Shadow Monarch Ashborn Novels & Stories

She’d come to see the bastard in the ground for herself. Dorian Ashford’s coffin sat there, slick and shiny, all polished mahogany that hollered wealth even as it sank toward the dirt. The priest mumbled some nonsense about peace everlasting, his voice half-drowned by the storm, but Sienna didn’t hear a word. Her eyes were glued to that box, her jaw locked tight. Twenty-seven years of bile churned inside her. He’d left her mom to waste away in a rusted trailer, coughing up her last breaths, while he piled up his shipping billions—money built on the wreckage of the only person who’d ever given a damn about him.

The chain was adjustable, allowing Aqua to wear the pendant at just the right length so that it rested over her heart. As she wore it, Aqua noticed the stone's clarity, reflecting her calm and balanced state of mind. Whenever she felt at peace, the pendant remained clear and pristine. However, when her emotions stirred, the pendant would change. A slight hue of blue appeared when she felt sadness, while a warm golden tone emerged during moments of happiness. If anger or fear took hold of her, the gemstone would darken, turning a deep, unsettling black.

It was because I would not buy him expensive toys or let him play on his phone without finishing his homework. The biggest reason was my refusal to allow Leia to be his mother. Even so, when I noticed the slab that was about to fall, I rushed forward without hesitation to shield him with my arms. The slab struck me on my head and left a gaping wound. But he pushed me away and grabbed Leia’s hand. He asked her with a concerned look on his face if she was scared. Williams Taylor burst in with a gas mask, and he was the first to rush over. He got hold of the only gas mask and handed it to Leia.

Until the tree line broke—and Victor stepped out. No shirt. No scars. No mercy. He was taller. Leaner. More death than man now. His skin gleamed like obsidian dusted in ash. Veins pulsed black beneath it. The sigil of the Hollowborn—warped and bleeding—burned fresh across his chest. He opened his arms. “Bring me your queen,” he said. No shout. No roar. Just that voice—low and velvet and venom. Emilia took one step forward. The wolves behind her stiffened. Asher’s fingers twitched near the hilt of his blade.

Ashton was entering a more exhilarated state, hungry for harsher confrontations and more ruthless combat. At that instant, countless gazes shifted toward Flint. No one dared to underestimate Ashton anymore. Who would rule Javonbury's criminal underworld was no longer clear. "Corvus, you're up," Flint said coldly. "Show him why they call you the Shadow King." His gaze was dark and predatory, fixed on Ashton as if he were trying to see straight through him.

Out of nowhere, a bone arrow sliced through the air and struck his chest with a sharp hiss. The arrow, upon contact with Jim's blood, glowed a sinister red. His face contorted in pain, and suddenly, his grip failed him as he plummeted from the sky. I dashed forward, my heart racing, and leaped to cover Jim with my body. The Haunts erupted into mocking laughter. "Jim, we've taken apart the bones of the mortal who wanted you dead and crafted them into these arrows. Take one more step and we'll pin you down in front of your own troops!"

Rhea stumbled toward him, her amber eyes wide with a new, sharper kind of terror. Ash turned his head. The face was still his, but the eyes... the grey was gone. They were twin pools of rotating violet galaxies, identical to the ones the Heir had possessed moments ago. The scars on his face were glowing with the heat of the void, and as he spoke, the ground beneath them didn't just shake—it surrendered. "The host was weak," Ash said. The voice was his baritone, but it was layered with the crushing weight of the Shadow King’s roar. "The Alpha is... compatible. The vacancy is... perfect."

“You – you said you need me and my spirit stone, right?” He looked at me with hard eyes. “I do.” “What do you intend to do with it?” “Only our king could answer that.” “Who is your king then?” “Our king is the great Apricusian leader – King Helion.” So, even the vampires are after this Shadow Rune relic… “Alright, you can have it, but you have to promise me one thing. You have to keep your word to Samalah. You must really help them out after this,” I said.

And the name of the child of the King of Darkness and Princess Celestine was ASH ZACHARY LOCKWOOD. So Ash is the King of Darkness. That explains why Tenebris wanted me dead. Ash wanted to disappear in the first place, so if he is the King of Darkness, then surely the Tenebris, who are his henchmen, are already chasing me.

It was a dormant power, a lingering whisper of the darkness that had once threatened to consume Westoria from the inside out. "I will never let this poison touch the man I love or the people I have sworn to protect with my life," Ashley whispered to her reflection. She pressed her hand against her chest, using her strong will to force the purple glow back into a silver light. She knew that her journey was not just about being a Queen, but about fighting a secret war every single day to keep the monster within from ever waking up. The moon watched her with a knowing gaze, aware that the peace of the kingdom now rested on the shoulders of a woman who was both the light and the shadow. Ashley r