The Stormbringer (Starlight #1) - Kim Taehyung/ BTS Fanfic (#SerendipityAwards)

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                                  Neva

“The who of the what now?” Jungkook’s voice penetrated the heavy silence that followed Ilia’s words. As if on cue, my locket flared brightly, a dazzling light shooting across the oblong tiles and ricocheting off the walls around us which were encased in a semidarkness. 

Ilia shook her head and I sensed a complicated monologue about to follow the condescending action. “The Shadow King, you insipid fool, the one being that can liberate Asteria from these unnecessary monarchal divisions.”

The Prince of Brylle bristled at her tone as I narrowed my eyes. “And does this magnificent persona have a name?” The question left my lips even though I had more or less guessed the answer. And from the way Taehyung stiffened beside me, I knew he had too.

Ilia smiled a truly terrifying smile as she replied. “Valtor Loren.”

Time slowed down as the name echoed around the space, engulfing us in a chasm of never-ending gloom. The syllables slithered off Ilia’s lips like a silky moan, as if she was deliberating chanting it to invoke the actual man.

But how was that possible?

“That’s impossible,” Namjoon stated what I had been pondering over. “Valtor has been dead for centuries now. Even you wouldn’t risk bringing a dead man back to life. And that is if you could.”

A frosty scowl replaced Ilia’s smile. “Bring him back from the dead? Surely you misunderstand Prince.”

“Then what are you talking about?” Taehyung’s voice was dry and I felt his nerves on end as his grip around my fingers tightened.

The Priestess sighed as she ran a grating look over all of us. “Must I spell it out for you? Valtor Loren isn't dead.”

“That’s not possible! He can’t be alive,” Seokjin interceded forcefully as Taehyung and I exchanged uneasy glances.

“Well, let me tell you then, he most certainly is. When he was banished from these lands, Valtor ensured his survival by employing all the power at his disposal. It wasn’t easy, and he wouldn’t be able to reform without help. But luckily for him,” Ilia’s face twisted into a ghastly grin. “he found me.”

“Reform…” I began slowly, the word an ugly taste on my lips as I connected the dots. “Valtor used dark magic.”

“Indeed. He used dark magic to convert his body into a thousand disjointed fractions scattered about the realm of Shadows to make certain that his physical form would never fall victim to age and decay. Gathering all these bits and pieces to make him whole would take time, but that was the only way to ensure he would survive.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Yoongi sauntered closer to where Ilia was perched atop a makeshift dais. “that you have somehow managed to find Valtor after all these centuries? How exactly did you accomplish such a feat?”

The sarcasm in his voice wasn’t lost on us but Ilia promptly ignored it. “I’m a Priestess, Captain, and a direct descendent of house Loren. I control the Shadow Crystal. Do you really think I wouldn’t recognize a plea for help when I heard it?”

“You mean to resurrect him,” Taehyung said, his voice a notch higher. “You mean to ensemble his body and let him out of whatever hellhole he’s stuck in.”

“And you need the power of the Crystals to do it,” Jimin finished for him. Hoseok’s face visibly blanched as an aura of apprehension descended over us.

“I do. But not all of it, which is why Ellura still seems to have retained a shred of its magic,” Ilia turned a disapproving eye towards me. “But I suppose that could also be attested to the actions of your mother.”