching her die. But I couldn’t send her into death yet. First, I needed to cast the spell on her that I’d learned from the book we’d found in the treasury. If I managed to pull this off, she would no longer be able to call on the shadows to heal herself. And as I now had an ice crystal which held the blood of a willing sacrifice, I had exactly what I needed for the spell to work.

Stella’s death had freed us, and it was the answer to this shadow bitch’s undoing too. For all the misgivings of Orion’s mother, I had to be thankful to her for that.

I cast a dome of Phoenix fire over the crater, trapping Lavinia within it as she fought with all the power of her shadows to get out. I couldn’t hold her forever, and the effort it took to keep her there made my head thump with pain.

I growled as I held on, raising my hands, and moving them in the intricate pattern taught to me by Queen Avalon, chanting the spell loud and clear for her to hear. “I bind the shadows within. I close the doors against your skin.” I repeated the words in the old language and Lavinia shrieked, fighting harder to escape. “Umbras constringo intus. Pellem tuam claudo fores!”

The ground exploded, her power pouring out into it and the shadows uprooting all the trees around me. I was forced to fly, boughs slamming into the dirt while I darted left and right to avoid them, my concentration wavering and allowing Lavinia to rip through the earth and escape beneath my flames.

I cast my fire away with a huff of frustration, and Lavinia flew towards me with a shadow sword formed in her grip. I raced for the sky, higher and higher, the stars glittering as they watched, their intrigue in this fight threading through the atmosphere. And for once, I was more than happy to give them a show.

I felt Lavinia racing after me, closing in at my back and I snatched the white sword free of my sheath, raising it and turning to meet her. Her shadow blade slammed into mine with a noise like a bomb going off, and the impact reverberated through my body.

I gritted my teeth, my wings beating at my back as she pressed her sword hard against mine and my arm trembled with the effort of keeping her back. But as she got closer, her strength forced my sword near to my chest, the pressure of her blade intensifying. Her face lifted, triumph dancing her in her obsidian eyes, the shadows wriggling beneath her near transparent skin. But this wasn’t the end for me.

I brought my feet up and kicked her square in the chest, retrieving an inch of space and beating my wings hard, flying towards the sky with tremendous speed. She was on my tail in a heartbeat, her legs nothing but shadow while her arms were outstretched and that sword in her grip was held ready to skewer me.

I sent Phoenix fire pouring out from my wings, down my back and tumbling over my bare feet. She screamed, forced to swerve this way and that as she tried to avoid the heat of my flames and I flipped over backwards in the sky, tucking my wings tight and falling towards her with my own sword held ready. The stars seemed to shine brighter, dazzling, and always watching.

My blade sliced right through Lavinia’s back, flesh, bone and shadow torn apart beneath my mother’s gleaming sword and Lavinia wailed, her whole body turning to black shadow.

I twisted around, my burning feathers carving an arc through the ghostly shadow of my enemy and Lavinia’s screams sounded within that cloud. She shot away from me as far as she could go, that fog of darkness swallowed by the night until I couldn’t see it at all.

I hunted for her, eyes whipping this way and that, my blade ready for any strike that might come at me. But there was no sign of her, and I realised the Shadow Beast had left me at some point too, no longer hovering at my back.

I adjusted my sword in my grip, the heavy rattles of the Nymphs still carrying up from below, the roars of Orion and Gabriel’s fight reaching me.

“Lavinia!” I bellowed. “Fight me like Fae!”

She materialised out on a grassy bank before the palace, healed and whole once more. I set her in my sights, grit and determination fuelling my movements. I sheathed my sword in favour of my fire, flying towards her across the sky, aiming to meet her on the ground.

“The king is coming home!” she called to me with a joyous laugh. “Soon you’ll be trapped like bees in a jar again, and I will let him bleed you out. And when he is done, I’ll lock your souls in your bones so I can feast on you all for days to come.”