A Clash Of Light And Thunder (War Of The Forgotten Lovers Book 1)

A Fight For Love

Magic sparked where their skins touched.

The world tumbled around Aria. Something snapped into place — a power strong and ancient, older than time itself, wrapped around her soul and bound her. To what?

Aria's soul vibrated in and out of her body. A force yanked her. Too disoriented to fight, she let it take her. The world melted, the present dripped away to reveal the past. The dark stone shifted in and out of existence, phasing into clear star-splattered night skies.

Aria stood in time, a soul with no physical body out of place — out of time.

Cold wind glided across the grass of the tallest mountain in the Fae Kingdom and straight through Aria's translucent skin. A lone tree howled in the night. Its branches cracked in pain. The night was calm, yet, a menacing pressure hovered over the air.

Aria felt like she had been here before. 'Have I?' She wasn't sure. 'No, I have been here. With Elvin....' she muttered in her mind. The tallest peak in the Fae kingdom.

The place where they became one.

Footsteps dragged against the pebbled path up the mountain. With every step, the sound of water plopping on grass rung louder and louder.

A shiver crawled up Aria's back as she turned.

It was not water, but crimson, coagulated blood sliding down the arm of a blue-skinned woman. Her golden hair, stained with mud, draped over blue eyes and pointed ears. She limped to the edge of the peak. Her head wobbled before she collapsed to her knees. A large slash cut through her spider-silk armor, revealing two scarred stumps abruptly extruding from her dirtied back. They shifted with her shoulders like phantom wings.

She looked defeated, consumed.

"Your Elvin's mother?" Aria's voice trembled. She feared that if she spoke too loudly, the woman would fall past the precipice of the cliff.

The blue Fae remained kneeling on the grass, unaware of the unwelcome visitor. She struggled to keep her eyes open. Dark eye bags dulled her eyes. Yet, a soft melancholy smile spanned her cheeks.

Elvin's mother, Valyria, closed her eyes and she rose her hands, feeling the winds glide under her arms. She held that pose and lingered like it was the last time. Her sea-blue eyes opened. She muttered, "Te fere maluea brokeren salrevie acrenion."

The wind crackled around Valyria.

Her bruised, fine finger snapped, claws clinging breaking through the ground. Her skin oozed blue liquid stained with swirls of ripe red fruit. The watery substance glistened under the moonlight as it started to boil on her skin.

Valyria cracked as she screamed. The liquid turned to violent flames. Blue ambers turned the air to simmers in a kaleidoscope of blue, green, and violet.

Valyria's voice hollowed, like she was gasping for air as she chanted, "Te fere maluea brokeren salrevie acrenion." She ran a pointed nail against her palm, slicing her blue flesh. Darkened blood dripped from the cut, burning under the fiery magic. The blood defied gravity, floated into the air, and traversed the fire. It emerges as red stardust.

The dust levitated in the air. Valyria chanted, louder, desperate, "Te fere maluea brokeren salrevie acrenion!"

The stardust coalesced into a circle. Streams of the red powder twirled within the loop, forming a crest with two beings united at the center. Two images appeared on each side of the circle. One, a young sleeping toddler with redwood hair. The other, a silver elf prince walking amongst the woods.