rattle-the-stars-gb-blog - Tumblr blog

rattle-the-stars-gb-blog · 6 years

Text

ACOTAR fanfic ch.4

When I wake up, sunlight is streaming through the windows and I can hear the bustling market outside my building. I slowly peel myself off the couch, noticing horrendous wrinkles in my shirt.

Standing up, I saunter into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Looking in the mirror, memories of the previous day rush through me. Oh my gosh. I saw Rhysand, and he has a mate. I can't believe that I wan't there for him. But I have to stay hidden. I knew that as soon as I revealed myself to be alive, that I would not only be putting myself in danger, but also him. I couldn't do that, not after all the pain he's been through.

So I stayed hidden, right under his nose. No one knew I was alive, save for Tamlin.

I owed Tamiln everything. He saved my life from the cruelty of his father. He saved me. In my young age I thought it might have been because he loved me, but I have come to accept that it wasn't love for me that drove him to unlock my cell that fateful night year age. It was love for my brother. It took me a long time to get over that.

Still, all these years later, he sends me money so that I may survive and stay hidden. When I escaped I didn't know where to run, where to go, except for home. It took me months to finally reach Velaris and enter through the small whole in the barrier. As soon as I was home, everything suddenly felt so real. My wings were gone and I had no one to turn to. I lived up in the mountains for years, scavenging for food and living in the caves dotting the sides.

But, when I found out that Rhysand had been captured by that lying whore Amarantha, I knew what I needed to do. I left the mountains and traveled back into the city I grew up in. I found an apartment and surprisingly, that Tamlin had left and account in the nickname he had given me in the Bank of the Night Court, a bank that was in every city. Over the years, he had deposited money here and there.

The last fifty years have been torture. Everyone felt the absence of their High Lord, and they mourned.

I spent that time training as I had before. I grew stronger and learned to keep my growing companion shut up inside of me. I was going to rescue my brother, even if it cost me my life. The day I set out from the Night Court I felt it. His power, it was-- it was unleashed and I could feel the wrath and sadness coursing through him.

It had always unnerved our parents that my powers were that I could sense emotion from miles and miles away. It came in useful sometimes, but I was constantly feeling the waves of happiness and sadness and pain and suffering rolling through the land. Knowing that without my protection he would be able to sense me, I ran back to Velaris and shut myself in.

I felt when he returned to the city days later, reeling from something I did not know. I couldn't reveal myself to him now, I doubted that I ever would. I don't know if I could ever enter that world again.

Still, I loved him and kept an eye on him through lenses that he could not sense. I was difficult to stay hidden anymore. With Azriel constantly weaving through the land, all seeing, all hearing. But, something that he doesn't know is that he does have a weakness. One that he will never find out, because it is something that he's never and never will encounter. Another shadowsinger.

In the years I spent in the mountains, my pain turned into something else. I was able to talk to silent shadows and learn their secrets. I was able to hide from my enmities and keep watch on my blood brothers, the Illyrians. Gods, if they ever found me... a half bred female. I would never see the light of day again.

So learned from my solitude and grew in it. I overcame a lot of my past problems... or at least I thought I did, but a whole set of new ones replaced them.

I was no longer Asteria, daughter of the Night Court, I didn't know who I was, except that the shadows were my only solace.

I grew in my new abilities and far surpassed the shadowsinger Azriel's abilities. But Rhysand trusted him, so I protected them from afar.

I missed Mor. I missed talking to her, shopping with her, sharing secrets. Now, I had no one. But that was my curse, my burden to bear.

Heaving a deep breath, I step a ya from the mirror and saunter into the kitchen to prepare my special tea, another precaution to keep myself hidden.

With Rhys and his Inner Circle hunting down answers and helping heal the city, I couldn't leave my apartment. I couldn't risk it.

I remember, in the night, I could feel their exhaustion. Finally, they had returned to the townhouse to rest.

Sleep was mostly absent as ripple after ripple shot out from the townhouse and straight to my heart. Rhys was not okay. I had felt this ripple once before, when he thought me dead and found out mother's broken body.

But I was calmed as I felt the tension eased from his pain slowly, until he felt as if he could carry on. And I knew, this was because of Feyre, his mate.

0 notes

rattle-the-stars-gb-blog · 6 years

Text

ACOTAR fanfic ch.3

The shadow lashed out at the creatures with her power. Her pooling dress took form and wrapped around their necks as she walked towards them. Her face void of kindness or compassion, only leaving room for malice and anger. Holding the creatures in place while she held them was so... delightful. If she could even feel that emotion. She did enjoy a good game. She raked her claws over the leader's face as he screamed.

"Why are you here?" she questioned, taking enjoyment in his pain.

"None of your business faerie scum!" she spat out, his rage getting the better of common sense. He winced as she claws dug deeper into his flesh and she chuckled at his carelessness.

"Do you think you are in a position to say such things to me, creature? Are you not a faerie yourself?" as she spoke she was inspecting her claws, as if she found something interesting.

"Well I guess I don't need the lot of you though," she snapped her fingers and the flesh rotted off the leader's companions. The shadow tasted the air as their fear and pain permeated the air. The shadow reveled in her favorite taste.

"Now, will you cooperate and answer my questions? Or will you die the same way they did? If you answer my questions, I will give you a clean death," she smiled at the lie.

"Fine! Fine!" he screeched. "What do you want to know?"

"Why are you attacking Velaris?"

"We are here for an extermination. To weaken the high lord, Rhysand." At the mention of his name something weak stirred inside the shadow's body. She rolled her eyes, shrugging off the waves Asteria was making in her body.

"Who sent you?"

"The King of Hybern."

"Are there more of you at your base?"

He smiled, "Yes, so much more." He started laughing.

The shadow grew impatient. She was done dealing with this vile creature. She didn't need him anymore.

This time it was her turn to smile. Taking pleasure as his smile slowly faded and hers grew.

"Your death will have more suffering than you can even imagine." Fear crept onto his face as her dark tendrils of power forced him on his knees. "You see, I have been asleep for a long time and I seem to be a little rusty. And seeing as your the only one left..." she trailed off waving her hand around the collapsed street, "You seem like the perfect practice."

The creature started to squirm under her power. The shadow stood there for a moment, enjoying his fear. She watched as a dark stain grew on the front of his trousers.

"Pathetic," she murmured as she held out her hand. His screams filled the air as the world stilled. She watched as her power found its way into his body, eating, rotting, and burning its way out. His screams became desperate as he panted, sweat streaming down his vile face. As her power reached his shrivelled brain he breathed his last breath and the shadow sighed.

"Pity I couldn't leave him to suffer longer, but I have work to do," she let his body crumble behind her as the shadow strode onto the streets of Velaris.

She unfurled her wings made of shadows, hearing the cracks and groans they made, due to their imprisonment within Asteria. Her wings flapped and she rose into the air, dust and debris swirling behind her. Her dress reshaped into one of nightmares. A plunging neckline, shoulders made of spikes, and a skirt that when you looked into it, your worst pains became real. Her hands created a wave of a lightless night. It rippled through the street, leaving nothing in its wake. Not even the innocent citizens of Velaris. The shadow flew behind the wave and not even the people that the girl once possessing this body considered her friends survived. But that girl was no longer in control.

The shadow stopped for nothing as the wave of pure power rushed down the street. Once the woman reached the edge of the rainbow she stopped. Something that she didn't know was here. Something she could not face. A familiar smell. The shadow felt the need to go the opposite direction. As if there was someone else on the inside directing her away from the glistening and broken place. The shadow didn't care and flew into the rainbow, relishing her newfound freedom from the one they called Asteria.

But, there was something she couldn't control. Her shadowed wings faltered and vanished. Her wave of power vaporized. Leaving the shadow to fall to the street below her. The bitch. Controlling her. She reached up, hissing as she felt the gash on her head. Asteria dared stop her from the destruction she had craved for hundreds of years. Craved from inside this shell of a person. The shadow retreated from the body and strode into the starry room inside the woman's body, to destroy the enemy she had lived with for four hundred years: compassion, love, and hope. The shadow approached Asteria, preparing for a fight, and Asteria rose to the challenge the shadow proposed.

------Asteria-------

I felt my power curl around my fingers, I manipulated it into shapes and watched as it flowed violet from me. It pooled behind me, a reservoir waiting to be tapped into. I crouched down, ready to break free of her hold on me as the silent request the shadow made rang through my head.

"Fight me" she said. I unleashed my own power in answer to fight the evil that had swelled inside me for so many years. The bitterness, the hate, the regret. The one I feared. Black waves met my purple shield, and I staggered back, my feet bracing against the impact. We both have been waiting for this battle for all their painful years we have been together. We pushed against each other and the shadow roared a cry of triumph as I faltered. I grit my teeth as sweat dripped down my back.

I am so tired. So tired of this struggle between us. I am ready for it to be over. Would it be so bad if I let her rule my body, hiding deep within myself, or let her kill me. I began to let up and she smiled at me knowing what I was thinking.

But then I remembered what waited outside the door to this room and outside my body. Hope for a better world. Out there, a woman named Feyre was fighting with her life to save the city. People were defending one another. The world was not lost, and she was not lost along with it. She remembered her dead family, herself, and the one piece of life that she had left, her brother; and her shield surged towards the shadow with new strength. Hope, compassion, love split the despair in her. The shadow looked at her with hatred and anguish. But underneath that lay fear. Fear that she would once again be trapped within my body. Watching but never able to act on her murderous urges. My power surged, one that could wipe cities of the map and burn bones. I gritted her teeth and took a step forward walking with my shield.

-----The shadow---

The shadow took a step back, looking towards the door that held the key to her long awaited freedom. Why wouldn't t Asteria give up? The girl wasn't strong enough to defeat her. But then she felt it. The awakening.

She could smell the new magic in the air. The girl had found what the gods had gifted her long ago. The girl did not know it had been lying dormant and that it was what had been feeding the shadow all these years. The pool of power behind Asteria grew and grew until it engulfed the entire floor behind her, and then some. It crept up the walls and onto the ceiling of the room. The shadow felt fear, real fear. And she knew the girl could smell it.

----Asteria------

I could feel the fear rippling off the shadow. I could see the shadow wings growing behind her back and I felt the tingle along the two scars on my back. My own power wanting to bring my wings, but that could not happen. The scars were a reminder of what I had lost, and what I would never be able to use again. The shadow was planning to flee. But, I would not let her escape, not before I put the shadow back into the crevice in myself she came from.

A new burst of power from me punched through the thin curtain of black that remained and I grabbed hold of the shadow by her neck. I threw her to the ground and stood over her. My power leaking around me in a purple mist, my violet eyes gazing upon the enemy that I had been harboring for so long: anger. My anger of the death of my family and all I had lost. The grudge I held against the responsible men and the love I felt for the dark high lord.

My power chained the shadow to the ground and I turned away from the shadow to stride through the door back to my body. Leaving the shadow for another day. One not as painful as this one.

But as I walked through the door, something was wrong. I was unconscious. The head wound the shadow suffered when she walked into the rainbow was still bleeding. I sent out my power to heal me, but then retreat back into myself when it was done.

Thrown back into the hell around me I continued running for my apartment. The memory making the gash in my side throb as I realize its presence. Swiftly avoiding the stone and glass. I dodged the bodies. Oh gods, the bodies. I stopped to look at a charred child's remains and tears once again brimmed in my eyes. Charred black bones. Bones that bore the marks of my power, my hands had directed the demise of this child. I stared down at my hands and the mark from the medallion was now burned into my skin: a mountain with three stars. I cried even more. I cried for the promise it once held and the pain it now brought me. A reminder of what I had lost.

Once I reached my loft apartment, I collapsed on the couch. Collapsed from the memories of the faraway southern court and the Illyrian Stepps. Of the mother, brother, father, and wings I lost. My hands grazed the scars on my back. Of the place where my wings once were and the joy they brought. I remembered flying with my mother and brother. Of the anger that my father felt when we did. I remembered the fine clothes and the court under the mountain. The Illyrians that would never accept me and the family I could never return to. To the high lord and his mate-- one I would never meet. To the friends that he held but I never knew. To the cousin that could not cry on my shoulder. Because someone who is dead cannot be there for you. A dead woman cannot be with her family. But I was not dead. When my wings were taken from me by the evil high lord in the south, I had escaped. If only because of the son that loved me , but could never be with me.

I cried for all I had lost and what I had abandoned. The life I once lived and the brother that lived and could have shared it with. With a brother that avenged me and our mother alongside our father. With an older brother I had protected and gazed upon from afar. A brother that still flew above the city as if I was still there with him. A brother that people loved and feared. A brother with violet eyes and night black hair like my own. A brother that ruled over two factions in his court: dreams and nightmares. A brother named Rhysand. A brother I would never laugh, or talk, or be with ever again.

1 note · View note

rattle-the-stars-gb-blog · 6 years

Text

ACOTAR fanfic ch.2

Shit. Nothing but the creatures were that way. Tracking the power I had left behind. Smelling me out. What could I do? I had stupidly dropped my blade in the street. Gods! Why would I do that? How could I be so foolish? I paced back and forth thinking of what to do. Frustration built up inside me. I had absolutely no defense, Except... no... I would not use my powers. Yet they whispered to me. Begging me to let them free. Begging to let her free.

There was nothing I could do, except wait for the death I have long craved for.. One that I could never grant myself. But one that I had been waiting to come for a very long time. Even though it was something I had long wanted, I still feared it. Death would take away all possibility of seeing my brother again. It would take away a life I could keep living. It would take away freedom. But, who was I kidding. I had no freedom. I have been hiding in the shadows for two hundred years. I took off my violet cloak and sat down on the rock, my legs tucked underneath me. I perched on the rock, in my black tunic and pants. Waiting for the creatures to come.

I reached underneath my tunic and pulled out a medallion. Wanting it's comfort during the end. I held it in my hand as I closed my eyes and prayed to the gods for my death to be clean and so that I would be reunited with my mother and father once again. I held it so tight that the medallion imprinted on my hand. It imprinted the symbol of my family and my home. And that comforted me.

I felt the dark presence of the creatures approaching from around the corner before I could see them. I felt the imminent death granted to me.

But then, my power spoke to me. Influencing my emotion, harnessing my anger. The dark violet tendrils whispering the whereabouts of the creatures and the layout of the city. Telling me how many people are on each street. Telling me what to do next. Of how to kill them slowly, causing the pain I had once felt. The pain of my wings being cut off and slicing into me inch by inch. I dreamt of doing to same to them. Cutting off their wings and slicing them bit by bit. Of burning their bones to ash and inducing hallucinations. I felt the power rise as I desperately tried to push it down. I tried and tried, but my power was too strong.

I collapsed atop the broken stones of the street, my hair splayed around me. The medallion dropped to the ground, and I flinched as I heard the clang of the silver hitting the stones. The imprint of what was carved onto the silver burned into my hand. The symbol of my family and my home. It awoke something inside me. Something dark and powerful, and completely beyond my control. Something that was rising, something that I had buried a long time ago: The shadow.

I lost control and was shoved down deep into my body, as the shadow clawed her way up from my soul. I lost sight of sunlight as the shadow took control.

-----The shadow ---------

When the woman opened her eyes, Asteria was no longer in them. The eyes that stared out into the street were not of the woman that grew into that body and had lived in it. The shadow looked out. Pure black eyes stared out from the woman's face where violet eyes had once been; and her night black hair floated around her head like a halo. Black ribbons leached out from her body in place of purple as a sinister smile spread across her face.

The woman stood, but there was nothing Fae in her movements. Her body seemed to slither in its movements. The shadow smiled down at her hands and breathed out a sigh of relief, as she breathed in her newfound freedom. She snapped her fingers and her tattered tunic and pants were replaced with a dress made of liquid night. She stared at the hem as it rippled with power against the stones of the street. The shadow smiled as she remembered the last time she had killed and was preparing for the fight that was rushing towards her.

The shadow looked at her hands once again and watched as the delicately cut fingernails of Asteria elongated into the talons the shadow loved to cut her prey with. Still smiling, the shadow bared her teeth as her razor sharp iron teeth slammed down.

"Hello, my beauties, ready to play?" she whispered to her favored weapon. She could sense the creatures were near and she longed for bloodshed. She flexed her shoulder blades as she could smell the creatures close in.

The creatures rounded the corner. The shadow rose into the air, phantom wings spreading out behind her and said, "Let's have some fun".

0 notes

rattle-the-stars-gb-blog · 6 years

Text

ACOTAR fanfic ch.1

I was on the edge of the street, sprawled across the curb. Confusion panged through me. I rose at the same time wailing resounded in my chest, coming from the street over. I knew then, something awful had happened. Panic gripped me and I was afraid to see the destruction of my home, Velaris. What happened? A crushing headache slammed into my head, crippling my thoughts.

Pushing through the pain, I tried to remember what happened. Even though the headache clouded the memories I desperately craved, flashes peaked through my consciousness. Not enough to actually know what happened... but enough for specific emotions and sensations, images and people to flash in my mind. Pain, death, suffering.

Fear, crippling fear crashed through me. A battle had happened. I raised my gaze from the cracked stones of the sidewalk and looked to my surroundings. Tears welled in my eyes. Bodies were everywhere, blood leaking from their wounds. Some of them stirred, while others did not. My people. There was so much blood and death. So much pain and suffering; and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Breathe. Just Breathe. Your name is Asteria. You live in Velaris. You love to read and to paint. This is your home... you will not be afraid. I told myself trying to calm down

A blood curdling stream echoed throughout the streets. The scream had come from the Rainbow, the artists quarter of Velaris. The most peaceful quarter, and it seemed as if the concentration of the enemy force was there. I then realized... the fight was not over. Velaris could still be saved, and the people I cared for so much could live. If only there was someone there to stop the carnage and defeat the unknown attackers of my home. I tried to get up but pain lanced through my side.

"Ahh," I sucked in a breath as I looked down. Blood was soaking through my tunic, originating from a gash in my side.

I ignored the pain, Gods know that I've had worse injuries, and I stood up to face the incoming assault. My power rose to help me, but I refused and pushed it down. Causing it to churn in anticipation. I gripped the blades hidden in my tunic ready for a fight. I crouched down into my fighting stance, blades at the ready, as I surged towards the Rainbow, prepared to defend my home.

But then I saw a strange woman. One I had seen earlier that day, I think. I was not able to remember, but the woman looked and smelled familiar. She stomped down at the edge of the water, and the water rose to her command. I sucked in a breath. Such power she held.

She closed her eyes as if preparing for something. But when she opened them, pure power churned in her irises. Her blades rose and the river obeyed her command rising with her blades, forming shapes. She was creating hounds out of water and as they broke free, the creatures began to flee. The woman was rushing them towards the intruders of her home, her golden brown hair streaming behind her. The woman was rushing with her water wolves destroying enemies in her wake, cutting down more soldiers that had surrounded the shopkeeper she defended earlier. The sight of her stirred a memory and I let it engulf me.

"My name is Feyre. " she answered. Furrowing her brow. So, the woman coming to aid the rainbow was called Feyre. I had never heard the name, but nevertheless, she smelled familiar.

Feyre halted whispering two words, "The Sidra," and rushed towards the river. Leaving me to deal with the creatures. I unstrapped my blades and fell into my training from so long ago. Rushing towards the creatures, roaring I dealt them fatal blows. Liberating their heads from their necks. I rushed down the street, bodies of the creatures in my wake.

Her name was Feyre, and she was defending the rainbow with water wolves of her own creation. I marveled at the power she wielded. My own power still churning within me. I saw Feyre raise her arm and as she did, the winged creatures fell from the sky and then shattered upon impact on the stones. She had frozen their wings.

The screams changed. They were no longer from the people around me, but from the soldiers and creatures attacking us as Feyre's water wolves raged around us. I saw her look up into the sky as she sent birds made of water towards an escaping creature. Irritation crossed her face as I stood still, in awe of this familiar yet unknown woman. She sheathed her blade and picked up an arrow before winnowing onto a nearby rooftop. I was amazed when she winnowed again, but this time she landed right on top of the creature.

A shudder passed through me as tendrils of night whispered through the streets, searching for someone. I ran from the tendrils into a nearby shop hiding from the familiar powers. Evading recognition in this time of chaos. I looked outside the window back towards Feyre and the creature screamed. I gasped as she turned into a ball of flame and the creature began to fall. I looked closer and I saw that she had punctured his wings with arrows the soldiers had been firing at us with earlier.

The dark tendrils retreated, finding the one they searched for. They found their way back to their dark master and then started to surge for Feyre. I knew I should run, but I was in a trance that I could not escape. I opened the door to the shop and stood in the frame, marveling at what Feyre was doing. This woman I didn't know, sacrificing herself for people who did not know her. As the creature and Feyre descended I saw her stab the creature over and over again with a personal vendetta. Right before they both hit the stones of the street, Feyre winnowed away, leaving the creature to splatter on the stones. She appeared next to it and rose, right before falling against the wall behind her.

I made to rush and help her but something stopped me in my tracks. Star flecked night swept through the streets. I could hear grunting and squelching before the night was lifted, before it reached me. I breathed a sigh of relief. A man was in front of Feyre. Lifting her chin to meet his eyes. I stiffened. Eyes I knew where violet, like my own. Love bloomed in Feyre's eyes as the high lord leaned forward meeting her with a gentle kiss. Rhysand. The high lord. He looked at the woman with such love that it made me tear up. I heard him whisper her name, like a prayer, Feyre. Then I knew, she, the woman I had met moments ago-- Feyre-- was his. His beloved...his mate. I could clearly see the golden chain of their bond reaching from her chest and towards his. She collapsed into his arms and began to cry. I took a step forward, my body betraying my mind. And then the high lord stiffened, smelling the air as recognition of my scent hit home. I reached into my pocket spraying the potion on my neck to reduce my scent. I calmed, knowing he could no longer smell me I watched from afar as tears welled in his eyes remembering that scent and the pain that went with it. But the tears never fell. He looked to his mate with steely resolve and calmed.

It brought tears to my eyes. He was being strong, not for himself, but for his mate. He nuzzled her neck comforting her. As my own tears dripped from my cheeks I ran away from the embraced couple. I ran so not be to discovered. Recognized. It brought even more tears to my face. I should be running towards him, not away from him. Towards the boy who once brought great comfort... but only brought sadness and lingering pain to be felt now. The high lord, my...never mind what he was. I was dead to that world and I would never go back. To the heartbreak and the danger.

I ran through the streets of Velaris to get to my safe haven: my apartment. The only place where I felt truly safe and alone. Protected from those stupid Illyrian noses. Away from prying eyes and people that I had to keep up a front for.

My beautiful apartment. The first time I walked into the top floor loft I broke into tears. It felt so much like home. It was the first time I had felt safe since... the greatest sadness in my life. I knew when I walked into my apartment for the first time exactly what I would paint on the walls. Exactly how it would look, because it was my home.

Since then I have painted the walls for my namesake and my home. I painted falling stars. When my mother named me, she wanted to honor our heritage and birthplace by naming me Asteria, after the goddess of falling stars and nighttime. It didn't really help that my birthday was on one of the most cherished holidays in the Night Court. Starfall. The one day a year where the stars fall rejoining their loved ones.

Breaking from the image of my mother and the pain I felt, I saw my surroundings and slowed. I passed broken shops and citizens roaming the streets, looking for loved ones. I saw a woman cradling her dead child and a man staggering by with an expressionless face. Almost as if he left his body to escape this bloodbath. I saw my favorite bakery ripped to shreds and the owners lying dead inside. The ones I had seen moments ago. Seeing the damage, the destruction, the death, opened the floodgates to the memory of what happened in the fight, and it hit me...

A tremble shook the earth. Puddles in the streets rippled as people looked around, confused as to what it was. Velaris never had earthquakes. I resumed my shopping, which mostly consisted of sampling all of the pastry items and buying a few paint brushes. I looked up at the clear, beautiful, blue sky and marveled at the beauty. Registering the colors for my paintings later. Everything was just so... peaceful, and I drowned in the happy feeling. I could feel it seeping through my pores as I stood there, staring at the sky.

But then I saw people were pointing towards the sea. Muttering prayers and answers of confusion. I whirled towards the direction of the stares and froze. I felt the unnatural power rippling off from the distance in waves and peered closer to see what the source was. My limbs would not respond to the fear pushing me out of the street, away from the invading host that I saw approaching. I had never seen anything like this, especially not in Velaris.

People started to scream as they beheld what was approaching. Long limbed, flying creatures with blades of hard iron. They were gray as the dead and had rows of teeth to halt anyone in their spot. Razor sharp teeth and claws that could slice through your belly in an instant. They held soldiers that had bows at the ready, facing down... towards us. And they were coming to Velaris, they were coming too fast. I sucked in a shuddering breath. Feeling the churning of a long kept secret rise to greet the threat. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see arrows raining down on the inhabitants of Velaris as the screaming and panic reached my ears.

But then, a fragment of hope crept into my mind as I beheld a red light explode from the direction of the coast, near the theater district. The light formed a shield above us, and the winged creatures bashed into the shield and it flickered with every impact. I could hear bones cracking and flesh sizzling. The shield expanded and rose into the air, pushing back the host. Hope blossomed inside me, and I had control of my body back. I rushed to enter one of the shops, my favorite bakery. I crouched down in the corner waiting for the impending attack.

"Asteria, are you alright?" the fleshy female owner Mrs. Chamberly approached me. "What is happening? We heard screams but didn't dare go outside." Mrs. Chamberly crouched lower. "Asteria..." and her eyes widened at the fear in my eyes. "I'll grab you a raspberry tart, sweetie, how 'bout that?"

I nodded slowly, thanking the woman for her comfort. I watched her waddle back to the counter and her husband. I could hear him questioning his wife as to what was going on but she just shushed him and grabbed the pastry, walking back over to me.

"Now sweetie, what is going on out there?" Mrs. Chamberly questioned, handing me the tart.

"They're coming. An invading host of winged beasts carrying soldiers. They're coming to the city. Here. Right now." I shuddered with fear in my voice.

A BOOM echoed through the streets and I rushed up, dropping the pastry and ran outside, pushing away the fear to see the unfurling events. And what I saw rendered me imobile. Screams were streaming all over Velaris and I could smell, rather than see the tangy metallic scent of blood waft through the air. I saw Illyrian warriors wearing blue and red syphons overpower the creatures near them. But the warriors could not fight them all.

Raining down from the sky the creatures came. Like a cloud of mosquitoes descending over Velaris. Killing and laughing as they did so. I saw bodies of both the creatures and citizens fall from the sky. I felt the unused power bundle inside me. The violet ribbons of power churning inside me. Ready to be released. But, I could not, would not release that, even to save myself.

That power had done awful, evil things, and I couldn't handle that again. Releasing that power would only unleash more chaos into the streets along with more death of innocent people. I stayed away from the power coursing through my veins and the threat I was to everyone I had ever loved.

I ran, slipping through blood as I fell to the ground and a shadow hovered over me. I heard it then, the creature, laughing at me as I flipped over to face him.

"Pathetic, faerie," the creature breathed. He bent down with his claw and cut into her side. My scream joined the chorus of my people. The creature then rose, sniffing the air. I laid on the ground watching my blood pool around me. But then a woman crashed through the street with... I gasped... and Illyrian blade. The creature above me lost it's head, along with all the others in the woman's vicinity.

The woman paused. Looking to me. Something stirred within me. I could smell a familiar scent on her. One that I had not encountered in a long time. She held out her hand, offering me help to rise. I accepted.

"Thank you," I choked out as I stood. The woman seemed familiar somehow. "What is your name?"

"My name is Feyre. Yours?" she questioned. Furrowing her brow. So, the woman coming to aid the rainbow was called Feyre. She had never heard the name, but nevertheless, she smelled familiar.

But I did not have time to answer her as we whirled to see a green skinned faerie holding a rusted pipe above her shoulders ready to defend her shop in the wake of the attack. Creatures were surrounding her, laughing, taunting her.

We both made to help the woman, but Feyre halted whispering two words, "The Sidra," and rushed towards the river. Leaving me to deal with the creatures. I unstrapped my blades and fell into my training from so long ago. Rushing towards the creatures, roaring I dealt them fatal blows. Liberating their heads from their necks. I rushed down the street, bodies of the creatures in my wake.

I felt my power leaking purple tendrils As I fought my way down the street. No, no, no! Not now. I feared what would happen to Velaris if my power was ever unleashed. Gods, what would happen if Rhysand felt that power? The pain that would resurface. He would come running, recognizing her tendrils of my power. Rushing to find the all to familiar woman, and the power she wielded. One he thought he would never see again.

I pushed away the dark thoughts and resumed my slaughter. One I undertook only to save my city. My home.

I rushed down the street even faster than before. Slicing at the creatures as I ran. Racing against the clock to get back to my apartment where I could keep my power contained. I could feel the creatures behind me surging after the power that leaked from me. I dropped my blade and ran faster down the blood soaked street. I was so close to my apartment, on a floor so heavily guarded by wards that no one could enter but myself. I ran over the debris and almost tripped, I rounded the corner to my street, but I stopped dead in my tracks. It was blocked. I could see my apartment building. But I could not get to it. I had to turn around, back towards the Rainbow.

0 notes