by J. D. Wright
Bree wanted to jump for joy. She probably would once they left the hall. She was so happy and relieved when the mysta asked them to face their guests. Rowan took her hand and smiled at her. The mysta began to announce them as husband and wife.
Suddenly, glass shattered from a window in the back of the room. One after another, large black creatures began to swoop in and fly around the hall.
“Are those…” Bree began.
“Imps!” Rhea shouted, then turned to shield Gabby and Sarita before leading them behind the throne to hide.
Almost a dozen imps were scattered around the hall with their giant wings, baring sharp fangs, horns, and claws. The black beasts began to dive toward the guests.
Bree watched, astonished, as Rowan pulled a knife from his surcoat and flung it at one of the imps as it charged toward them. The knife hit the imp in the head and it plummeted to the floor, just to the right of the throne.
“It’s our wedding day and you’re carrying your knives!” she shouted, but Rowan was already moving toward the beast who was still wriggling around. Xavier was approaching the imp, having thrown his own knife at it.
“I already got him,” Rowan said, pulling his knife out and stabbing the beast, again. “Kill your own imp.”
“No, I got him. I hit him first,” Xavier returned, reaching down to retrieve his knife. The imp suddenly shot its wings out and started to rise.
Sidonie quickly engulfed the imp in flames. Xavier stumbled back to prevent being burned. The imp instantly turned into a pile of ash on the floor.
“No, I got it. And it’s a her, not a him. Imps are female,” she said, scowling at them before turning and running toward a second imp that was chasing Rhea down the aisle.
Rhea turned and shot an intense light from the palm of her hands. The light hit the imp in the face, blinding it. It started to flail around, its wings flapping wildly. Sidonie saw the imp was distracted and shot fire magic at it, burning it.
Reeve had been using a torch to fend off an imp on the far side of the room. He turned just as Nick entered with a bundle of swords in his hands, tossing one to Reeve, then another to Finn.
Finn caught the sword, spinning around and slicing off both feet of an imp that was behind him. The claws fell to the floor and began to bounce around. He jumped out of the way but was distracted long enough for the imp to knock him to the ground. Luckily, his sword was pointing up when the imp flew down. The sword stabbed it in the chest just before its fangs could reach Finn’s face. Stunned, Finn looked up into the eyes of the beast who was lying on top of him.
“Dammit,” he grumbled. He tried to roll the imp off of him, but it was too heavy. Nick and Sir Luthias rushed over to help him.
“Sarita, no!” Bree shouted as the princess ran out from behind the throne with her bow in hand. Bree wasn’t sure how she had found time to run across the hall and get her bow, already, but was distracted when Nick pulled her out of the path of a flapping wing.
Gabby followed shortly after and the two of them started shooting arrows at an imp that was flying above them. One of Gabby’s arrows and two of Sarita’s hit the creature, causing it to crash to the floor. But the imp was sliding toward them very quickly. Gabby dove out of the way. Dahlia ran across the room and leapt toward Sarita, knocking her out of the aisle before the imp crashed into the throne, tipping the large chair over.
Reeve swung his sword and missed the imp in front of him. His second swing clipped the end of its wing, sending dark red blood out of the wound in spurts. The beast began to turn in the air as it tried to fly with part of its wing missing. Dagan tossed a ball of fire at the imp, burning it as it wailed and was reduced to dust.
Sidonie spun around in the center of the room. “Is that all of them?” she shouted. Between her and Dagan, they had managed to incinerate all of the imps after everyone immobilized or wounded them.
No one spoke as they tried to catch their breath. Bree walked up and stood beside Sidonie, looking down at a pile of ash that was a living creature just moments ago.
“Why did they come here? I’ve never heard of an imp attacking a kingdom. Ever. Let alone, this many of them.”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never even seen one before today.” Sidonie stared at the black dust, trying to force her mind to accept that this had actually happened. She was still in shock.
Rowan ran up to Bree and spun her around, “Are you alright?”
Bree nodded, then looked back down at the floor. Guests began to slowly trickle back into the hall and servants started to sweep up the remaining evidence of the attack.
“Well, that was interesting,” Xavier said, walking up from the other side of the room while cleaning his knife. “Are all of your events this… entertaining?”
Rowan scowled at him then turned back to Bree. His wife. In all of the commotion, he had almost forgotten that they were now husband and wife. “We can send everyone home if you need to rest.”
“No,” Bree said. She looked around the room and saw that most everyone was watching her, waiting for her to speak. So she did. “I can’t explain what just happened. But I will find out. It seems someone sent these creatures here to ruin our event. To ruin my event. But that isn’t going to happen. As you can see, we can protect ourselves against anyone who dares to defy peace and wreak havoc on my kingdom. We will always prevail. Against wildfire. Against soldiers.” She quickly glanced at the clean floor, where the ashes of the imp had just been. “Even against the cursed souls who wander the realm. Junacave will not cower in fear of anyone. Tonight, we will eat delicious food, drink fine Labaran wine, and listen to the sweet tunes of our dear Dahlia. Tonight, we will celebrate for, not only my nuptials but also our beloved kingdom. All hail Junacave…”
The hall erupted, “Long live the queen!”
About Me
Writing has always been a hobby of mine, beginning as a young child. It was a way to cope with losing my father at seven years of age. I started with poetry and was featured several times on the amazing poetry blog, Autumn Leaves, by Sondra Ball. My love for poetry soon led to writing songs in middle school and beyond, which I still do, occasionally. Music has always been an important part of my existence, so writing songs was a natural transition from poetry. In high school, I started my own novel. However, life got in the way and I never finished it.
Fast forward many years later and I found myself married with three children, absorbed in my busy life with commitments to my family, work, school, church, and charities, among other things. One day I came across my old binder, with notes from my first novel, and it was with those notes that I conjured up the elusive Everealm.
I write to please readers such as myself, who have a love for fantasy and romance, but like a little danger and sex in their reading. I wrote the book with a mature audience in mind, who can appreciate a hearty imaginary world with magic and the unknown, but want more than fluffy love stories with wizards in them. They want the romance, magic, and danger, all wrapped into one.
~J.D. Wright
Connect With Everealm:
Email: [email protected]
Blog: http://everealmseries.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/everealm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/everealmbyjdw
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Goodreads
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