Chapter 9 - The Queen’s Fall
Queen Celeste’s face contorted into a monstrous mask of rage. She crushed the obsidian talisman in her hand, unleashing a wave of black, dark magic that blasted through the grand ballroom. The crystal chandeliers shattered, showering the room in glass as dark shadows twisted around her body like living serpents.
"If I cannot have this kingdom, I will burn it to ash!" Celeste screamed, her eyes glowing with pitch-black energy.
"Kael, get to my father!" Aria ordered, drawing her silver longsword. "I'll handle Celeste!"
Kael nodded, sprinting past the dark magic tendrils toward the royal tower stairs, guarded by Thorne and his loyal men.
Celeste raised her hands, summoning blades of black ice and hurling them at Aria. Aria moved with breathtaking grace, her lightweight sun-armor deflecting the magical strikes effortlessly. She closed the distance, her sword clashing against Celeste’s dark magic shields in a blinding storm of sparks.
"You were always a weak, pitiful girl!" Celeste spat, forcing Aria back with a blast of dark wind. "Just like your mother!"
"My mother died protecting her people!" Aria yelled back, spinning around and slashing through Celeste's dark barrier. "You only protect your own greed!"
Up in the royal bedchamber, Kael burst through the oak doors. King Alden lay motionless on the massive velvet bed, his skin grey and his breathing faint.
Kael unstoppered the golden elixir and gently poured it past the King's lips. For three tense heartbeats, nothing happened. Then, the black veins on the King's neck dissolved. Alden gasped loudly, his eyes flying open as life and color rushed back into his face.
"Who... who are you?" Alden rasped, looking at the soot-marked young man.
"Someone who believes your daughter deserves her father back," Kael said, helping the King stand.
Down in the ballroom, Celeste was losing ground. Aria’s relentless attacks had shattered her magical defenses. Desperate, Celeste spotted Lady Marissa cowering near the throne. In a act of utter madness, Celeste drained her own daughter's life force to power one final, apocalyptic spell.
Marissa collapsed, unconscious, as Celeste formed a massive spike of solid Aethel-iron, aiming it directly at Aria’s heart.
"Die, Princess!" Celeste screamed, driving the lethal spike forward.
Aria raised her sword to block, but the raw power behind the dark spell was too immense.
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Suddenly, a shadow fell over her.
Kael threw himself between Aria and the dark magic, catching the jagged spike of Aethel-iron with his bare, unarmored hands.
