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MORRIGAN

Oronrel

The kelpie thunders towards the Unseelie Kingdom; the black iron of the gates coil with dark mist as I dismount. The kelpie shifts into her feminine form. She walks one step behind me, ever watchful of those nearby. Pressing my hand against the spells on the gate, I bend them to my will, pulling their dark energy inside me. The bars burn brightly, hissing, until the lock shatters and the gate opens on my command. Guards race toward the entrance, but none dare to fight me.

“Where is Theren?” I demand.

The guards are too tongue-tied to respond.

“Tell him the Midnight Queen awaits him in the throne room,” I say in irritation.

I walk through the front of the palace, making my way across petrified wood floors and past stone walls. Black marble braziers light a passage between large columns swirling with intricate runes, and the throne of jagged shards of black onyx sits at the far end of the cavernous chamber.

The heels of my boots click on the obsidian floors as I walk up to the throne. Unseelie watch as I sit on their king’s chair.

Theren pushes through the doors a moment later, fire snapping in his vivid gaze.

“Morrigan,” he sneers. “Why do you sit in my throne as if you’re the Queen of Oronrel?”

“You and I must talk, Theren.”

“About?”

“I’ve gone deep into the forests and found no sign of Silvanus, and Variant is no further along in his search for the one who will serve as a sacrifice in the ritual. The temple has been located in the Cogost Mountains, but the same problem remains: we need the two sacrifices.”

Theren tilts his head and watches me with wary eyes. “What are the requirements? Perhaps my men would serve you better than Variant.”

“A necromancer and someone with magic in their blood, but no true arcane power. They must complete the tantric ritual of their own free will. Only then can I open the Veil.”

Theren throws his head back and barks out a tendril of laughter. “I’ve been to the Veil, Morrigan. I’ve fought this necromancer and I’ve seen the power he wields. He will never agree to take part in your ritual.”

“I don’t need him to agree.”

The Unseelie King approaches the throne. He lifts a hand and touches my cheek, ignoring the angry hiss from the kelpie.

“So much beauty has been retained in your form over the years, but your soul is just as mangled and ugly as the rest of this putrid world,” he says.

“You forget who is in control, Theren.” I stand and grip his throat in my hand, forcing the spells within him to cause his knees to buckle. “I can feel you fighting me, puppet. I don’t like it.” Yanking my hand away, I stare down at the place on his neck where a red mark is visible. Using the influence drains my power. I won’t be able to hold Theren’s mind captive for much longer.

The king climbs to his feet and his expression remains impassive, but there’s no defiance in his eyes anymore. I step down from beside the throne.

“We cannot lose now,” I tell him. “If you break free of my command, I will be forced to kill your brother. You and I had a deal, Theren: I get what I want from you, and Cambion stays alive.”

I turn to leave, but the kelpie’s sudden aggression puts me on edge. She leads me over to a dark corner where a blast of magic sends me sprawling across the floor. I look up as Cambion reveals himself from the ethers. The kelpie’s power swells as she reaches toward the former King of Nature.

Water begins to fall from his eyes like tears, spilling past his lips as he struggles to breathe.

“Morrigan!” Theren calls from behind me.

I place my hand on the kelpie’s shoulder and she stops her magic from killing him. He falls to the floor on his knees, where he belongs.

“You filth! What makes you think you can attack me?” I insist.

Theren moves to stand beside me. I see the betrayal in Cambion’s gaze as he stares at his brother, and I find it delicious.

“Whatever hold you have over him, Morrigan, he will be free of you,” Cambion hisses at me. “And when that day comes, there won’t be anywhere you can hide where I won’t find you. My allies grow stronger each day and we will have our revenge.”

“Take him to the center of the throne room,” I order the kelpie. “It’s time we remind Cambion who it is he seeks to rebel against. Let him taste the salt of the marshes on his tongue until he chokes. Let him gasp for breath only to breathe water. And when his life begins to slip away, let him crawl to the surface like a drifter at sea.”

***

CAMBION

Oronrel

I know nothing but darkness now. I don’t know whether Aima is safe or if the others are still alive, or how long I’ve clung to the traces of consciousness at the back of my mind. And all the while, I try to reach beyond this world and the next, hoping Pyre and the others can pick up my signature and find us here in Oronrel.

My body thrashes on the obsidian floor, fingers clawing for a shore that doesn’t exist. The kelpie’s magic is strong, as she feeds on the darkness of the Unseelie kingdom.

A break in the onslaught of hellacious water and I gulp sweet air into my lungs. The darkness begins to fade, but somehow it still lingers at the edges of my vision. I look up into Morrigan’s face.

“You will not succeed, whether I die here or not. The realms will be rid of you and the fae will once again be free.”

“Big words from a man who will die at my order,” she spits back at me.

“It took me a long time to come to my senses, but I will not be—” I begin to cough and sputter, trying to spit out the water even as it fills my mouth instantly.

The sound of crashing waves roar in my ears. I crawl toward Theren, trying to reach my brother, but Morrigan’s magic forces me to the floor once more. She mocks me. Her laughter mingles with the pounding of my heart as panic begins to cripple me once more. Shadows swallow me whole, pulling me deeper and deeper toward that frigid sense of demise that licks at my boots.

All before it fades once more...

“Cambion,” Morrigan purrs, brushing the hair from my forehead. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me. I’m so close to getting my powers back, I can taste it. You are of no use to me, and neither are the others. As for the angel, she is alive simply because I will it to be so.”

“You’re lying.” I cough roughly, feeling the burn in my lungs. “Eilish and the others are alive because they refuse to give up fighting. Tell yourself all the lies you wish, Morrigan, but I know just how weak you really are. I see your stolen power fading even now.” I watch her expression fall for just a few seconds but it’s long enough for me to see the truth. “You’re afraid, aren’t you?”

“No, Cambion, I’m not afraid,” she spits the words at me. “You are the one who should be afraid because it’s you who’s going to die here and now. I won’t die unloved and abandoned by my allies. You betrayed them. What makes you think Eilish and the others will ever forgive you?”

“I don’t think they will,” I respond. “I would never expect them to forgive me.”

“Then why continue to fight alongside them?” she demands.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“No,” she almost interrupts me. “They will never accept you as their equals, given your lies.” She pauses and a broad smile takes over her face. “Join me on my quest to set things right.”

“You seek the power of the Veil?” I ask mockingly.

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ve seen it for myself, and Pyre is the Guardian of The Veil. He’s the one who wields its power. Not you. Never you.”

“Once the Veil is torn open, I will ride through the portal with an army at my call. We will lay waste to all who seek to rise against me. You know yourself how hard the mighty fall in battle, Cambion. You and your pitiful friends are merely a bump in my road.”

“Not even Theren’s army could take the Veil,” I reply. “Not even a hundred legions of orcs and demons could take on the great beast who sits on the mountains as though he’s king.”

“Pyre,” she starts.

“I don’t speak of Pyre, but the creature who calls the Veil its home.”

“And what is this beast?”

“A dragon you’re no doubt familiar with, for your kind failed to slay him in the mortal realm. His name is Wynroth and he’s an elemental capable of great destruction.” I watch Morrigan flinch. She clutches a hand to her chest, and I remember a tale she once told me as a child. “You were burned by his fire, if I remember correctly?” I continue, enjoying the sudden doubt in her expression. “Scorched to the bone and left for dead, until Abedon found you.”

“Elementals no longer exist,” she sneers. “If they did, the world would be overrun by them. They were creatures that bred by the dozens. Not even the Singularity was enough to stop them. But where are they now? Gone.”

“The former Guardians of The Veil brought the dragons into the spirit world, Morrigan. They aren’t extinct. They roam freely in the territories of the Veil. Had you not run away so quickly in the fight, you would have seen Wynroth for yourself.” I face my brother, even though he’s not my brother at the moment. Morrigan’s magic still overwhelms him. “Theren was there with me. He saw the dragon suck the lightning from the sky and decimate all who dwelled in that clearing.”

“And yet here you are.”

“Wynroth answers only to Pyre,” I say with a gasping wheeze, still feeling a tight pressure in my chest.

Morrigan pulls Theren aside. She whispers to him as the kelpie stands over me with a lustful gaze that makes my stomach turn. Though she appears to be a beautiful woman, the kelpie is more a demon than any succubae could ever hope to be. I know she needs darkness. A promise of more could sway the kelpie to my favor.

“My allies would welcome you,” I tell the creature. “You would not be used for Morrigan’s bidding. A vampire, a King of Shadows, a necromancer who deals in forbidden magic, and a succubus. You would have your choice of rider. Perhaps even the king whose realm you feed from now.”

I flick my gaze over to Theren and the kelpie shivers. Her pale eyes blink rapidly before she presses a hand to my chest.

Returning to the kelpie’s side, Morrigan orders, “Push him to the brink and then hold him there. Make him weep for death.”

Morrigan reaches into her robes and pulls out a dagger that’s familiar to me—it’s haunted my dreams for many years—the dagger of pure ice that killed Baron.