Throne of Irene

I wasn’t planning on making a friend.

The pair of guards arrive at my room at nightfall and in silent resignation, I shoulder my pack and follow them out onto the street.

The cobblestone streets are lined with shops and lit with torches and lanterns. A large group of about eighty or ninety people are gathered in the center in front of a flimsy wooden dais, in the range of fifteen to twenty years old. On the raised platform, there is a podium and on the far two corners, large braziers with tall flames flicker and illuminate the plaza.

Crowds have formed along the outer lines of the road, whispering and muttering to each other.

The guards push me toward the group. I stumble, catching myself before I hit the ground. I look behind me to see the two soldiers stand guard behind the group.

A few other children approach, giddy that they were picked. Foolish souls.

A soldier encased in silver armor steps up to the podium and waves his hand to a man approaching the dais. “Prime Minister Raphael Cohen.”

A man with tan skin, dark hair, and brown eyes walks up to the dias. He wears a thick robe, the ends trailing on the floor. From the way he carries himself, I can tell he comes from an aristocratic family and holds more self-love than a humble person should. A priest.

He moves to stand behind the podium, looks over all one hundred of us, and addresses the onlookers.

“Every four years, the mystical creatures of the world grant us the chance to gain powerful abilities and during this special time, they give this chance to a select hundred young souls. Today, we give these souls the power to enter the Valley.”

The Death Valley.

“After the failed coup, the mystical creatures were enraged. To placate them, Queen Trine created the Sacrifice. Dragons, gryphons, and pegasi alike await for your arrival. Should you connect with one, you and your creature will become legendary. You will be able to wield magic, and your names will be forever etched in stone.”

As a body or rider.

“You will honor Mythgarde with your survival. Or with your deaths.”

With that, he left us to our thoughts.

A tingle of energy raced up my arm and up to my head. I shake my head to make it go away.

“Hey, you okay?”

I look in the direction of where the voice came from. A girl with emerald green eyes stares back at me from my right. She’s wearing a lapis blue tunic and black pants. Her boots were equestrian so I’d assume she comes from an equestrian family. She looks at me with sincerity.

I give her a soft smile. “Yeah.”

She gives me a wide smile and says, “I’m Raya. My father takes care of the horses in Fordunn.

So I was right. “Lyra.”

“So what creature do you want to connect with? A gryphon, pegasus, or dragon?” Her eyes gleam.

“I didn’t exactly volunteer. My mom registered for me.” Her brows furrow as she listens and I add, “but if I had a choice, I’d go with any of them. They’re all magnificent creatures.”

“I think I want a dragon. They’re the largest and can fly higher, faster, and do more maneuvers than the others. And don’t they just look regal?”

I smile and nod. “They do. They also are most-likely to give you physical magics. Water, fire, invisibility–that sort of thing.”

Raya beams and it reminds me so much of Alexa, my sister.

I’ll survive this, if just for her. After all, I can’t just leave her to become a single child. 

Excerpt of Chapter 63

If it’s the last thing I do, Merrile will burn.

– Unknown Correspondence from Altas Lycan

My eyes widen with shock as my best friend drives his sword through my sister’s chest.

“L-Lyra…” she breathes. Blood spills from her mouth and drips onto the floor, staining the floor with blood. Lux unceremoniously pushes her off his sword with a push of his hand and Lexa falls to the floor face-first. Life fades from her brown eyes.

“Lexa!” I scream, breaking free of Amory’s hold and rushing over to Lux. Pain, betrayal, and fury swarm my heart. Energy blooms in my chest.

Another one of my siblings is dead. I am alone. He’s dead.

I unsheathe my sword from my belt, and thrust my blade, ready to put it in his heart. He dodges, parrying with his blade. His movements are strong, but mine are fluid and fueled by wrath. I slash and he blocks. He attempts to slice my leg, but I flip over his head and roll. I turn and slash again, and he spins to block.

My lungs clench. My best friend, Lux, killed Alexa. Alexa is dead. Tristan is also dead. I am completely and utterly alone. There is no one else. Dad died of heartbreak, and Mom died for us. I will kill him if it’s the last thing I do.

“Your sister was a traitor,” Lux seethes. “And so are you.” He slashes his blade at my face, and I snap my back so it’s perpendicular to my legs and whip back up, swinging my leg to kick his hand so he drops his blade. Lux simply grabs another sword from his back and swings. “I can’t believe you betrayed us. Betrayed me!”

I spin around to attack low with force to chop his legs, but he jumps out of the way. My sword clangs with the cobblestone. I rise. “Me? I didn’t betray you. Mythgarde betrayed the world with its greed and conquest of the entire world to kill Immortals. And you betrayed me.”

Lux shakes his head before setting cold, judging eyes on me. “You’re a fool. I can’t believe I loved you once.”

Something inside me just bursts. My anger soars to new heights and rage envelops me. Power erupts from my soul and instinct takes over. Amber flecks of sparkling energy rise from the ground and my vision shades with gold. Lux’s eyes widened with fear, and once upon a time, I might have granted him mercy, but right now, I know nothing but overwhelming fury. In my peripherals, I catch Amory and Raya stare in shock, but I don’t register it.

A silver streak of fiery death rains down from the stormy sky and strikes down Lux. I collapse to my knees. I just took my first life. And I hate myself for it. 

Excerpt of Chapter 68

Let it be known that I had no intention of being here, but alas, here I am.

– Irene, Goddess of Peace

On the War of Immortals

“Irene. I’ve been waiting.”

I stare at the man twenty feet in front of me in confusion. The man in the silver cloak is talking to me?

“Um… My name isn’t Irene.”

He smiles malevolently. The weapons strapped onto his body gleam in the sunlight. “Wonderful.”

Then, he spread crow-like wings that seemingly sprouted from his back out of nowhere and speeded toward me. How do I have this bad luck? I have no idea.

Atlas rushes in front of me and their swords collide. “Don’t you dare,” he grits out.

The man flies backward and lands on his feet. “Interesting. Aeron.”

Atlas ignores the use of some random name and approaches him, his sword at the ready.

I unsheathe my sword from my belt and stride over. I put my hand on Atlas’s arm and nod, staring into his dark eyes. I can do this.

He nods in understanding and takes a step back, sheathing his sword.

I saunter to the cloaked man, my sword in hand.

Somehow, I know the man is smirking under that hood. “Irene, tell me, how does it feel to not be a soul of peace?” His voice conveys arrogance and mockery.

“There’s more than one way to enforce peace,” I answer, not giving away any emotions in my voice, so as not to let him have the pleasure of knowing he gets under my skin.

I lift my hand, and wisps of energy lift from the ground, shooting in the man’s direction. He spreads his wings again and flies up to circle me. I narrow my eyes. Is he taunting me? Worse yet, is he playing with me?

I shoot bursts of lightning from my hand and when he flies close to slash me with his sword, I parry and target his wings. If he can’t fly, he’s limited to fighting on the ground.

Suddenly, he cuts me in the thigh and I crash into the ground, blood leaking from my wound and onto the stone floor. The man dives in to kill me and I shoot him in the chest with lightning. He’s simply thrown back a couple meters and stops to hover again.

H-how? I did that to a man before and he died, reeking of charred ashes.

The cloaked man growls before flying up to hover in front of the sun, his black-feathered wings creating large shadows.

My eyes widen and I freeze. I know this man. Gold shades my vision and purpose fills me. White-feathered wings sprout from my back and my voice becomes serious. “Ernes.”

I know the man is smirking once again as he says, “Irene. What a tragedy. I enjoyed fighting your human form more.”

“Sadly for you, I was never human.”