Warped Sceptre Novels & Stories

I tried to act unaffected on the outside, but on the inside my stomach was tumbling. His eyebrows pulled together, "Dammit, Sofia. This isn't a game. Destroying Roman won't be easy and if you fuck this up, I'll make you regret being born." "You can't destroy him. He's too powerful," I hissed. "That's why I have you," he laughed, "The great Roman Moretti will never suspect his scaredy little wife. Trust me, Sofia. Every great empire's destruction started from the inside. Once he's out of the way-" his words trailed off as if he had said too much.

When Altaire strode inside the room, scowling fiercely like how he always does, Trevino's flaming robe hissed heatedly. He focused his attention on the marvelous interior of the chamber. Tapestries of war embroidered radiance surrounded them, showing the rich history of Welkin. The high ceiling doesn't amaze him as much as the tapestries do. One particular tapestry always takes his breath away every time he lays his eyes upon it. Princesses of the Lower Realm

Do they know? A girl shook her bare breasts at a warrior’s face, giggling. “There. Go to him.” I followed Eris’ gesture and there he was. The King of Rogues. The Butcher. ‘Death’ My wolf added. He sat in the high-backed chair, one arm draped over the side, the other idly tracing the rim of a glass. His gaze found me and I tried my best to not look away. I’d thought I was ready. I wasn’t.

The illusion did not respond to his override command. I swore under my breath and drove wind hard into the destabilization arc, forcing pressure back toward the ground. Iris adjusted instantly, lightning threading through the redirected current to seal the widening breach. For half a second, it stabilized. Then the air twisted. Not like before. This time, it felt layered. Warped. As if the illusion had folded over itself. “Wren,” I said sharply, not looking at her, my tone tight but controlled. “That’s not ward stress.”

Lucas thought to himself, absorbing the implications of Martha's explanation. "Even though the duke of Windsor is the only duke in the empire, he has supporters in the court, much like the two grand dukes. All three of them play significant roles in the empire due to their influence and military power, particularly the grand duke of Adelstein," Martha added, writing their names on the blackboard to emphasize their importance in the empire's political landscape.

He tapped the armrest of his throne, the pupils of the gilded wolf head reflecting Adelaide's tensed shoulders, "After all, the great victory at the Southern Border is the most celebratory event in the werewolf kingdom in a century." Adelaide's back was drenched in cold sweat. This was no casual inquiry. His words had been laced with hidden blades, deadlier than the Western Tribe's poisoned arrows. Her gaze fell on the royal scepter at Lycan Erasmus's waist. The moonstone embedded in it, from the same source as the shard in her necklace, now gleamed at her like a heavy icicle, pressing painfully on her glands. His earlier sternness had suggested accountability for Lance post-victory.

Maybe less. The air shifted. A figure appeared between us and the exit. One moment the corridor was empty. The next, a man stood in our path. His face was wrong. His features blurred behind something that resembled fog, indistinct and shifting, impossible to hold in focus. I couldn't fix on his eyes, his mouth, the shape of his jaw. Nothing stayed. In his right hand he held a scepter. Black wood, ancient, carved with patterns I didn't recognize. At its tip, a gemstone the color of arterial blood.

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!"

The Solar Titan Physique within Gideon erupted, its energy pouring down like a scorching sun, radiant and blinding. Every one of Orabella's attacks was forcibly torn apart. He closed in rapidly. The pressure of his physical form alone made it hard for Orabella to breathe, leaving her shocked at just how monstrous Gideon's body was. "Get away!" Orabella swung down her scepter. It was a sacred artifact bestowed by the Pope, brimming with immense power. Yet, Gideon caught it firmly in his grasp. The bones in his entire body cracked and popped, but he grinned. "This scepter is truly something. It actually hurts. But in the end, I still managed to catch it."

With my eyes on the scepter, as I began to feel it calling to me, and its light began to glow brighter with each step that I took towards it, illuminating the room around us. Now only a few feet from Gabriel, I could feel its power calling loudly to me, as the power now within me yearned to hold it once again in my hand. Something told me that I should proceed with caution, but we honestly didn’t have time to do so, as the war was to begin in a few hours, and I needed to test that my theory was right. “My Goddess.” Gabriel says to me, as it seems he is struggling to hold the scepter now in his hands, as if it was burning the flesh of his hand that held it, by the look now on his face.