“I don’t need your support,” snapped Andromeda. “Morgana has already accepted me as Queen of Elfi. If any of you don’t agree you can spend the rest of your days in the dungeons of the Crystal Castle. Once we are done with this I will be dissolving the council.”
“You cannot dissolve the council,” countered Elder Silias. “We will not permit it.”
“Fool,” replied Andromeda with a sneer. “I can and I have. You have no choice. As we speak my troops are taking over the capital. Anyone still loyal to Izadora will be killed.” Andromeda took out something from the saddlebag beside her and stepped forward. The Book of Abraxas rested in her hand.
Lucian’s eyes lit up and he held out his hand. “Come,” he snapped, “bring it to me. And bring me the girl, too. Where is she?”
“Locked in a dungeon, where she belongs,” replied Andromeda.
“That was not the deal,” Lucian hissed, his eyes narrowing. “There is no dungeon that can hold Aurora Firedrake. I want the girl.”
“Deal’s changed,” smirked Andromeda. “The cuffs Morgana sent me to subdue Aurora’s magic have worked very well. She is powerless.” She paused. “You can have the book. Once I know Morgana will keep her end of the bargain and I am crowned Queen of Elfi with her support, only then will I hand over the Firedrake princess. After you remove your troops from Elfi.”
“You will regret this, Andromeda,” said the archmage. “Morgana does not deal lightly with those who try to cross her.”
“Take the book,” said Andromeda, holding it up. “Remove your troops from my lands and I will hand the girl over to you.”
The archmage smiled, white teeth flashing as his obsidian eyes grew darker. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” said Lucian. “Without Izadora you are weak, and with the girl locked up, you have no one to defend your puny kingdom. You High Fae think you still rule the world. But I have news for you. You cannot stop me. Look around.”
Shadow Demons appeared on both sides of the fae army as the Drakaar summoned their hideous henchmen. Gorgoths flew down from the mountains as I had predicted. Lucian never meant to leave Elfi in peace.
“I will take the book and I will take the girl,” declared Lucian, “and when I am done, I will raze the Crystal Castle to the ground and destroy all the fae who oppose Morgana once and for all.”
It was time.
I flew Snow down to the battlefield and jumped off the pegasus between Lucian’s army and the fae; Lucian’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw me.
“If you want the book, Lucian—” my hands started to glow, “—you will have to go through me.”
“Ah! Our little Firedrake,” exclaimed the Archmage of Avalonia. “I’m so glad you decided to join us. You may be dressed like a warrior, but I know under all that swagger is a scared little princess who wants to go home. I gave you a chance to do just that.” He paused, assessing me, and his dark eyes swirled with the confidence he had won.
“Now, of course, that offer is off the table,” Lucian went on. “You have no friends here; the fae were quite relieved to hand you over to me. And I can understand why. I do know what a handful you can be. That was quite a feat you pulled off in Calos and with the Drakaar in Brandor.” He clucked his tongue in displeasure as if I were a child. “It wasn’t very nice of you, was it?”
He folded his hands in front of him. “Your family is mostly dead. We know where the rebels are hiding, and the Blackwaters will flush them out soon enough. Silverthorne will give up his key eventually, especially when I torture you right in front of his eyes. I shall so enjoy hearing you scream.” He laughed. “Your precious Prince Rafael is going to marry another. He doesn’t care what happens to you anymore.”
I kept quiet and let him talk as I gathered my magic and let it build within me. Lucian was so full of himself and was so sure he had won. But his arrogance made him underestimate me, and I vowed that this was the last time anyone would underestimate Aurora Firedrake.
The immense power within me rose up. I flung it out in a wall of shimmering magic hundreds of feet high, creating a barrier between Lucian’s army and the fae, stopping Andromeda from going over to them with the book.
“What are you doing, foolish girl?” Andromeda screamed, hitting the wall of magic that had risen in front of us.
At the same time a portal opened beside me swirling with silver mist, and the queen of the fae stepped through, followed by Rhiannon, Tristan, Aiden, Erik, and the rest of the Elite.
“She is doing what we should have done a long time ago,” replied Izadora, her immortal face calm, but I could see a strain on her power. She had not fully recovered.
Andromeda stopped in her tracks. “Aiden, what is the meaning of this? Izadora is supposed to be dead.”
Aiden ignored his mother.
“What this means,” explained Izadora, holding out her hand, “is that you have lost, Andromeda. Morgana will never get the Book of Abraxas as long as I am Queen of Elfi.” She stepped closer. “Now give it to me.”
I still held up the wall of magic protecting us from Lucian’s army, but from the corner of my eye I could see them moving toward it.
“You won’t be queen for much longer,” snarled Andromeda. “You will all die here today.”
And then it struck.
A huge wave of dark magic hurtled into the shimmering transparent wall I had created, trying to shatter it. I moved backward with the force of it, but my magic held. I closed my eyes and pushed more magic into the wall as the power welling up inside me
