Long thought dead, Seren finds herself free and thrust back into a world she no longer recognizes. Her hopes for peace and happy reunions are overshadowed by years of torment and rearing new threats. Once a beloved sister and emerging contender for...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AZRIEL
Screeching shadows swarmed Azriel and the two females clinging to either side of him as he took them through one of the many hidden pockets in the colorless realm. Seren was doing her best to cover her ears, as she could evidently hear the sounds of the vicious fight his shadows were putting up over bringing a lightsinger into their domain. On the other side of him, Meera's hurried steps were mostly stumbles and her mouth was open in a scream he couldn't hear over his insufferable shadows.
When they finally reached their destination, they were all but shoved out of the shadow realm and onto the perfectly manicured lawn of the Townhouse. Colors came back into focus after a few blinks, momentarily appearing more vivid and breathtaking as they always did upon his trips through the shadow domain. Winnowing would have been more efficient and peaceful, but Seren could barely winnow herself great distances and appear at her intended destination, let alone two other people.
He was just about to reach down to help Seren up from where she'd been spat out on her knees when he caught sight of Meera crouched down with her arms shielding her head. The girl let out a long, pained sound that brought back some of Azriel's worst memories. He should have been prepared for this, but he'd not been able to think much past the words bargain and ward upon Seren's return to him.
Seren stared at Meera with a mixture of horror and confusion, leaving it up to Azriel to make a move to help her. Part of him was uninclined to do anything other than bring her freshly spiked body to Nuala as an apology gift, but Seren had irrevocably tied herself to the girl and thus, tied Azriel to her. Meera might as well be his own ward, for Azriel would not see Seren suffer over it.
Azriel took two steps to his left and flared out his wings so that the sunlight was dimmed, leaving Meera shaded. Her reaction was similar to his own each time he'd been permitted to ascend the dungeon stairs and walk with his mother in the daylight when he'd been a boy.
"Mother's tits, are you okay?" Seren came out of her stupor and scrambled over to the girl, doing her best to pry Meera's arms out of her face.
"I've never...I didn't..."
"Mother above," Seren breathed as understanding lit in her eyes. "You've never seen the sun."
"It takes getting used to," Azriel said when Meera's tear-streaked face became visible. The light seemed to shine right through her sickly pale skin, marking her skin with a pattern of veins and unhealed bruises. "But it's—"
"Warm," Meera blurted in awe as she reached an arm out beyond the shadow he cast with his wings. "I knew it would be bright but it's so warm. They never told me that."
Azriel imagined her education had been delicately tailored to fit her unique circumstances and keep her as uninterested in venturing out of the Hewn City as possible. Family-led education without any oversight was one of many issues that bred inhabitants with the same proclivities and cruelties generation after generation. In Velaris there were schools for younglings and rigorous apprenticeships for private tutors. There were exceptions of course, with Seren's own education being overseen and directed almost exclusively by her father. It made Azriel wonder if Seren's insistence on helping Meera was because she saw a bit of herself in the girl or if that was a connection that she wasn't yet ready to confront.
