Flaming Crown Novels & Stories

Stepping past her, I walked toward the altar and released my pressure without restraint. In that instant, every werewolf present, including her, dropped to their knees, unable to resist. "Open your eyes and look carefully." I glanced down at her from above. "Who told you it would be those three competing for the throne? "The one who will step onto that throne is me. Seraphina." Camilla’s face twisted slightly at my words, her eyes burning with jealousy. When I withdrew my pressure, she gritted her teeth and spat out one final threat. "Stop bluffing! Our capital is building a new civilization. Once winter passes, I’ll personally lead an army and crush your filthy den!"

--- I extract the fragment in forty minutes. It is easier than Cael. Not easy — easier. The power from the coronation has more dexterity now, more precision, like a hand learning to hold something small without crushing it. I find the fragment, I feel its edges, I pull carefully and steadily and when it tries to flee I am ready for it. I contain it.

“The Twelve Packs run on order and discipline. Your decision to pledge to a witch, one who’s rumored to be already close with Emberbound, no less, is a statement.” “Uh-huh,” I said. Now I stepped fully into the ring. The packed dirt crunched beneath my boots. “So, it is.” Calder frowned. “Then perhaps you can tell me what statement you think you’re making.” I held his gaze steadily, refusing to blink. “The statement I’m making,” I said levelly, “is that I pledge loyalty to Stormhollow first.” Brant snorted again. “Sure, you don’t mean something else.” I tilted my head slightly to the side.

Behind her great wings unfurled in sweeping arcs of ruby and white-gold, their feathers catching shards of sapphire and amber so that every movement of the sunlight made them appear ready to lift from the glass itself. Upon her brow rested no crown of metal. Flame. Three great tongues of fire rose above her head, intertwined so elegantly they formed a crown that appeared to burn without ever consuming itself. The Queen did not look gentle. She looked impossible to defeat. "...Aurelia." The name escaped Adelaide as little more than a breath.

Then Rowan shouted from below. Then: "NOW WOULD BE A GREAT TIME TO WIN!" Honestly? Fair. Very fair. Reasonable honestly. Then the beam fired. BOOOOOOOOOOM! Reality screamed. The attack crossed the distance instantly. Impossible to dodge. Impossible to block. Then every Crown ignited. Immediately. The First Crown. The Third Crown. The Fourth Crown. The Sixth Crown. All of them. Together. Their power surged through the battlefield. Then Ava screamed. Then: "THOMAS!"

Her hands shaking as she plucked four sunflowers from the nearby meadow before walking into the flowing currents. What was she doing? In her other hand was a flower I knew all too well what the use was for. It was a black rose with specks of red, just one and it was hard to pluck due to the amount of thorns it had but she held it tightly in her hands as she bent down into the water. I felt my instincts flare up and began for her but she emerged and then let the five flowers go, they flowed downstream as she watched. Her sobs reaching my ears as she muttered “I'll make them pay”

Therefore, they were given the name fire dandelions. Ben swayed the seeds up to the sky. The dragon patted the wings and breathed out a gush of fire right to it. Fluffy puffs popped out of the dark brown seeds and flowered in full. Each dandelion bloom was as bright red as the kernel of a flame.

“Now the secret to making a flower crown is to be very gentle with the flowers. There should be a frame you want the crown to be in, like a shape you want it to have. If all the flowers fall off the frame, then you just have the frame and not a flower crown. Luna Scarlett seems like a jasmine kind of gal, so you can have a jasmine at the center, standing proudly above the rest and waiting to be accompanied by the others. You can freestyle when you’re at this point, try to do whatever you feel comes naturally to you, but to be safe, start with the larger flowers converging towards the center. They should border the jasmine on both sides….

“Let her try.” But I— I felt the tremble beneath my ribs. Not from fear. From fury. “No,” I whispered. “Let her come.” I turned, lifted my hand—and summoned the crown of flame that had once been gifted to me in a vision, now real, forged by vow and blood and choice. It hovered above my brow. And when it settled— The Tower bowed. The bond flared. And the war began.

"I promise." "Good." As before a sickly sweet scent emanated from the box, though it was a slightly different from the first. I guessed there would be flower petals inside like the first time, though possibly a different species. "Here we go," I said, opening the box and peering inside. Sure enough, the piece of the crown lay on top of a bed of violet colored petals. The emeralds embedded within the crown twinkled in the low light. I tipped the container, allowing the petals to fall to the ground as my fingers brushed against the cold metal crown. Immediately, the petals found purchase in the rock and burrowed deep within. Smoke billowed up, thickening and taking shape until an assassin stoo