Shadow Monarch Ashborn Novels & Stories

Asher’s voice came out as a dark growl, rough and primal. For a split second Asher’s eyes glowed golden. That fleeting flash reminded me of his angelic avatar from my dreams. Another second slowed down and then— Shadows as high as the sky erupted from Asher’s frame; like a star had just died, and all that remained… was darkness. Massive storm clouds broke through the divine dome as though it were made of fragile glass. The shadowy clouds twisted and contorted, transforming into a colossal, dark wolf in the sky.

"All of you. That is why I am doing this." I spoke the king's name again. Ashur. The heart blazed. The crown on my head cracked, the thorns falling away like dead leaves, clattering on the stone. The shadow in my blood screamed—not with pain, but with release. It poured out of me, black and thick, streaming toward the king, wrapping around him like chains forged from my own flesh. He crumbled. Not into dust. Into shadow. The same shadow that had lived in me, that had lived in Marcus, that had lived in the first wolf. It swirled around him, consuming him, pulling him back into the fissure. His red eyes dimmed, then went dark.

I took a slow breath, trying to keep the tremble out of my hands. Ash stood. His tall frame cast a shadow over me as he stepped closer. One hand tilted my chin up, firm and gentle at the same time. “If you take my name into the human world,” he said lowly, “You carry my reputation. You become my shadow. Are you ready for that?” I met his eyes and didn’t even blink. “It’s too late to hesitate now.” He nodded once. “Of course,” he murmured with a smile so sharp it could slice through resolve. “A command is a command.”

She could smell the truth of his pain, see it in his clouded eyes. "I'm here," she said gently. "What's your name?" "Ash. Ash Shadowfang." His hand clutched at her sleeve with desperate strength. "I was I was one of Obsidian's guards. Loyal, or so he thought. But when I discovered what he's planning, what he's done " He coughed, blood flecking his lips. "I couldn't. I couldn't be part of it anymore." Silvain moved closer, his presence protective at Marina's back. "What is he planning?"

But above us the theater groans with movement, the fragile bones of the abandoned building complaining under the weight of human boots and heavy equipment, and I can hear the pattern of their steps shifting from a sweep into something tighter, something more aggressive, the kind of coordination that only comes when the hunters have stopped searching and started closing in. Rowan’s breathing is controlled, but not effortless, and the difference matters because I have listened to too many wounded creatures pretend they are not dying. Silver poisoning doesn’t scream at first. It whispers. It makes the body heavier by degrees, it turns the blood into something that fights itself, it forces muscl

It was a pathetic and undeniable craven existence but it was how they were winning the war. Dave let out a sigh. "No. He used a HG blade." I nodded. A brilliant man named Henry Gomez spent his life developing a UV spiked, but essentially silver based liquid that could be applied to any metallic object, leaving a coat of active poison that would kill both shade and host upon entering the their shared body. Something in perfectly balanced formula temporarily imprisoned the shade and as long as the wounds you inflicted on the human were mortal, the shade shared the same fate. The HG liquid had become as precious to us as light bulbs. It was hard to come by at the best of times, especially out h

Asher said languidly. “Wh–what?” “Hm. I had a few people on the list to be my sacrificial lamb. Although you were the best of them all, I had a moment of rethink and thought you might be remorseful in the end, so I made a few backup plans. But who would have thought you’d seek your death? “Years ago when I became Lord Ash, I feared that I’d be caught by WBCI, so I never used my real fingerprint while I’m Lord Ash.” He raised the skin-like thumb and made sure Lucian was seeking it clearly.

he growled, tilting his head to the side to meet my eyes. "What do you want?" I strained through my teeth. He bared his fangs, his mouth twisting in rage. "You will name me Your Highness, bitch! Bow before me!" "She bows before no one!" A deep thunder-like voice pierced through the air. My heart began to pound, and before I knew it, I turned around to where the voice came from. Ash. He stood at the entrance, dressed in his perfectly tailored black suit, dark-gray shirt, and black tie. His features became darker as if they were embraced by shadows. It seemed as if everything around him stopped as he emanated something powerful, electric, and astonishingly breathtaking—an aura demanding immedi

Silver energy burst through the forest destroying the restraints completely while power slammed through the trees like a shockwave. The hunters stumbled backward immediately. Too slow. I grabbed the nearest one first and drove my fist directly through his chest. Blood sprayed across the forest floor. The hunter stared down at the hole through his body almost calmly. Still smiling. Goddess these people were insane. “You’re already too late,” he whispered weakly. Then his body started turning to ash. No. Absolutely not. I grabbed him harder immediately. “Who are you?” Ash spread faster. “The storm king rises again…”

“I thought the gods buried her deep enough.” I looked at him then—not as a threat, not as a stranger—but as a sibling. A broken boy trained in shadows and raised on silence. “Tell me everything,” I said. And he did. Ashen had been born first. She was older than both of us. A child of prophecy, of lunar fire and bloodstorms. But the moment she was born, the seers saw death. Not just war—extinction. They said she’d burn the whole bloodline down.