Rhiannan lay tangled around Azarion, their bodies still humming with magic and memory. Her breath slowed against his chest, but her mind was already spinning. As if sensing it, Azarion shifted, pulling a glowing sigil from the air with a swipe of his hand.
"We don't have long," he said quietly. "Nythera gave me the location of the Sceptre."
Rhiannan blinked, brushing hair from her face. "Where?"
Azarion's expression darkened. "Veinspire Caverns. Beneath the ruins of Vyrannis."
She stiffened, eyes narrowing. "The cursed city?"
He nodded. "Poisoned by Veltherion's shadow. It's buried in stone and legend. Nythera said only a goddess, or those tethered to one, can enter. It's not just a vault. It's a test."
Rhiannan exhaled slowly. "Then we'll pass it."
Without another word, she closed her eyes and summoned her mates to her with a pulse through their bond.
Come to me. It's time. We move soon.
Within moments, the heavy wooden doors burst open.
Arwen was first, armor loose around his hips, a blade still strapped lazily across his back. "We heard screaming. Was it the fun kind or the decapitate a king kind?"
Kaleb followed, arms crossed, shirtless and wet from the bath. "You called like you were dying. Again."
Sable leaned in the doorway, his smirk curling. "She did die a little. From orgasmic overload."
Elisha entered with a grumble, but his eyes softened the moment they landed on Rhiannan. Liam, however, said nothing. He looked pale.
They gathered around as Azarion summoned the glowing sigil again, casting its eerie silver blue light.
"The Sceptre of Power is in the Veinspire Caverns," he repeated. "Buried under Vyrannis. The city is rotted. It's dangerous. But the Sceptre is our final piece."
"Then we move soon," Kaleb said, already in battle mode.
But Liam suddenly swayed.
"Elisha," Rhiannan said sharply, catching Liam's arm. "Help me!"
Liam staggered back. "No... don't touch me..."
From the mark on his arm, shadows pulsed, slow at first, then violently.
Rhiannan froze. "That's from the shadow realm..."
Liam dropped to one knee, trembling as darkness slithered along his veins.
"I hear him," he hissed. "The king. He knows we're coming."
Azarion reached to stabilize him, but the moment his chaos touched hand met Liam's shoulder, the shadows erupted in a shriek of violent black smoke. Liam screamed, and collapsed.
"Shit! Liam!" Rhiannan dropped to the floor beside him, trying to find his pulse.
Kaleb roared, "Sasha! Lock the fucking ward grid!"
A shimmer of blue light appeared and Sasha materialized in the corner, hair disheveled, glitching in stress. "WHAT now?"
"Liam!" Rhiannan cried. "There's something inside him!"
Sasha scanned him, her voice flattening. "It's a residual possession mark. A seed. Fuck me sideways. It's alive."
Azarion snarled. "From Veltherion?"
Sasha nodded slowly. "It's trying to spy. Maybe even control. He didn't just curse Liam. He planted him."
Elisha looked like he wanted to punch a hole in the wall.
Rhiannan stood slowly, power crackling around her. "Then we remove it."
Sasha winced. "We can try. But this isn't your average exorcism. It's going to take chaos, moonlight, and probably a full on spiritual cage match."
Rhiannan cracked her neck, her voice calm and cold. "Then we give it a fucking cage match."
The castle's enchanted library didn't just open its doors for anyone, but it loved Rhiannan. Shelves whispered. Books shuffled. Lanterns ignited with pale golden flames as she stormed in, barefoot and wild eyed, with magic sparking from her fingertips. The ancient shelves seemed to breathe as a heavy tome slammed out of the stacks and floated directly into her arms.
"Expulsions of the Living Curse: Rituals for the Unwilling Host," she read aloud, voice trembling. "Perfect."
The pages were heavy, bound in scales and stitched with threads of silver. She flipped through, eyes scanning faster than humanly possible, until she found the right page. The ingredients list looked like a chaotic fever dream...
Nightshade blossoms picked at twilight
Ash from a star born tree
Blood of the bonded
Tears from a scared fae
Moon blessed silver, melted
Feather of a soul owl
Ground horn from a dusk elk
"Seriously?" she muttered. "Where the fuck am I getting a soul owl feather on short notice?"
Sasha's voice crackled overhead. "Oh don't worry, princess. Reyna's already halfway to the courtyard. She and Mo are gathering your murder salad."
Rhiannan pressed a hand to her heart. "Tell her to hurry. Liam's not just marked, he's infected. This curse is intelligent. It's watching us."
In the Courtyard.....
Reyna's braid flew behind her as she dashed through the glowing grass of the courtyard, a floating list from Sasha blinking in her peripheral vision. Mo skipped beside her with a bag, eyes wide.
"Soul owl, soul owl..." he muttered. "What the hell even is a soul owl?"
Reyna laughed breathlessly. "Something really rare. Lives between realms. Feeds on regret. So naturally, there's one nesting in the topiary garden."
They darted through the moonlit hedges, fireflies lighting their path, and sure enough, a glowing white owl blinked at them from a silverthorn tree.
"I'm not climbing that," Mo declared.
Reyna gave him a look. "You literally fought with demon monkeys."
"Yeah but that was a bore. This is heights."
The owl hooted once and dropped a single feather.
"Ha! Fuck you too, bird," Mo called.
Reyna snatched the feather, grinning. "That just leaves the elk. And the tears."
Mo's face fell.
"I can do the tears," he said softly. "I love Liam. And I'm scared. But he made me feel safe. And I know you all will save him."
He sniffled. A single tear shimmered blue against his cheek.
Reyna gently caught it in a vial.
"You are so brave, Mo."
"Damn right I am," he sniffed. "Now let's go find a fucking elk."
Meanwhile, Faenet was in absolute meltdown mode.
👤 @ChaosWatcher: Did y'all see the SHADOW PULSE in Liam's veins?! WTF?!
👤@OracleTea: Reyna and Mo are running around like magical Girl Scouts collecting ingredients and it's giving me LIFE.
👤 @MoonDaddySimp: If Azarion doesn't personally rip the curse out with his bare hands I will riot. #LetDaddyCook
👤@TeamSilverDragon: Rhiannan in that library with her feral magic?? ICON.
👤 @MoMoments: Mo crying on Faenet was the most emotional thing I've seen all year. Protect that bean.
Back in the ritual chamber, Rhiannan was already drawing the runes. Silver chalk burned into obsidian tiles as the castle hummed in anticipation.
Liam, unconscious and pale, was laid in the center. Her men circled around, weapons drawn just in case.
The moment the ingredients arrived, the exorcism would begin.
And the soul war... would be waged.
The air was thick with urgency. Rhiannan stood over Liam's trembling body, his skin bathed in sweat and shadow. The cursed mark on his arm pulsed violently, dark tendrils slithering up toward his throat like hungry vines. Mo was pacing in the corner, babbling to himself as he sorted herbs and powders, eyes wide and terrified.
"Don't you fucking die, Liam," he snapped, eyes glistening. "I haven't even shown you my fucking card collection yet."
Rhiannan barely cracked a smile. Her fingers hovered over the spellbook, gifted by the enchanted library itself, a tattered tome bound in whispering leaves and sealed with a lock that only opened when touched by a goddess.
"Ready?" Reyna asked, standing beside her, arms full of shimmering, bizarre ingredients. A feather from a soul owl. Tears of a scared fae. Melted silver. Shit nobody should be able to find.
Rhiannan nodded. "Back everyone up. I need space."
The courtyard cleared as the runes lit beneath Liam's body. Rhiannan's fingers traced the glyphs with an impossible precision, her magic slicing through the curse like a scalpel. Liam screamed. Shadow screamed louder.
As the last incantation tore through her lips, the curse ripped itself from Liam's soul with a wail of agony. The blast of shadow cracked through the sky and slammed into Rhiannan's chest, sending her skidding across the courtyard. Blood smeared her lips. Her five mates roared as one. The disgusting shadow seed lifted into the air, and before it could plant itself anywhere, blasts of magic from everyone there tore it to shreds.
Elisha was first to reach her. "You were supposed to shield yourself!"
"I did," she coughed. "Kinda." She eyed Liam, and the air. "Someone confirm he is empty, and that the seed is destroyed."
Kaleb was already inspecting her wounds. "That's it. You're benched. You're done."
"I'm not a fucking player in your testosterone league," she snapped, yanking herself up.
Azarion narrowed his eyes. "You were reckless. What if the babies..."
That was the trigger.
Her hands clenched. The ancient power in her veins surged, and before any of them could say another word, she vanished with a POP.
She reappeared at the crystal springs, landed on her ass, howling, panting and furious. She cocked her head to the side, curious. She had just teleported. New power? No portal needed? Fine with her. She grinned as all the new possibilities flooded her mind.
The still waters glowed under the afternoon light, surrounded by boulders of luminous stone and trees that shimmered with fae magic. Gentle creatures crept out to greet her, a six legged deer nuzzled her hand. A feathered serpent curled around her ankle.
"Hi guys," she whispered, tears burning her eyes. "Momma's just having a little nervous breakdown."
She stripped, slipping into the spring's cool embrace, the water soothing the bruises on her body, and her pride. Rhiannan floated, staring at the sky.
"I'm not just some precious egg to be coddled," she muttered to no one, or maybe the wind. "I'm a warrior. A leader. A goddess."
A bluebird landed on her head. Mo would've died from joy.
She smiled faintly. She knew her mates were scared. So was she. She wouldn't survive this war alone, but she also couldn't survive being smothered.
And Liam. Gods. She needed him to wake up. To laugh. To curse the sky and flirt with danger.
"I won't lose you," she whispered. "Any of you. Not one more."
She lay back in the water, listening to the creatures chirp and hum, the forest a cradle of calm while the rest of the world burned.
Tomorrow, they'd regroup. Hunt for the Sceptre. Plan their next move.
But tonight, she would breathe.
And hope that was enough.