The City of Light

Killian looked into the sea of fire above and roared in defiance. He gathered all his magic and prepared to shield as many people as possible. In his heart he knew that he would not live through this. But he must make sure that the fae and his soldiers lived through this. He had to hang ong.

Ithos took his wife's hands and kissed it, "You are the reason I was made. You are why I am who I am today. And if we die, then I have no regrets."

The boys ran over next to Ithos. He looked at them with disapproval, but they only smiled brightly. Even the Imp, whose form was mostly translucent, stood with them. He too chose to stay and fight.

The boys looked at each other, Ryion, the only grown up brother stood, a sword in one hand looked at them and sighed. His eyes were red, he had been crying over the death of Miri. He smiled at his brothers, "You should have left with the other children."

Isthan, Berin, and Ceric shook their heads, Ceric shook his fist at his now much taller brother, "Just because you're three heads taller doesn't mean I won't smack you." Ryion smiled and stood before them. If they die, then they died as a family.

Myrai's eyes overflowed with tears, she could not see as she sang. Her voice as hoarse and cracked and her lips bled but she did not stop. She would not stop.

Leonmithas looked at the fae he had called friends. These people, thousands of years ago, had fought him on the battlefields in the fae wars. Now they were comrade in arms. He smiled, he was glad to die beside them.

Jinon stood beside the woman whose face was covered in grey veins. In death she looked as if she was asleep. Jinon poured more magic in her body. She had one last breathe. She had died but in that moment he had frozen her last heartbeat. He poured more magic so that in their last moment, her heart would beat with his one last time.

The rain of fire and smoke poured from the skies towards the ragtag band of soldiers, fae, and remaining children. It crashed towards them with the force of a hundred tornados and winter tsunamis. It was unbearably powerful.

"This is what you get for defying the Shadow Dragons!" Telas, the leader roared. He was watching in glee, waiting for the power to consume them. "This is what you get in defiance!"

"Hmmm..." A voice sounded throughout the land. It was like a bell, striking into the hearts and minds who heard the sound.

"Well, that's not very impressive." The voice said, a little disappointed.

The attack from the sky, the sea of fire and magic suddenly paused. It was as if someone had froze it in place. It was only ten feet from Killian, but it had stopped. It was frozen and unmoving.

Silence, absolute silence followed.

This was not possible. Since when could their magic be frozen in midair. Some dragons blinked, trying to see if the light was playing tricks. A murmur came from the thousands of invading dragons.

Telas squinted. Behind the fire and magic, that was where the voice was. For some reason, he hated that voice, it brought a shiver to his heart. It seemed to promise something that he could not place. He hated what he did not know.

"Who?" He roared, "Who dares question me?! Show yourself."

Suddenly, like a sunbeam, a hole split in the middle of the sea of fire.

A girl with flame red hair and green eyes stare back at the lead of the dragons. She was wearing light red robes, her hair streamed like lava and fire down her back. Black wings, as dark as the scales of the black dragon behind her, fluttered lazily in the air. She glowed gold, the utter power of the frozen grey magic and fire seemed to shy away from her form, deeply afraid of her power.

She raised an eyebrow, "You sure gloat a lot for someone who isn't going to win."

The Dragon growled, and she frowned and then raised a hand, "Hold on, I have to take care of something first."

She turned around and faced the black dragon in the sky. She smiled, "Hello wife. I'm home... did you miss me?"

Killian's eyes widened at her appearance. Every inch of his body seemed to be humming. It was not possible, she was here. She was alive.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit him and he lost his dragon form. A very naked Killian found himself falling through the sky.

A pair of hands caught him mid-fall and he saw her face inches him his as Killian found himself carried, princess style in mid air.

Cybelline glowered below and above and roared, "No one look! This is for my eyes only!"

She grabbed the air and sky blue cloth appeared in her hands, and a new shirt and pants appeared. Killian quickly put the proffered clothes on, feeling his cheeks burn and praying that they were high enough that no one could see too much. He felt that he was standing on solid ground when he was enveloped in her power.

Below, a pair of hands reached up and covered Leonmitha's eyes, as Kima the dwarf smiled up at the handsome general, "Like I said, the consort definitely has a few tricks up his sleeve...erm, arm, if he wanted to keep our Queen's attention.

Cybelline smiled up at Killian who stared at her face. His hand traced her cheeks to her lips, and then, gently, gingerly, he reached down and kissed her.

The kiss was warm and firm, it was the kiss of a man who had seen life and death and realized that nothing mattered except the woman who held him. Lips touched and they knew that they were always meant to be together. They were of one soul, just in two people. He deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking to touch the sweetness that was more heady than honeyed wine. He gripped her waist as her hand rested gently on his chest.

Telas watched above at the couple who kissed as if the end of the world wasn't happening. He roared, "HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT ME LIKE THIS. YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO DIE!!!!"

He roared and the dragons opened their mouths a second time. This time the balls of fire and shadows were larger and darker. They were going to push the frozen wave down towards the ground with this attack.

Cybelline broke the kiss and looked up in annoyance, she muttered to Killian, "I could just turn them to ash but they need to be made an example of. Otherwise other dominion kings will think we're weak."

She smiled and gave him another quick kiss, "Remember when I was little I promised you that I would rescue you from a tower? That I was your knight who would rescue you from dragons?"

He nodded with a smile. She continued, "Well, it seems that I'm about to fulfill my promise right now."

Killian found he was flying toward earth as she flew towards the sky, he smiled and called out, "Don't forget your last part of the promise."

His soldiers looked up at disbelief as they looked at their stoic lord who had never smiled, who now was grinning like a fool.

She turned her head, confused, "What's that?"

"We're getting married after you rescue me." He called out, unable to keep the joy out of his voice.

Jaws dropped everywhere and people did know how to pick them back up off the ground. The soldiers wanted to pinch themselves. Was this still the lord who had kicked a suitor out the window the other day? Was this their master who found on the battlefield without so much as a scowl?

Who was this shameless man who had taken over their lord? Was this another spirit that had kidnapped their lord's body?

"Are we dead?" One soldier asked the other, "We must be dead."

The other soldier nodded solemnly, "We've witnessed our lord's greatest secret. Surely he would kill us after this."

"I think it's nice." A soldier said defensively, "Our lord is getting up there in age. Being someone's wife...er.. husband...Is nice." He finished, his voice getting softer and softer and the soldiers glowered.

"Our lord is getting married. We have to prepare." One of them decide and the rest nodded determinedly, as to the husband or wife question...they looked at the woman who glowed with power and silently spoke a prayer of health and wellbeing for their lord.

Cybelline had been flying towards the hole she made when she heard his marriage proposal and for a brief second, the fae could have sworn that their Dark Queen had tripped on nothing in air. They definitely saw her face turn a shade of pink.

"We must be blind." The Fae elders said and rubbed their eyes, then they looked at each other, "I didn't see anything, did you?"

"No." Oqir said firmly, "We were blinded by the sun. We must protect our queen's pride."

They weren't going to mention that the sun was firmly covered by the blanket of frozen fire. They were going to deny what they saw until their deaths

Cybelline, cleared her throat and tried to not look like she won the lottery. She looked at the sky of falling fire through the hole she made. She locked eyes with Telas the dragon and then raised her slender hand.

Telas was smiling viciously at her, waiting to see the girl be smashed to pieces. He looked as she raised her hand and nearly scoffed. What could she do now?

She snapped her fingers.

The falling wave of fire and magic suddenly parted in the middle, ten feet away from Killian. The magic that covered the sky, seemed to be split down the middle, the parting of magic. The two pieces of fire and shadow magic became wing shaped.

The magical onslaught of the second wave was absorbed by the gigantic wings. Cybelline smiled as the dragons stared unable to comprehend. They stared at the woman.

"How...How?" Telas stammered, "We are by far superior! How?!?!? No mortal could do this. No..."

"You're right. I'm not mortal." She smiled sweetly and the magic split into a hundred thousand slivers. They seemed to glow darker and darker under her guidance, their strength multiplied by a touch of her magic.

They raised themselves upwards and shot back at the dragons. A razor rain of magic faster than light instantly piercing the dragon's wings.

They fell, their massive bodies falling towards the earth as they struggled uselessly against the power of the Dark Queen.

Cybelline waved a hand and a giant net appeared, it gathered all of the dragons into a ball of screaming, squirming creatures.

"You will never fly again. And, for invading my world, you do not deserve to live." She looked at them as their bodies thrashed, "But I will settle for your power."

In that moment, the thousands of dragons in a net that seemed to cover the earth screamed in pain as the girl in front of them called the powers that made them immortals out of their bodies. They begged for mercy knowing that mercy would not come.

Her voice had changed as had her entire demeanor. This was power that they could never match in a million years. This was power that demanded obedience, it demanded absolute submission.

The dragons all bowed their heads, shaking as they felt the power that made it difficult to breath.

Telas was the worst hurt. The power he had thrown at the humans now was visited on his body two-fold.

"You ...you are a..." He gasped.

She smiled, "This world. All the worlds that you have tried to devour. These worlds are now protected. I am sending you back to your masters. Tell them what you saw here today. Tell them to be afraid."

Her power radiated from her body as her voice raged in their minds and souls, 'Tell them that their thrones are no longer safe. Tell them that the Dark Queen is coming for them."

She flew up and a gold sword appeared in her hands, it slashed the sky and ripped a large section open.

Then, gripping the net, she kicked it into the gaping space, taking the trouble to make sure that her foot connected with Telas's Face.

The net of useless dragons, now without their power, without their wings flew like a meteor through the sky and into the hole. Cybelline dusted her hands and closed the rip in the fabric of space. She took a deep breathe, that was finally over...for now.

She flew down and walked to Myrai. The crowd of fae and humans parted, stunned by the sheer show of power. This was unheard of. Perhaps this was the power of a god?

Only Killian walked beside her as they approached Ithos and Myrai.

Ithos held Myrai as she looked at the daughter she had come to love, she held out a hand, "Thank you for being here."

Ithos looked at Myrai and then at Cybelline, he smiled, "We are happy with this choice. Myrai and I are going now."

Cybelline shook her head, "The hell you will. We still have so much time left."

Ithos smiled sadly, "You can't stop death."

Cybelline looked into the distance, where, unseen by all except her, Morrigan stood by, a little afraid of Cybelline, a little uncertain of what's to come.

"Her soul does belong to me now. I will take good care of her, so she can be reborn as another in the land of the fae and folk." Morrigan said as she walked to Cybelline and bowed her head, "She belongs to death now."

"Hmm." Cybelline said and then gently touched Myrai's forehead, "She was yours."

A seed of dark magic melted into Myrai's forehead and she gasped, taking a deep breath of life. Her body seemed to be soaked in magic once more. Ithos felt the change in his wife and just as he turned his head to look at his daughter, Cybelline touched his forehead as well, "We can't have your better half escaping the clutches of death and not you." Ithos felt the magic take root and the years fell off his face. All of the sudden, he was back to the young man that Myrai knew.

They looked at each other in awe and then at Cybelline who smiled, "I am going to taking over a large duck pond soon, and I need my family's help. You both are now have the powers of Sentinels."

Myrai was wordless, and then she took Cybelline's hand, "Thank you for this."

Cybelline held Myrai's hands, "Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for making this sacrifice for me, thank you for sacrificing yourself for the good of the world. Both of you. all of you."

----

The Shadow Dragon Dominion

The Dominion God looked at his worthless dragon hoard and screamed in fury,

"You were beaten by a mere...god?!" He screeched. In the grand hall, other dominion gods of other lands cowered. Telas cowered below the God King who was feared by all dominion gods.

"She said that she was the Dark Queen...she said you should be afraid." Telas said, his hatred towards Cybelline eating at his soul. She had crippled him and gave him a half life. Now he was the laughingstock of the Dominion.

The Shadow Dragon God roared, "That worthless rock of a Dominion dare oppose me? I will crush that worthless tree's lands with my teeth!"

Author's Note:

I hope everyone is doing well right now! This was a tough week for me, mentally and emotionally, but knowing that I am bringing joy to those who read my book is helping me continue. And I do hope you'll continue reading as it's not over just yet. This book has taken me almost two years to write, perhaps even more, so I hope to give them proper send offs.

Thank you for reading, liking and commenting - you guys have made this such a fun process. Thank you for being here.