Page 2 of Rising Out of the Darkness (Divine Guardians Duology #1)
Over time, Alastor had let his darker side slip out, but Lenora always sensed a deep sorrow within him. It hovered over him like a haze, and she couldn’t help but feel a tinge remorseful for whatever had made this man be so consumed by sadness daily.
Holding her dagger tightly, she prepared her stance, remembering how her younger son Declan had trained her.
“This isn’t the end, Alastor. You may try to break it, but hope always finds a way,” she declared boldly, launching her dagger into the air.
A blast of his dynamis launched the dagger back towards Lenora. She dodged with just enough time for the dagger to miss her forehead, but not enough to avoid it slicing her cheek. Blood leaked from the wound as malevolent laughter crowded the room.
“Such a shame to have to cut down such a delicate flower, but you’ve given me no choice.” Alastor unleashed his lightning again with a lazy movement of his wrist.
Lenora shrieked as she crumpled to the ground. Ringing echoed inside her head, her dagger far from her reach. Shards of glass clawed into her knees as Alastor continued to hold her with his power. As blood began to pool beneath her, the queen’s vision darkened.
Throwing her shoulders back, fighting against the grip of the lightning, she pushed her dynamis towards him.
“Don’t think that I’m not aware of how you’re trying to turn my emotions against me, Lenora.” He stepped towards her. Towering over her, he leaned down close enough to invade the air she gasped desperately to breathe. “I know your secret. Emotions are truly powerful little things, aren’t they?”
Lenora’s eyes widened as she found the terror within his words.
His dynamis became more intense, radiating pain throughout her entire body.
How could they have misjudged Alastor so disastrously?
So much planning, preparing, coordinating, and he could be the undoing of it all.
Tears streamed as she began to realize what evil stood before her.
“Goodbye, dear Lenora. It’s truly such a shame to waste such beauty. To think your king never took advantage of your full potential.” He ticked the roof of his mouth once more, silencing her with a malicious grin.
Raising his hands in front of him like a viper ready to strike, he prepared for Lenora’s demise.
Out of the corner, Keir leaped in the air, his sword extended, aiming for a fatal blow.
Alastor wasn’t fast enough to block the attack, and Keir’s sword slid deep inside his side. Keir grinned wildly as the advisor groaned in agony. As he released the bloody sword, Alastor vanished before their eyes.
For a split-second Lenora caught her son’s shocked expression, the same one that she mirrored.
No one had ever had multiple abilities except her younger son, Declan.
The kingdom believed it to be a blessing from the gods and the Light Phoenix to the Stallard line, but the secret ran far deeper than they really knew.
If Alastor had zephyred, that meant he knew the truth and must have for some time.
Neither of them saw Alastor appear before he shoved his own sword deep into Keir’s back, through his chest, right next to his heart.
Elysians might be able to heal themselves and live for centuries, but some wounds they could not return from.
This was one of them. Prince Keir’s eyes widened as he slumped down, sliding off the sword onto the stone floor.
Panic danced across his features as he clutched his chest to stop the blood from flooding out of the wound.
Lenora released a scream of pure agony. “Gods, not my son! How could you!”
Keir’s body slid towards his mother, coughing blood from the side of his mouth. His gaze shifted up towards his mother’s deep blue eyes. “I’m—” His breathing slowed as he whispered, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
Lenora tried to reach out for her son. Fighting against the intensity of the lightning that still radiated electric fire throughout her body, she rasped out her final words to her eldest. “I love you,” she gritted her teeth as the lightning pulsed through her.
“Don’t you dare ever be sorry for anything.
May the light always guide you, and the gods always surround you. ”
The remaining air in Keir’s chest gurgled as one last raspy breath passed through his lips. Every one of his last moments he had used to protect the people he loved. His eyes slid shut, and Lenora’s scream matched the feeling of her heart shattering into a million pieces.
Reaching down to the depths of her body where her dynamis resided, she unleashed every painful emotion she had towards Alastor.
A gust of wind blew around them from her dynamis, only causing a slight hitch in his stance.
She continued to launch wave after wave until the well of her dynamis ran dry. Alastor barely flinched.
The queen shuddered as he finally released her from his dynamis. Burning with rage, she glared at the man still towering before her.
“You may kill us, Alastor, but the gods will never let your evil win. Our people will continue to rise up against you, just like they are right now.” Her gaze drifted to the open window, to the sounds of chaos outside.
A deep rumble of laughter thundered throughout the room, low and raspy enough to make the queen’s stomach seize with fear.
Blood continued to soak the wound in Alastor’s side as he lifted his sword to align it above the queen’s chest, piercing through the delicate edge of her velvet gown, straight below to her heart.
He hummed with satisfaction, like a predator ready to pounce on his prey.
“Oh, Lenora. I’ve already won.”
He slammed the sword deep into Lenora’s heart.
One gasp of air, and life faded from her eyes. Alastor wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. He bent down and picked up a peony from the floor, placed it over Lenora’s lifeless body. After sheathing his sword, he stormed out of the room, shaking his head.
“Such a waste.”