The Crown Of Fire - Book 1 of The Stormrider Chronicles

She’d seen what happened.

Courage. Caliburn’s wielder was courageous. Alexander, one of the prophesized sons of Dagda. His bravery would be legend, she knew. Of course, to wield Caliburn meant that courage had to be a highly courageous person.

But who knew that courage would be his downfall? To save young Edward from death, he sacrificed himself. Pierced by her sister’s blade.

Aria Stormrider had enough. No longer would she let her blood ties with the mage stop her from putting an end to this evil.

“Seraphina!”

The mage in question turned to face the girl. She held her blade in her hand tightly. Aria didn’t glance at the boy who laid at her sister’s feet. The boy who would die if she didn’t win the fight.

“I told you to choose a side, sister,” Seraphina spoke. “I’ve told you for your entire life, haven’t I?” she paused, putting the point of her blade at the boy’s throat. King Alexander, who lay dying with her foot upon his chest. “People die without consequence. Kings and Queens, they fade with the ages. Join with me, sister, and you will be granted eternity.”

She watched the blade for a moment. She had to be careful with her next move. But it seemed that King Alexander had different plans. He swung his blade up, knocking Seraphina’s away from his throat. He disarmed her by pretending to be weak from what should have been a killing blow. He’d put her off balance and she fell away from him.

Aria rushed forward, she stopped next to him. She didn’t let her guard down. But she looked to Alexander. The wound could clearly be seen, it was located between his rib cage. He was paler than usual. He was breathing more as well. “Get out of here.”

“I told you it was a joke.” Seraphina told her with a sick grin. “I told you his name, Alexander, was a joke. He can’t even defend himself, let alone save these poor people.” She tore her gaze from the dying boy. She held her axe in her hand. And then swung it hard. It clashed with her sister’s blade loudly. “I said I would win this war, Aria. And I warned you, they would all die.”

It was hard. Aria knew that she couldn’t have split loyalties. And while she shared no love for her sister, she did empathize with her. Seraphina did all of this in the pursuit of happiness. She did all of this because she yearned to be loved. And in Aria’s youth, Seraphina had been loved, but it was never enough. Nothing was ever enough.

And somewhere along the way, it drove her to madness. Somewhere in the past, Seraphina was transformed into the monster she was now.

Perhaps, once she simply hated Seraphina and everything she stood for. But now, she pitied her. She pushed Seraphina back roughly. “And didn’t I once warn you that your path toward evil would lead you to your doom?”

“So, this is it then?” Seraphina questioned. Her emerald eyes following her younger sister. There seemed to be something resembling sadness in her eyes. Something Aria wasn’t aware that Seraphina could feel. “This is how it ends?”

“Tha an anail a tha a ’bàsachadh gar sgaradh.”

And so the fight began. Seraphina fought in grace which clashed with Aria’s more aggressive nature. She wielded her axe like it was an extension of her arm, and that was Seraphina’s mistake. Seraphina only saw her sword as a weapon. Nothing more than a sharp edge meant to make her enemies bleed.

Aria was tired though. Tired of the evil. Tired of the battle. The only thing she wasn’t tired of was the fighting. It exhilarated her. A fight brought her some kind of purpose.

Their weapons clashed on multiple occassions. The biggest challenge of the fight was that Seraphina and Aria were on equal levels of skill. Where Aria swung her axe down in a chopping motion, Seraphina parried. And when one brought the fight to new levels, the other would raise the stakes further.

Seraphina was getting older though. And she hadn’t truly fought in years. The experience was weakening her. She was getting tired. When Aria noticed this, she got more aggressive. Her strikes became heavier and more persistent.

She went at Seraphina until the blade of her axe was embedded in her sister’s stomach with a sickening sound. Her older sister fell to her knees with one breath. She looked up at Aria with a pleading look as Aria watched her.

Seraphina dropped her sword. Aria gripped her axe in her hand again. Using her foot, she kicked Seraphina down to the ground. Aria stared down at her coldly.

“I was wrong about you,” the older sister told her. “While I know, as I lay here, dying, you feel nothing at all. But I was wrong.” Seraphina choked. “You have the makings for greatness. But in your greatness, there is weakness. In that, I was right. You may be more human than I, but you’re far more vulnerable in your humanity than I am in my inhumanity.”

“Farewell,” Aria spoke with an icy cold tone. With no remorse whatsoever. “Sister.”

She raised her axe high in the air and swiftly brought it down upon her sister’s neck, separating her head from her body. Before throwing the bodiless head into the flames.

Aria herself had sustained wounds in the battle, while none of them were life-threatening, they hurt nonetheless. But none of it mattered as Alexander broached her mind again.

She went back to him, getting on the ground next to him. He was still breathing, he was still awake, though his skin grew paler by the second.

“Eddie’s looking for Octavia,” he started. His voice was hoarse. “I told him to find her, and you, and get out of here.”

Aria pursed her lips. “I couldn’t. I had to finish this, once and for all.”

“She’s dead?”

“Yes.”

“Alex!” Octavia shouted, running to her brother’s side. Immediately tears were streaming down her cheeks. She felt despair for her brother. His eyes stuck to Aria’s though. Asking for a simple favor.

Protect her for me.

Aria nodded subtly so as to keep her promise hidden. Edward appeared from behind Octavia who put her hands to the wound, pleading with him. “Don’t die. Please, don’t die.”

It happened fairly quick. His eyes closed and his breathing slowed, nearly to a stop. Aria lowered her head solemnly.

“Octavia, the medicine,” Edward reminded her. “Get the medicine.”

Shakily, the girl pulled the bottle from her belt and unscrewed the cap. She brought the bottle to the recently deceased boy’s lips and allowed one drop to fall. It was just one moment, but it felt like an eternity.

It was a sad loss indeed. Octavia’s only family had left this world too soon. A friend, whose breaths died in his lungs. A great king that would never be.

But he hadn’t died in vain. Seraphina was dead as well. Aria couldn’t bring herself to look at his sister, she kept her gaze averted and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, Eight.”

Octavia put her head on her brother’s chest as she cried. He was still warm, but soon it would fade. Edward and Aria were silent as the young girl grieved.

And then they heard coughing. Followed by a gasp.

Aria looked up and saw Octavia hugging a living boy. King Alexander was alive. Looking as though, it’d never happened, all the color came back to his face. He was breathing. Octavia had said that Omdrus gave her his blood, which had healing purposes, but no where in that, did he say that it could bring back the dead.

After Octavia let go of him, Edward hugged him as well. Octavia was smiling again, the grief washed away from her features. And once Edward let go, Aria, to his surprise as well as hers, hugged him.

“Are you alright?” she asked with arms still around him in tight hug.

“Yeah, just remind me to never do that again.”

They heard a low growl. Aria let go of Alexandar and turned around. Before them stood a hyena, and it had caught them all unarmed. Aria’s breath hitched in her throat. She scrambled for her axe, but by the time that she’d grabbed it, there was a screechy whine and the growling had stopped.

When she looked up, she saw Omdrus devouring it. His teeth dug into its flesh. Ripping it apart bit by bit, until there was nearly nothing left of it.

And then he howled.