Thorns Novels & Stories

The first wardstone glowed faintly ahead a pale blue light humming in the dark I knew what it was, hunters used them to mark territory or to warn others away. Pain but not death I stepped closer the hum became a shriek inside my skull, sharp and electric agony jolting through my teeth, my bones. I gritted my jaw and pushed through. The pain was a blazing hot fire in my nerves but I kept walking step by step until I was past it, the silence rushed back in deeper than before. The silverthorn vines came next… they draped from the trees like sleeping serpents their thorns gleamed with a poisonous wet light.

she exclaimed. “If I'll never guess then there is no point in me guessing is there?” I sighed and placed my laptop bag down at the side. “I had a visit from mother earlier and she wanted to know if we were interested in going to the Thorns charity event next Saturday!” The Thorns are well known for their status and money. 20 years ago, Richard and Lesley Thorn invested in setting up a local apple orchard and cidery and opened Thorn cider. Before long they had expanded across the country. Their brand quickly hit shelves across all supermarkets and stores in the UK. Although their wealth has grown, the family stayed local and chos

Bile rises in my throat, knowing that I will have to choose. Dax’s fingers hover inches from the glowing red petals. If he touches it, it’s over. None of us will make it out of here if Dax is the one to grab the bloom. The garden begins trembling violently, vines rattling in anticipation. It not only wants blood, but it also wants a victor. Therin’s face contorts in pain as another thorn buries itself into his side. He gasps, jaw clenched so tightly his teeth grind.

“Thorn leads them! I see him!” At the front line, Thorn stepped through the largest portal. His eyes glowed a vibrant violet with Nyra’s stolen power. Black veins crawled thick across his arms and neck. He lifted his head and roared loud enough to shake the ground. “The child is mine tonight!” The camp erupted into chaos. Barriers cracked under the first wave of shadow wolves. Wood splintered. Stakes snapped. Fire pits flared but the wolves charged straight through the flames without slowing. Archers loosed silver-tipped arrows. Some wolves dropped. Most kept coming.

Some were sharpening blades made of salvaged steel; others were tending to the glowing moss that lined the walls—our only source of light. ​"Today," Martha said, stopping in front of a massive, cracked concrete pillar, "you learn the Song of the Earth. The Thornes use their power to dominate. They use their senses to hunt. But we use our senses to belong." ​She told me to close my eyes. "Do not look with your eyes. Look with your blood. Feel the vibrations of the city above. Every footstep, every turning wheel, every heartbeat. The earth is a drum, and the Thorne blood is the stick."

The iron gates of the Thorne Estate did not groan as they once had. In the old 2024, they were a barrier of "Exclusion," a warning to the "Debtor-Class" that they were entering the sanctum of a man who owned their futures. Now, ten years into the Violet-Spring, the metal was entwined with "Resonance-Ivy," its leaves pulsing with a soft, bioluminescent amber that matched the heartbeat of the land. Avery Vane-Thorne walked up the gravel path, her heels crunching on stone that no longer felt like a "Hard-Standard."

I lowered my shoulder, dug my boots into the dirt near the fountain edge, and threw my entire body weight into a flying tackle right as Thorne reached the iron gate latch. We hit the hard stone floor together with a loud, breath-stealing CRACK. "Get off me, you crazy little bitch!" Thorne choked out, his heavy boots kicking frantically as we rolled through the wet dirt near the fountain basin. He managed to shove me off, his heavy gauntleted hand grabbing my shoulder as he scrambled back to his feet, reaching for the brass whistle hanging around his neck. He raised it to his lips, taking a deep breath to blow the signal note out into the dark woods.

She saw how he breathed, short and fast, like a man who had run too far. She opened her mouth to call to him. Her whole heart reached across the yard toward his, and for one breath she forgot the fire, the screams, and the enemies pressing in on every side. She only wanted to see his face and know he was still standing. She looked away from the fight to find it. That was her mistake. The Thorn wolf came out of nowhere, big and gray and scarred, with silver-white claws that gleamed in the firelight. Silver claws. Someone had sharpened them and dipped them. They were made for wolves like her.

Rangga stepped forward, his boots ringing sharply against the metal grating. "Stop right there!" Thorne barked, pressing his thumb a fraction of an inch closer to the trigger. The red LED indicator on the box pulsed in time with the rhythmic, deep-bass thumping of the mountain’s internal pressure. "One more step and I turn this entire pressure valve chamber into your tomb. But..." Thorne paused, a cruel, calculating smile stretching across his grease-streaked face. "...I'm a reasonable man. Let's make a deal."

I have given you a chance, don't blame me if you don't want to grab it! After she finished the last sentence, Sonya stood up slowly and took out a bag of things from her body! Damn it! Darryl was shocked to see what was in the bag. He was frightened, and he panicked. It was a pack of golden scaly thorns, each of which was more than ten meters long and covered with barbs. The scaly thorn was a unique secret weapon in the cultivator's world. It was made of a rare and tough fish scale.