King Crimson Requiem Novels & Stories

Crimson. The ceremony's completion moves through Lucian's system with the finality of something that cannot be partially done, the First Hybrid's merged soul completing its integration with the channels in a wave that starts in the chest and moves outward through the limbs and the extremities and the crown on Lucian's brow, the gold-red burning there shifting in response, the colors remaining but the quality of them changing, deeper and older and carrying the specific weight of something that has been doing this for a very long time.

“From the moment I saw you among Valenfort’s ruins, I knew: fate had bound me once again. But this time, I will not let your blood stain this earth ever again.” Evelyn’s voice broke, tears glistening in her eyes. “You slaughtered my family. You destroyed this city. And now you claim… it was for love?” Lucien bowed his head. “I do not ask for forgiveness. But if my life can end this cycle of hatred, I will give it gladly.” Silence fell. Then a distant explosion. The ground shook. From deep beneath the earth, pillars of crimson fire erupted: The Crimson Order had begun the final ritual. Evelyn leapt to her feet, staring toward the light.

*"Yet you... you are a dissonance. A *stain*." Eden's scars flare, gold light spilling into the dark. The Requiem tilts her head. *"Ah. The Cantor's little refrain. Let me fix that."* She plucks a string. The melody in Eden erupts, a scream that tears through his veins. He collapses, clawing at his chest as the gold light fractures, piercing his skin like needles. I lunge, but the Requiem flicks a wrist. The air solidifies, crushing me to my knees. *"Hush,"* she croons. *"This is a *mercy*."*

Magic. The crimson fluid in the bottle began to move, making its way out of the bottle, while Krys' hands danced skillfully in the air, as her chanting grew fiercer and sharper, holding much intensity and vigor. The crimson fluid in the air began to grow a bright shade of red as my sister kept on chanting. In an instant, the red light engulfed the crimson fluid and burned brighter. In an instant, it exploded in the air, turning into tiny specks of red dust.

Ethan screamed as the bones rejected his control, the careful programming the Council had installed overwritten by ancestral fury. "Impossible!" Morrison's voice over the battlefield. "Kill her! Kill her now!" But it was too late. I'd established the connection, and through it, I sang to every piece of Moonsinger bone the Council had weaponized. Across the battlefield, enhanced soldiers found their bone-laced weapons turning against them. The titans collapsed, their pilots ejected as the armor reformed into something else. Three figures of pure silver light stood where the titans had fallen—ghostly echoes of dead Moonsingers, given temporary form through their preserved bones and my living b

I glanced at the little wall clock, thirty past two and the sun wasn't up and there were so many rain clouds in the sky I was sure it would rain again. We got to the forest—where I had almost killed Dawn—and Jereum started by ripping a part of his inner shirt and wrapping it around my eyes. "Okay, what are we doing?" I asked. "Vampires do not need light to see, I'm sure you should know that." "Yeah I do but—" "Ow!" I yelled in pain, as something hard collided with my head. "Less talking more blocking." "Okay," I said, massaging the part of my skull that had just got assaulted, "just tell me so I'll be read—"

The shades she had on hid her tears from the world. Crystal walked to the decorated arena outside the barracks. They didn't hold a requiem mass inside a church, they had thought it honourable to do it here. She took a seat after most of the eyes on her had settled. The new commander was talking on the podium at the front while the priest stood behind, looking like they had just stolen his shine—looking out of place. She identified the twentieth sitting apart from the crowd and couldn't believe her eyes. He didn't look scarred. For someone who survived death, Crystal felt he should have at least tried to look worse for wear.

"Go on." The boys removed their masks one by one. "No way," "Boss?" "Adrian?" "Babe?" Zoe waved her hands in the air. "Wait a damn minute. So, let me get this straight, Chris, Jack, and Poet Wilder are Crimson Clan." "You can't forget about Apollo River, the Mafia King." Chris joked. "Oh no, we can't forget that." "And let me get this straight, Zoe Autumn, our Lead consultant. Sandra Pearl, our Corporate Broker. Nina Elizabeth, and Alicia Sun, our Ethical Hackers, are members of the most desired Ruby Tears."

Ciel continued. “If they stand behind you, protect them. If they stand beside you, respect them, and if they stand against you, defeat them." Jarvis proceeded. Kaizen slowly approached her; he hooked a hand under her chin and lifted her face to look him in the eyes. Brown met Crimson. “Always remember this, Roxanne.” “What?” She whispered. “A queen will always turn pain into power.”

It hit the Inquisitor, throwing him back through the doors and out into the abyss of the mountain. The violet sky shattered, returning to its natural starlight. Silence returned to the Black Crag. I fell back into Félix’s arms, my body smoking, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The white light faded, but the mark on my neck was now a permanent, glowing sigil of a crown. Damon walked up the steps of the altar, his body covered in black blood, his axe trailing on the floor. He looked at me, his golden eyes filled with something that looked suspiciously like worship.