Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne

My deep blue scales coated my body as I launched myself up above the amphitheatre on a gust of wind and held myself suspended above the crowd of screaming, fighting Fae.

Dragons roared as they shifted and took to the sky in defence of their king and I dove into the deep well of power that my gifts contained as I sought out each and every one of them with my psyche.

I latched onto mind after mind, their shifted forms making them even easier to grasp with their magic out of play and I conjured up all of the deepest, darkest feelings of fear, hopelessness and terror that I could and drove it into them with force.

Men screamed in panic as the might of my gifts crashed over all of them and the more they feared me, the more that fuelled my own power.

Lionel was still hidden beneath a veil of shadow in the stands below me and I cursed him as I spotted Caleb trying to blast a way through them to get at him.

Dante Oscura roared ferociously as he swept overhead in his navy Dragon form, the might of a storm tearing from his jaws as lightning struck with fatal precision, slamming into Lionel’s supporters and obliterating them time and again.

He wheeled towards the ground beyond the huge stone structure where Lionel’s sick games had been held and I used my air magic to push myself through the sky after the Storm Dragon. I closed in on him, pumping courage and confidence into the rebels clinging to his back as he landed to let them down so that they could join the fight.

As they leapt from his back, they shifted, most of them turning into a pack of enormous wolves with one gigantic Nemean Lion racing into the fight amongst them, roaring so loudly that the sky seemed to tremble with it.

A blast of magic slammed into the shield I’d constructed around myself and I snarled with anger as I tore my gaze away from the rebels and found Vard standing beneath me on the wall that ringed the stands, casting fire in his palms as he raised his hands to shoot at me once more.

I ripped the bow from my back and took aim at him, smiling savagely as I let him take his shot, the full force of his magic crashing against my shield and making it vibrate with the force he’d used. 

But I was an Heir to the Celestial Council, one of the most powerful Fae in the world, and he really should have known better than to take me on.

I let my shield flicker out of existence half a breath before I let my arrow fly and a trail of fire spun through the air as my aim sent it careering straight for his heart.

Vard threw his hands up, blasting his fire magic at the arrow with all he had and knocking it off course just as the shot of air I’d been preparing slammed into his gut, the moment he thought he was safe.

He fell from the wall with a shriek of fear, but I couldn’t be certain that he’d broken his fucking neck because a rusty red Dragon dove from the sky towards me with a furious roar and stole all of my attention.

I shot aside as the Dragon released a ball of fire aimed straight for me and I channelled all of my gifts into making him tremble in fear at the mere sight of me.

The Dragon roared, trying to fight against the terror I was awakening within his soul and I shot spears of ice into his side as he was paralysed by the fear for a second too long.

The beast roared in agony as his wing was shredded and blood poured from the wounds. His eyes widened with panic as he tumbled from the sky, shifting back into his Fae form before hitting the ground with a sickening crack that signalled his end.

The deep rattle of the Nymphs drew my attention to the pit in the centre of the amphitheatre again and I sped back that way, wrapping my air magic around the arrow I’d shot at Vard and returning it to my hand as I went.

Geraldine fought beneath me with a bellow of fury passing her lips as she swung her flail around her head over and over again, yelling at the Nymphs in challenge and blazing with all the confidence of the sun.

‘I am the fair demon who haunts your nightmares, shadow fiends! Feel the kiss of justice when I strike you down and banish you to the depths of the nether world!’ she cried, racing forward fearlessly and cracking the spiked ball at the end of her flail against the skull of one of the creatures.

The Nymph shrieked in agony as the Phoenix fire imbued in the weapon set it alight and Geraldine laughed loudly before running for her next target.

She was so fucking beautiful that it set my heart racing and I chased her through the sky, working to help her take on the Nymphs as she dove into the fray once more.

I pushed confidence and bravery into my friends as they fought, but they didn’t even need it, each of them fighting with the pure fury of justice as we battled for our lives and those of the ones we loved.

But as I took aim with my bow once more, an all too familiar, pained howl called to me and set my heart racing with panic. I whipped around to hunt for Seth amongst the fighting bodies, my heart dipping as I failed to find him.

I cast an amplifying spell as I heard him again and I dropped to the ground as I started running in the direction his howls were coming from. I just hoped I wasn’t going to be too late.