Sealed inside the towering city walls of Acadia, magic users known as Wielders are feared and hunted for the abilities they have been blessed with. They're living in hiding, terrified of revealing themselves to the Authorities that hunt them.
But w...
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After centuries of darkness, the light was blinding. It seared Zell's eyes, burned his skin, but it didn't matter. He was free.
Breaking through the thin layer of kraenite was too easy-as easy as shredding paper.
Zell strolled through the center of the city-the heart of Acadia-where the magnificent buildings reached the highest, where the river of people ran thickest. He never could have imagined seeing a city that grand, that pristine. He almost felt a tinge of sadness as the Foulings destroyed it all.
Cerberi, the shadow canines, tore through the streets, the sun reflecting off of their slick, black fur. They ripped off the limbs of the humans with their jaws, their sharp claws tearing at their flesh.
Shrill roars of the draekons reached his ears. Diving from the sky, they swooped towards the street, plucking up humans in their talons, biting their heads off with one snap of their jaws.
Blood coated the pavement, the smell of it filling the air. Zell breathed in deep, reveling in the scent. Damn, it had been way too long since he'd tasted it. He would stop for just a moment, just for a small taste.
Zell.
His father's voice sounded in his head.
Come to us.
He didn't need to say where. As one of his Children of Shadow, Zell always knew where he was, unfortunately. He wondered briefly where his brothers and sisters were, until he realized that like good little children, they were probably already with Father and Mother.
Zell became a shadow, shooting through the air, snaking around the buildings. He hated traveling that way, becoming the thing he was born from, but it was fast and efficient; two things Father had pounded into his head.
He was just about to fly over the huge kraenite wall, when he stopped. He felt something familiar, something that reached inside of him, reigniting a flame that had burnt out centuries ago.
It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. But he felt it.
He shot down towards the ground, switching back to his tangible form. When his feet touched the cement, he searched the area.
The feeling was still there, tugging him towards the gaping hole in the Wall. What in the world had done that? Who would have the power to break through that much kraenite?
And then he saw her emerge from the other side of the rubble, her white-blonde hair whipping around her in the wind.
Elania. It was her. But it couldn't be. He had murdered the Child of the Stars right before the Foulings had lost the Great War. How? How was it possible?
He almost fell to his knees at the sight of her. The centuries that passed since his crime against her didn't change anything. He couldn't ignore the pounding of his heart, or deny his breaths that came fast and short.
Zell took a shaky step towards her, but stopped when he saw she was dragging someone behind her. She was struggling, her face strained as she groaned and grunted.
The person behind her showed no sign of life. Perhaps he was dead. But she was determined on getting him over that pile of rubble.
Zell pushed back into the shadows of the buildings, becoming one with the dark as he watched her.
Finally, she reached the bottom with the body. When her feet stepped off of the kraenite and onto the cement the world exploded with snow and ice.
The shriek of a draekon filled the air. Zell turned to find the creature propelling towards her, its talons out and ready to tear her apart.
But instead, she stared at it, her eyes glowing a brilliant blue. The draekon froze in midair, its black scales covered in glimmering ice. It crashed into the ground, shattering to pieces. Its head rolled across the cement, pieces of the ice flaking off, until it stopped right in front of her. Lifting a foot, she put her weight on it, smashing the head.
Elania's ice was more powerful than Zell remembered. If the girl even was Elania.
But for now, he would go to Father and find out his first mission. Then he would find out who this girl was and why she looked and felt exactly like his lost love, Elania. And he would do it by any means necessary.
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THIS IS THE END OF BOOK ONE.
Please continue on for book two teasers, references, and more!
