Book 2
#19 in Fantasy
#8 in action-packed
#27 in dark magic
#28 in fantasy-adventure
Everything Celestia Armedes has ever come to know is crumbling to ruins in front of her eyes.
After successfully returning from her journey across the three contine...
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The beast that stood behind the twin thrones, the eruption of darkness taking shape—that was the Aubarios. All along it had been that crooning, cawing swirl of powers that seemed frozen as it leaped skyward. That hissing, churning presence that threatened to annihilate all aspects of life.
"It feeds the entirety of this place,'' Aedis whispered as he leaned forward, now sitting at the edge of the bed next to me, all of us forming a small circle. "Its magic throbs through the very fabric of the continent, feeding it. Shielding it.''
Find the Aubarios. Take its heart. Leave.
What exactly did Ha-ámej anticipate me to do?
My gazes slid from the gaunt faces of my court to my bare feet, thoughts spinning and tangling. "What does it contain?" I barely peered at my mate—at anyone—as I ripped previous plans apart. "The heart."
Leon fell silent for a heartbeat, eyes heavy as they met mine. "Nothing. It is just that: a mass of indestructible darkness.''
I swore under my breath, images of the Unknown Prince flashing behind my eyes, his voice—his words—so loud in my ears it was deafening.
Take its heart. Leave. There was nothing to steal.
I pinched the bridge of my nose so hard it hurt. "Anything else?" A faint shake of the head. "This is all that has been recorded about it. They protect it, they worship it, and the common bloods are mortified of the mere whisper of its strength.''
"Why search it up?" Veidor—Luthian—asked as he leaned back in his seat, long legs stretching, one ankle falling over the other.
"I've been guided to it. See what I could do with.''
Liam cracked a few knuckles as he breathed, voice going so low it almost couldn't be heard, "The imprisoned guard?"
My silence was enough answer.
He'd been there. He'd seen how Ha-ámej had ripped through every layer of my magic, how he'd held me.
"And you trust him.''
I didn't know what to make out of the look on his face, the sharpness of his stares. Frustrated—angered, perhaps.
"He was there when you were chained. He locked us out.'' A quick flare of his hand toward Yesar.
''And he is an enemy to the Crown.'' I didn't feel like having to explain it to him—I couldn't even if I willed. He wouldn't understand that gut feeling, the utter quietness of my powers around him. He wouldn't understand the steadiness that crept within me whenever he was near, the clarity of my senses.
