Chapter 3 - FLAMES OF REVENGE
“Kael!” Mara shrieked, catching the fallen captain as he collapsed onto the cold cobblestones. Blood pooled beneath his chest, soaking through his dark leather armor.
Celeste laughed, her icy amusement echoing off the damp stone walls. “Load another bolt!” she commanded her archers. “Don't let her take another breath! Burn the body when you’re done!”
Mara looked down at the tiny glass vial Kael had thrust into her fingers. Inside, a brilliant, liquid gold fluid swirled against the glass, glowing with an intense, supernatural heat that burned her skin through the glass.
“Drink it... it unlocks the Phoenix...”
With arrows clicking into bowstrings above her and death closing in from every side, Mara didn't hesitate. She popped the wax seal with her teeth and swallowed the glowing liquid in one gulp.
At first, there was nothing.
Then, agony.
A searing, blinding heat exploded inside her chest, radiating through her veins like liquid sunlight. Mara dropped to her knees, screaming as her vision turned completely white. The phoenix mark on her collarbone flared so brightly it burned away the collar of her brown dress, expanding until fiery, golden wing patterns swept across her arms and shoulders!
The archers released their arrows. A dozen steel tips flew down through the dark.
BOOM!
A shockwave of pure, golden fire erupted from Mara’s body, instantly vaporizing the iron arrows into gray ash mid-air! The blast sent Celeste and her guards flying backward, crashing into the stone walls.
The temperature in the underground catacombs skyrocketed. Mara stood up slowly, her eyes no longer brown, but burning like twin miniature suns. The raw, ancient magic of the Sun Royal line—dormant for centuries—had fully awakened in her blood.
Celeste scrambled backward on her hands and knees, terror finally breaking her arrogant mask. “What... what are you? You’re a monster!”
“I am Aurelia,” Mara’s voice echoed, overlaid with a terrifying, harmonic resonance. “And this palace is done bowing to traitors.”
Mara raised a hand, and a wall of fire swept forward, melting the iron gates that blocked her path. She didn't kill Celeste—not yet. She left her cousin cowering in the ash, bruised and screaming for help, as she turned and sprinted toward the high tower.
She navigated the secret ascents, her body lighter than air, fueled by the raging inferno of magic in her veins. Every guard who tried to stop her was swept aside by gusts of superheated air. She was no longer the helpless servant girl who cowered when water was thrown in her face. She was the storm.
Minutes later, she kicked open the heavy iron-reinforced doors to the King's High Tower.
Inside, King Arthur was chained to a massive stone pillar. His royal robe was torn, and his face was bruised. Standing before him was Lord Vane, holding a signed decree of abdication and a quill dipped in black ink.
“Sign it, Arthur,” Vane said smoothly. “Sign the crown over to me, and I will make sure your little servant girl dies quickly instead of slowly.”
“I will never sign...” Arthur spat blood onto Vane’s boots. “My daughter lives. The kingdom will know...”
“Your daughter is already dead in the tunnels, brother,” Vane sneered, raising a dagger toward Arthur’s throat. “And now, so are you.”
“PUT THE BLADE DOWN!”
Vane whipped around in shock. Standing in the doorway was Mara, framed by swirling golden flames, her hair wild, her eyes burning like stars.
Arthur’s eyes widened in disbelieving joy. “Aurelia!”
Lord Vane’s shock quickly turned into a twisted grin. He drew his massive broadsword, which was etched with dark, purple runes of black magic. “So, the rat learned a trick. You think a little fire frightens me, girl? I killed your mother with this blade, and tonight, I complete the set!”
Vane lunged forward with unnatural speed, his blade glowing with dark, shadowy magic that consumed the light in the room!
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HOOOK / CLIFFHANGER:
As Vane’s dark blade clashed against Mara’s fire, the purple magic absorbed her flames instantly, snuffing out her golden aura! Mara gasped as Vane grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off her feet. “Did you really think royal blood was enough?” Vane whispered in her ear. “Who do you think gave me the dark magic to burn your nursery seventeen years ago? It was your own MOTHER!”
