Her bare feet pounded against the ground as she ran. The small chimes of the ankle bells she wore announcing her every step. Her snow-white hair flew behind her like a silver moon.
The moon hung low over the city, silver against the dark, churning clouds. Nerissa's bare feet pressed into the cold marble floor along the middle ground of the castle. Her hands clutched the carved railing for support as if it could hold back the storm of dread rising in her chest.
Nerissa's silver hair danced in the wind as she turned from floor to floor, her water-born instincts warning her of danger. She knew it was too late, but she couldn't give up easily, she had to protect Abyrion, The Guardian of the Tide. The shadows moved, coiling around her like living ropes, cutting off escape.
She tried to call for Zevrik, her mate, the Royal Vampire whose very presence had made her lonely days worth living. But tonight, he was too far away. And that distance could kill her faster than any blade.
She stopped when she reached another balcony that gave the overview of the water tribe.
"No." she whispered to the night.
She knew they would come for her, but she wasn't expecting it to be like this. They had come for her and her people. Not for power, not for dominion. She always knew the vampire kingdom had always wanted to destabilize the kingdom of Abyrion, and send the water tribe into chaos.
She could've prevented it. She could've prevented the doom that lurked in the shadows when she found out she was mated to a vampire prince, a royal blood.
Wren warned her. But she didn't listen.
She barely made it to Abyrion's sacred core when her attackers emerged from the dark, vampires and sorcerers aligned, their weapons glinting and their faces masked with malice.
Vampires were people of the fire, the darkness consumed them like a curse. There was no unity amongst them, they all fought for the crown, they all wanted themselves dead, and they had known they couldn't kill a Prince of the Night, so they had come for his light instead.
"Hello little goddess." One of the vampire sorcerers who stood at the front spat, you could hear the venom in her voice.
"Hello Enya." Nerissa replied calmly despite the raging storm in her chest.
"Never thought this day would come." Enya said slowly, giving her a nasty smirk.
"Well the day is here, but it's not over yet." Nerissa replied.
"Oh it will be soon." Enya sneered and raised her hand to Nerissa, probably to shoot a fireball, but only smoke emerged from her hands.
"What?" Enya asked in shock, looking back at Nerissa who looked at her with a glint in her eyes.
"Have you forgotten where you stand, Fire people?" Nerissa said as she slowly backed up, towards the giant frozen figure of Abyrion.
"You stand in the presence of Abyrion!" She announced, looking at all of them slowly. "Orvathis has no dominion here."
"Enough yapping!" Enya snapped and looked back at the rest of them. "Attack!" She commanded and they all came at her.
Nerissa's hands flared with water magic, summoning currents from the water fountain to lash at them, to push them back. In the presence of Abyrion, she was stronger, but she was alone, and there were too many.
Though the core strength of Abyrion kept her standing, she was still getting tired. Because she had to fight them all and protect Abyrion.
Wren arrived in a blur of movement, white mist of frost surrounding him. His eyes, blue as the sea, fell on her, wide with terror.
"Nerissa!" he shouted and ran to her. Wren was a water lord, older and stronger than she was, but even his power could not shield her from all.
While they continued to fight together, one of the assailants, a woman cloaked in red silk, thrust a blade forward. Nerissa dodged, water spiraling around her like a living shield, but the weapon found its mark in a flash of red across her side. Pain bloomed like fire, and she staggered, gripping her stomach.
She grunted in pain falling to her knees.
"Nerissa!" She heard Wren call for her, but her senses were dimmed, she felt as if she was in a trance. Waves of supernatural strength tore through the core. Wren tore through the attackers, yet they kept getting back up.
Nerissa looked at the scene with misty eyes. What had she done? Had she made a terrible mistake falling in love with the Prince of Darkness?
In Nerissa's vulnerable state, the Abyrion's restraint against them faltered. And the fire people immediately wielded fire like a shield, they didn't aim for her, they aimed for Abyrion.
Nerissa watched them in horror as her mother's voice echoed in her head.
"You need to understand, my child. That you and Abyrion are one. If you are weak, then she is weak, and if you are strong, then she is strong. And one day, I hope you will be strong enough, to wake Abyrion from her hibernation."
"No!" She cried as she watched Wren fight powerlessly against them, she watched as they destroyed Abyrion.
"And when such time comes, that you have to choose between Abyrion and the people. You know what to do. Why?" Her mother asked.
"Because…" She groaned in pain, struggling to get to her feet. "Because Abyrion, is the people."
She stumbled before the frozen figure and raised a shield with all her strength.
The sanctuary of the Moon-Glass
Gardens of Abyrion was meant to be impenetrable, a gift from the water spirit to her goddess. But tonight, it was a cage.
When Wren realized what she was doing and froze in horror. "No!" he cried. But Nerissa raised a trembling hand, water spilling from her palm, coalescing into a final, radiant surge. A tear slipped from her eye as the water spirit's eyes glowed Crystal blue, mirroring hers. Her soul slowly slipped away, merging with Abyrion's.
She had to do this. For the people, for Abyrion.
"Nerissa!" Came another voice, but it wasn't Wren, it was Zevrik.
The sound of his arrival was a sonic boom. He tore through the air, a blur of shadow and rage. And the once raging core, was now silence, littered with several dead bodies. He reached her just as her knees gave way. He caught her, his broad frame shaking as he gathered her against his chest.
"Stay with me my moon." he choked out, his voice a frantic command. He pressed his palms against the wound, his immortal strength useless against the magic eating her soul.
"Zevrik…." She reached up, her fingers trembling as she traced the line of his jaw. Through the weakening mate bond, she could feel his agony, it was a screaming, sheer hot pain where their shared joy used to be. "They did this…. to break you. Do not abandon…..the throne."
"I don't care about the throne," he snarled, tears he hadn't shed in three centuries finally spilling over. "Let the kingdom burn. I will burn it myself if you leave me."
"The bond…." she whispered, her vision flickering like a dying candle. "It's fading. I can feel the distance."
"No. There is no distance I won't cross." He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes glowing with a terrifying, obsessive light.
But it was too late, she'd already given up her soul, to protect the people. And there was nothing Zevrik could do. Wren stood to the side and watched silently with a burning rage beneath the surface.
Nerissa felt the coldness of the core finally reach her heart, and the vibrant blue of her eyes began to wash out to a dull, grey color.
"Don't let this end like this Zevrik. Do not give them what they want." she breathed, her last bit of divine essence fluttering away like sea foam.
"You promised to be my queen." Zevrik sobbed, feeling the final lights leave her body.
He would find her again. No matter what form she took. No matter how long it took.
Because she was his mate. His heart. His everything.
And nothing, not even death, not time, not fate, could sever that bond.
As her body went limp, crystal blues that lined the body of Abyrion dimmed and the fountain's water turned to ice. The Prince let out a roar of such profound loss that it shook the very foundations of the palace.