~Eira The village slept in silence, wrapped in the hush that only came after a long day of labor. Smoke curled faintly from the last of the hearth fires, drifting into a sky thick with stars. I stood outside our cottage, cloak pulled tight around my shoulders, the night air cool against my skin. It was peaceful here—almost too peaceful. Sometimes I wondered if this quiet life was a dream, one I would wake from to find blood and fire waiting for me again. Ryan had a gift for pretending. He could smile like this life was enough, like we could stay here forever. But me? My heart always carried a question mark. The breeze shifted, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth. I inhaled deeply, trying to let it ground me. And then— My body stiffened. My breath caught. At first, I thought it was just dizziness, the kind that came from standing too long without eating. But it was more than that. My limbs… weren’t my own. My foot slid forward, then another, and another. A slow, deliberate w
~Ivy The sound of wood splintering echoed through the clearing as I hurled a ball of silver light forward. Kyle dodged left, his laugh sharp and cocky. “You call that aim?” he taunted, circling me the way he always did—like a wolf teasing prey. “Keep talking,” I muttered, heat building in my palm again. “You’ll eat dirt in a second.” His uncle, who still refused to give me a name ti call him by, watched from the shadows of the pines, arms crossed like a granite statue. His voice, when it came, was gravelly and firm. “Focus, Ivy. Control before power. Control is what keeps you alive.” I grit my teeth. Control. That word always felt like a chain around my wrists. The energy inside me was a wild tide—I couldn’t cage it neatly like Kyle. His uncle had told me it was because my power was endless, it had no bound so it was harder to contain while Kyle’s own was just blossoming so there was barely enough magic generated by his body to be contained. Kyle lunged forward, low and fa
~Aeron I found myself at Eira and Ryan’s door again. It had become a pattern—me stepping away from Obsidian to breathe, to let myself remember what mattered beyond the throne. Their new home was even more remote than the last, tucked away in a dense forest where the canopy shielded the sky. I was truly surprised that they offered to let me see where they were now staying, knowing how secretive they could be. A river ran nearby, not too far from their residence and the air smelled of moss and woodsmoke. Ryan greeted me first, his arms crossed but a smile twitching at his lips. “You’re late.” “I rule a kingdom,” I muttered, handing him the parcel of salted meat and cloth. “Forgive me for not galloping through the night to meet your exact schedule.” “Sarcasm won’t help you here.” Ryan frowned. “But it’s nice to see that you made it.” Eira appeared behind him, her hair loose. She looked tired, but there was peace in her face that I couldn’t find anywhere in Obsidian. “You stil
~Lyric The music thrummed low through the floorboards, a pulse that seemed to match the beat of my heart. Warm hands traced along my skin, lingering, teasing, making me arch into the touch. His breath was hot against my neck, lips brushing in that lazy, unhurried way that told me he knew exactly how much I hated to wait. I tangled my fingers in his hair, tugging until he gave a soft groan, the kind that vibrated against my throat. The tavern beyond the private room was loud—laughter, boots stamping, mugs clashing—but here, inside these four walls, it was just heat and closeness, the steady build of something reckless. He kissed me harder, and I let myself sink into it for a while, letting the noise fade, letting the ache rise. My nails grazed his back. His hands slid lower. I moaned, feeling him between my legs. I couldn't think about anything else. I just wanted to cum. He spread my lips with his tongue and started licking my clit. He was going slowly. Making circles on my pus
~Darian Life after the battle with the Horax had been strange. Not the kind of strange that ends after a few days of restless sleep, but the sort that lingered deep inside the bones. A silence too heavy. A loneliness too sharp. My name is Darian. Once, I fought beside the Lunar Sentients, a brotherhood bound by oath and moonfire. Now, I drink alone. I live from one night to the next, hiding in the shadows of old towns where my kind are nothing more than whispers and half-remembered fears. Some of us fled east. Some vanished into the forests, choosing exile over memory. As for me? I chose the taverns. The ale here was bitter, the music coarse, the company cheap. Still, the laughter filled the hollow places in me better than silence ever could. Tonight was no different. The hall reeked of spiced wine and sweat, candles dripping into pools of wax, lute strings snapping beneath drunken fingers. I let myself drown in it, one cup after another until the world spun softer around me
~Ivy The corridors smelled faintly of chalk and lemon polish, the same as they had before everything had gone so wrong. Sunlight poured through the high windows of the academy, spilling across rows of students shuffling between classes. To anyone else, it might have felt like an ordinary day—safe, predictable, almost boring. But for me, the air still hummed with echoes. Of my mother’s warning. Of dad’s firm words. Of uncle Aeron’s watchful eyes. All of them wanted me protected, tucked away. And here I was, walking back into school with Kyle at my side, my necklace from Mother tucked under my shirt and warm against my skin. “Feels strange, doesn’t it?” Kyle said, falling into step beside me. His voice was low, careful. I glanced at him. His dark hair fell into his eyes, and there was a faint bruise near his temple—leftovers from everything that had happened. “Strange?” I asked. He nodded. “Like nothing happened. Like everyone’s just… pretending.” I let out a soft laugh, though th