Everyone looked at her with thunderstruck expressions. The blood drained from Atticus’s face.
“How can that be?” Jastin said, the first to find his voice. “Vyra killed her brother.”
“She didn’t,” Autumn explained. “She just told everyone she did. She needed someone to spy on the elves of Arbor Falls and decided that Victor would be the best to do this.”
“And Victor went along with this? Why?” Charlotte said in disbelief.
Now, this Autumn didn’t know. “Maybe he wanted to prove himself to her. She is his older sister, after all.”
“You spoke to Vyra?” Atticus asked. Autumn nodded. “What else did she say?” he urged. Autumn screwed up her face in concentration, trying to relay as much of their conversation as she could remember, leaving out the part about Avabelle. Now was not the time.
“Why wouldn’t she kill you right away?” Jastin asked.
“She’s sort of crazy,” Luke said. “Like off her rocker crazy.”
“You talked to her too?” Atticus asked, turning to Luke.
“He more than talked to her,” Avery said. “He struck her with lightning.”
The others looked at Luke in awe.
“How did you all get away?” Charlotte asked in horror.
“We killed several Shadows and Atrums before we were able to get our pegasus up and flying,” Avery answered.
“And Luke and Avery broke me out of that little prison tower,” Autumn added.
“Vyra just left you alone in there?” Jastin asked in surprise.
“Victor was there,” Autumn said and looked to Avery for permission to tell the rest. He nodded solemnly. “Avery shot him with an arrow.”
There was a collective intake of breath and everyone looked at Avery in surprise. Avery was the only one who knew what Victor did to her. She looked at him wearily, hoping he wouldn’t bring it up.
“I did what I had to do to get Autumn out of there,” he said.
“So, Victor’s dead?” Kyndel asked.
“I’m a good shot. Trust me. He’s dead,” Avery said.
Forrest glanced back at Cera’s body, which was lying on a bed of leaves. “We should get back,” he said sadly.
The Tetra Warriors that had been listening to their exchanges in sober silence suddenly came to life, getting the pegasi together and helping the now Quinn Warriors onto them.
Autumn and Avery climbed onto their pegasus, but this time he had her ride in front. She realized it was because he wanted to be able to hold her as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. She leaned back against him, the comforting and familiar magnetic pull soothing her nerves. Their pegasus took off and began the journey back to Arbor Falls.
Looking back at Alder Island, Autumn realized with a mixture of pride and regret that she was leaving her former innocence behind with it.
The Burial
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The Quinns’ return to Arbor Falls was bittersweet. It was hard to feel like they had accomplished something when they had come back with two less elves than they left with. No one was all that concerned with the loss of Victor now that they all knew his true identity, but the loss of Cera had truly taken away any sense of victory they might have felt otherwise for making it through the Warrior Trial.
After all, they had broken their pact.
That night Atticus had the Quinns meet in the Warrior training tree and informed them that the two alternates next in line had begun their intensive training. They just stared up at him sadly, not at all cheered by this news. If anything, it made the situation that much more depressing. They didn’t want any new Warriors. They had been a family. If anything, it felt like they were replacing Cera.
“I understand how difficult this is for all of you,” Atticus began. “Trust me, it’s difficult for me too, but we have to continue on. Death is part of being a Warrior. I’m sorry to say that she will not be the first loss you have to suffer through. I know the alternates can never replace her, but they are essential to the Quinns. Ember and Edric will be arriving shortly and I sincerely hope that you will welcome them with open arms. Think of how difficult it will be for them to come into this, knowing how you all feel about the situation.”
Everyone nodded in unison, looking no happier than they had before his little speech. When the alternates arrived, the Quinns stood to greet them. Autumn didn’t know about the others, but she was not getting the best vibe from these particular elves. She figured that being an alternate would cause them to feel slightly inferior to the actual Warriors who’d been through months of training and a grueling Warrior Trial, but these two looked exactly the opposite.
The girl, Ember Burns, scanned the Quinns with a raised eyebrow, as if to imply that she wasn’t all that impressed. With flaming red hair that fell just past her shoulders and amber eyes that looked like two burning hot coals, she definitely lived up to her name. Atticus didn’t even have to tell them what her Power was for Autumn to know that it was Fire. Crystal was already frowning at Ember in dislike.
The boy, Edric Ogden, had perfect, platinum blond hair that looked as if it took him all morning to style. His pale blue eyes were piercing and somewhat cold. His smile looked a little too forced and didn’t quite reach his eyes. His Power was a Shield. He could erect a sort of invisible armor in front of himself or someone else, an offensive power that the Quinns could definitely benefit from.
They all politely introduced themselves to Ember and Edric. Kyndel’s new partner would be Edric and Ember was now Forrest’s partner. Atticus had the four of them leave for the training field to become more acquainted with each other. Autumn didn’t envy them.
The next morning Autumn woke up with a feeling of dread resting like a stone in the pit of her stomach. It was the day of Cera’s funeral. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to rid herself of the vision of Cera’s vacant expression, her broken body, the sound of it hitting the forest floor. Autumn started when she heard a THUMP coming from her balcony. Avery.
She didn’t feel like talking about how she felt, so she pulled the covers stubbornly over her head. Autumn heard Avery open her balcony doors and chuckle at the sight of her.
“I know you’re awake,” he said.
“Nope,” Autumn replied, her voice muffled by her bedding.
Rather than ripping the bedding off of her, Avery lifted the covers and crawled underneath to lie beside her. The material surrounded them like a warm embrace. He pulled her close to him so that her face rested in the nape of his neck. Hot tears spilled out of her eyes.
“I knew you’d be blaming yourself for this,” Avery said.
“If I would have been paying attention to everything instead of bickering with Kyndel—”
“Autumn, stop. It doesn’t do any good to obsess over what you could have done. It won’t change anything.”
“I know, but—”
“Autumn.”
“Fine,” she sighed.
“Uh, are we interrupting something?” Luke said from somewhere within Autumn’s room.
Autumn and Avery sat up quickly, pulling the covers down. Crystal and Luke stood at the foot of the bed with amused looks on their faces—well, Luke’s expression was a little more disapproving and disgusted than amused. Autumn felt herself blush slightly and laughed when she saw that Avery’s cheeks were flushed as well.
“May we join you?” Crystal asked. Autumn raised an eyebrow at her and Crystal let out a lilting laugh as she climbed onto the base of the bed to sit with her legs crossed. Luke frowned for a second, but then decided to join them.
“Do you think we’re going to get along with those alternates?” Autumn asked.
Crystal made a sour face and said, “I don’t really care for that Ember girl.”
“Course you don’t,” Luke said with a laugh. “Her power is Fire. Haven’t you heard fire and ice don’t quite mix? That Edric Ogden just rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think I care for him myself.”
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p; “Just because he’s been with more girls at this school than you have,” Avery said, receiving a glare from Luke. Autumn and Crystal laughed.
“It’s going to be weird working with the Tetras now. It’s just been the ten of us for so long,” Crystal said.
“It’s going to be weird doing something other than just training,” Autumn said. “We’re actually going to be protecting Arbor Falls now, and fighting for real.”
The others nodded with dazed looks as they took this in.
They changed into their Warrior uniforms for Cera’s funeral as a sign of respect. Though Cera never made it through the Warrior Trial, she was still a Warrior to them.
The funeral was being held in the Warrior Burial Grounds, where all of the Warriors had been laid to rest over the history of the Underground. As they approached the burial grounds Autumn felt an overwhelming sense of peace emanating through the air. Forrest, Kyndel, Charlotte, and Jastin were already there waiting for them.
Autumn’s head felt like it was in a fuzzy bubble as the funeral began. She couldn’t quite process the fact that Cera was really gone. The Quinns watched with tears spilling down each of their cheeks as her small body was lowered gently into the ground. Autumn absentmindedly began to sing a slow, peaceful melody as her way of saying goodbye to Cera. She made sure to direct her song at Cera’s grave so that no one was hypnotized. Forrest asked a few mockingbirds to join in. The birds and Autumn sang as each Warrior dropped a single, black rose into Cera’s grave, an elf tradition.
Everyone began to leave and the Warriors squeezed closer together as they took in the sight of Cera’s newly covered grave. Olympus was in attendance as well and used his Power to cover the new dirt in fine grass and beautiful, purple flowers. Rather than erecting a headstone, the elves cut down a tree, burning Cera’s name into the stump, to represent her loss of life. The burial grounds looked like a land of deforestation.
Suddenly a Duo Warrior, who was supposed to be on guard duty, ran up to the group of Warriors. “There’s been an attack on the elves of Willow Glen by Shadows, Atrums, and…Victor Vaun.”
“Victor Vaun? But he’s dead,” Autumn said.
“No. It has been confirmed by their Head Elf. Victor Vaun is very much alive.”
About the Author
Melody lives in West Texas with her husband and two cats. When she isn’t teaching English, she can be found in a cozy coffee shop with a latte and her laptop open to her latest novel, typing madly away with little awareness of the world around her. As a dreamer by nature with an overactive imagination—that is where she is happiest.
ASH
BOOK 2 TEASER
Olympus’s Surprise
CHAPTER ONE
Autumn and the other Quinn Warriors crouched down behind an oversized rosebush, peering around the thorned flowers at the elf town in the immense valley below. The Atrums had managed to surround the elf inhabitants of Rose Valley with the help of a band of Shadows and their leader, Victor Vaun. This was Autumn’s first time seeing him since watching Avery’s arrow pierce through his heart only weeks ago. She had watched the blood spurt from his chest, watched him crumple to the ground. She had been sure he was dead, but there he stood, leading his evil followers into battle.
“Don’t screw this up, Ogden,” Luke warned Edric.
“Shut it, Oaken. I got this,” Edric spit back.
“Now is not the time, lover boys,” Forrest said. Luke and Edric both shot a glare his way.
“How much longer?” Kyndel complained.
“We’re waiting for Willow’s signal,” Autumn snapped at her.
As if on cue they saw Willow, in the form of a white eagle, fly low over the valley.
“Now!” Avery shouted.
Autumn jumped out from her hiding place and belted out a stream of Song as loud as she possibly could, aiming it at the Atrums, Shadows, and Victor. If she had only been aiming it at a couple of Atrums, it would have been a lot stronger, but the more creatures she covered in Song, the weaker her Power was. Rather than hypnotizing them, it simply slowed their reflexes. This was enough, though. The Tetras and Quinns had both opened attack on the Atrums and Shadows.
Edric used his Shield to erect a protective boundary around the Quinns, keeping them from harm. The Atrums in the valley quickly spotted them and sent dozens of flaming arrows their way, ricocheting off Edric’s invisible Shield. Luke conjured up a fierce thunderstorm and the Atrums were pelted with rain, sleet, and hail. A tornado materialized from across the valley where the Tetras were stationed, sent by Jack, the small Tetra with enough force to take down fifty Shadows at once.
Meanwhile, Crystal took out ten Atrums with her jet of Ice as Ember did the same with her stream of Fire—the yin and yang of the Quinns. Forrest called for all the unicorns in the area to attack. Autumn watched as the sleek, black creatures galloped as if in slow motion into the valley, piercing any Atrum and Shadow they passed mercilessly through the chest with their deadly horns.
Jastin stunned a horde of Atrums with his Power of Mental Pain while Charlotte shot each one with a well-aimed arrow. Kyndel took down Shadow after Shadow with her own arrows, her Power of Invisibility enabling her to move around freely without being seen.
It became clear that the Atrums and Shadows had not been expecting an outside attack because they soon retreated on Victor’s orders. He shot a murderous glare in the Quinns’ direction before he and his followers disappeared into thin air, leaving their dead behind to litter the ground like forgotten trash. The Warriors let out cheers of triumph and the elves of Rose Valley came out of their tree homes to thank them for saving their town.
This was not the first time the Warriors had come to the aid of a neighboring elf town. Ever since the Warrior Trial a month before, the Atrums and Shadows had been attacking magical creatures all over the Underground on Vyra’s orders. Atticus thought that they were trying to stir things up, hoping to start the second Underground war. At the rate they were attacking, this seemed like a highly plausible explanation.
Much had happened since the Warrior Trial. Ember and Edric had both gone through their month of intensive training, nearly dying from exhaustion in the process. They also passed their own Warrior Trials, which Luke said shouldn’t count because it was clearly not as difficult as the one the original Quinns had to endure. The two of them wouldn't say what it was they had to do, but everyone knew it didn’t involve Alder Island.
“They probably had to fight petalsies or something,” Luke had said. He had a minor problem with Edric Ogden, who had proven to be as much of a ladies’ man as Luke himself.
“Or some fay fairies,” Forrest had added.
For the past month the Quinns had been working with the Tetras much more frequently, especially when they were called to fight the Atrums and Shadows. Autumn got along with most of the Tetras, except for Candi, and this was mostly because she wore an ever-present frown and hated royals.
Autumn and the others still mourned the loss of Cera. She had been such a source of light and warmth to the Quinns. Visions of her death continuously haunted Autumn’s nightmares. Atticus said that they were lucky they’d only lost one Warrior because of how dangerous the situation had been.
One of the only things that hadn’t changed was that Autumn and Avery were still together—their red rose showcased in a glass case on Autumn’s vanity, reminiscent of her favorite childhood fairytale. They had managed to keep their relationship a secret from everyone but Luke and Crystal. Dating a castle worker was still against Olympus’s rules so they planned to keep it that way until after graduation in a few months when Avery would be receiving payment as a Warrior and would no longer work as a castle guard.
After accepting the praise and thanks of the inhabitants of Rose Valley, the Quinns and Tetras flew back to Arbor Falls. Autumn and Luke’s winged horses, Thunder and Sundance, were finally old enough to ride. Sundance stayed true to her name, gliding over the setting sun as if she were dancing on the rays of su
nlight. Luke flew next to Autumn on Thunder, who had definitely lived up to his name as well. His sleek, black body was easily the largest of all the other pegasi and he wasn’t even full-grown yet.
Avery rode Knight on Autumn’s other side and Crystal flew beside Luke upon her new pegasus, Pisces. Crystal was still uncomfortable with flying, but was slowly becoming used to it. Though, she didn’t like doing the tricks Luke, Avery, and Autumn did, weaving and flipping between, above, and around one another.
“Could you guys just stay put? You’re making me nervous,” she called as Luke and Autumn coaxed Sundance and Thunder to do a barrel roll around each other.
“Sorry, Crys,” Autumn said with a laugh, leveling Sundance out as Luke did the same with Thunder.
“We fight Atrums and Shadows every day,” Luke said. “But flying makes you nervous.”
“The flying doesn’t make me nervous, but all of the flipping does.”
“Don’t worry, Crys,” Luke said. “I’ll teach you how.”
Crystal frowned at this and Autumn and Avery exchanged an amused glance.
After they landed and put their pegasi back into their stables, they trudged up to the castle for dinner.
“Oh, I have your gown ready for your birthday ball,” Crystal said, more animated now that they were on solid ground.
Autumn and Luke’s eighteenth birthdays were coming up on March 7th, just a little over a week away. Olympus was having a grand ball in honor of their coming of age. Apparently it was a big deal or something. Avery laughed at Autumn’s indifference.
“Turning 18 is extremely significant in the Underground, especially for royals,” he’d said when she told him she didn’t care about coming of age.
Autumn had simply shrugged. “It’s just an age. It’s not like I’ll be any different or anything.”
Avery shook his head in exasperation, smiling nonetheless.
Oaken (The Underground Series Book 1) Page 33
