Chaol And Celaena Novels & Stories

Kael skidded across the scorched ground, blood blooming dark and terrible against his chest. “No!” The word ripped through me, raw and feral. The fire answered with a roar. I didn’t remember moving. One moment I was kneeling beside Kael, my hands slick with his blood, my heart shattering at the sight of his stillness. The next, I was on my feet, power tearing free of me in a blazing storm. The ground split beneath Serena’s feet, forcing her back as flames spiraled upward, forming a barrier that pulsed with ancient symbols I had never learned and yet somehow understood.

“Ancient magic always demands a price.” I traced the next line. “To summon the lost mate, call the goddess who birthed the bond.” Selene stirred within me, her voice steady: This is the right path, Aria. The tent flap shifted, and Kaelen stepped inside. My breath caught. He looked like a carved statue—battle armor darkened by ash, hair loose around his face, shadows under his eyes. But his aura… it was wrong. Empty. Like someone had reached inside and hollowed him out.

Selene The great hall of Shadowfang was a storm of chaos, the feast shattered by the scout’s warning of Kaelen’s ambush. Tankards clattered to the floor, wolves scrambled for weapons, and the air thickened with the scent of sweat and steel. My heart pounded as I gripped my ceremonial dagger, its silver blade catching the torchlight. Kaelen stood across the hall with his Bloodfang warriors fanned out behind him. The mate bond burned in my chest, his jealousy a living thing, but I locked eyes with him, refusing to flinch. Dorian was out there, and no trap of Kaelen’s would stop me from getting to him.

And then she lunged faster, deadlier, final. The world narrowed to her claws arcing toward my throat. --- Callista, alive and corrupted by dark power, reveals she has fully sided with Caelum and the enemy. The chapter ends as she lunges to strike a killing blow at Saphira, leaving her fate hanging in the balance.

He got me thinking he had suddenly lost his ability to speak. Some of the Alphas gave him a response. I guessed those who did were the ones on his side. I stole a glance at Alpha Kellan and found him whispering into Beta Tobias’s ear. They were both the same. Beta Tobias was also punishing Selene for a crime that made no sense to me. She had a thing with Alpha Kellan because she had no idea he was her mate. Alpha Kellan was probably punishing me too because I came from the Kaelith’s bloodline. I could sense that they were both up to something.

"To your mother. On a staircase." "She's very good." "Yes." "She's been teaching me." Soren lifted the wooden sword from the table. "Do you want to see?" "I would," said Caelum, and I retreated from the doorway before either of them noticed me. What followed, over the next several days, was not a friendship exactly—Caelum was four centuries old and had been Malachar's most feared instrument and operated in register several octaves below the ordinary frequency of social connection. But it was something. An interest, on both sides, that expressed itself in questions asked and answered and the occasional demonstration.

“And it used the chaos we created as a distraction.” Kael exhaled slowly, scanning the hollowed pass below them. “Then we follow but carefully. The fractures were only the beginning. Whoever or whatever took Selene, they’re not done observing.” Lyra nodded. The twins’ energies quivered in response, aware of the sudden shift. Flame pulsed lightly, frost swirled faintly, both resonating with the tension in the air. They were ready, vigilant.

Like I was a weapon they weren’t sure how to sheath. Layla stood first. “This is Alenya.” That’s it? No titles? No disclaimers? A broad, shouldered man with storm, gray hair leaned back in his chair. “Human doesn’t smell right.” “I smell very right, actually,” I muttered. Thane’s aura flared just enough to make the table hum. “This is Cael,” Thane said. “Beta. That’s Maeven, our seer. Orrik, sentinel chief. And Rowan....”

Every scream she silenced with her touch became another reason to keep going. Kaelen fought like a demon unleashed. His wolf was a blur of black fury, tearing through the enemy with lethal precision. Yet for every rogue that fell, two more replaced it. We can’t keep this up, Aria thought desperately through the bond. They’re too many! Kaelen’s growl thundered back. We don’t stop until they break. Hold the center. I’ll— A sudden shriek of power cut through his words. Selene had lifted both arms, chanting in the language of the old covens. The clouds thickened above her, swirling into a dark vortex. From it, spears of black lightning crashed down, striking the barrier again and again.

“We can cut through that ridge and reach the eastern pass. It’ll lead us down to the low valley. From there, we…” He stops, his eyes widening. A faint shimmer appears in the air ahead, like heat waves bending light. Then it takes shape, a tall figure in armor, silver hair glinting under the moon. Caelum. My entire body goes rigid. Kalen instinctively steps in front of Leah, but I push past him, my hands curling into fists. “What are you doing here?” I growl. He looks at us, completely unbothered. “I could ask you the same. Breaking into my territory, stealing what’s mine.”