Gwyneth had always felt connected to her faith, a higher power presiding over her. That faith had shaken that devastating day those years ago, the day that went on to haunt her every nightmare for years to come. She's still trying to come back from it, to not only restore her faith in life and love, but her faith in herself. The sanctity of her spirit- she prayed for resolve. Every punch was a prayer. Every mile was a hymn. Until her knuckles bled and her knees gave. Azriel had been surrounded by darkness his whole life, a poison on his world, on his being. He exercised restraint in his every waking moment, banishing that darkness within himself. Some guessed of the strain it put on him, but no one knew the extent of it, how deep his scars ran. It was better this way, he was sure. He had always thought that if there were a higher power- which he wholly doubted- such deities must loathe him to have burdened him such darkness. He hadn't much faith in the gods anyway, much less faith that he could sway their opinion on him. But Gwyneth and Azriel did have one thing in common: the quiet fight within themselves. They only knew one way: to go about it alone, couldn't fathom letting another in. But there's a magic in finding someone who is your equal but opposite, something transforming. And frankly, Gwyneth and Azriel could both use a little magic. All characters owned by SJM in the ACOTAR series. Story takes place after the events of ACOSF. Aligns with the events in my other fic: A Storm of Flames and Deceit. I haven't finished Crescent City, so this story takes place outside of the events of those books as well. CONTENT WARNING ⚠️ Mentions of r*pe, use of profanity, explicit content, sexual content, violence, torture, mentions of suicidal thoughts and depression, mentions of self harm

Elaine Mairi had always known she would enter the Riders Quadrant. She was marked with a rebellion relic, leaving her with a future that could not be altered. She had decided it would be better to make use of that inevitable future than give the people who had killed her parents and made her and her twin brother watch, the satisfaction of watching Elaine be slaughtered by a dragon or see her fall from the parapet. Finally, after years of training, it was her turn to be feared-and see the man she had thought herself in love with when she was a teenager after three years. Becoming a rider proves to be more difficult then Elaine had once thought, with betrayal and death around every corner. And Xaden Riorson seems to not be who he was when he left Elaine three years earlier. ______________ NEW COVER Fourth Wing-Unknown Xaden Riorson x OC I do not own the plot of Fourth Wing or the characters. Only my original plot lines and characters belong to me.