DARKNESS

DAWN Sneak-Peek | P R O L O G U E

A/N: Below is a sneak-peek of 'DAWN', Book 2 of the DARKNESS series! Out NOW! Link in my profile.
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• P R O L O G U E •

Ashleigh paces the room with an air of apprehension that does not come easily. Each heavy footstep echoes throughout the large chamber with the consistency of a metronome, only reinforcing the feeling of unease that had been consuming him as of late. 

His victory over Harper had been achieved easily enough. In his mind, almost too easily. For so long, Ash had been weary of her, spending hours upon hours in this very chamber of his castle as he meticulously planned her downfall.

The light emanating from the fireplace casts shadows across the angular lines of Ashleigh's face, distorting his features as he turns at the sound of another person entering the room. Stanley strolls into the chamber with his usual amount of gross confidence.

As Ash's closest advisor of nearly two decades, Stanley had grown familiar with Ashleigh's tendency for outbursts, revenge and overthinking. But lately, with Harper's death, he'd been seeing a version of Ash where all these qualities were amplified tenfold.

It made him cautious.

Stanley now constantly sought to act and speak in a way that would dampen the fire in his Lord's mind, not ignite it.

"What word?" Ashleigh questions desperately. He'd sent Stanley out to gain the latest on the situation. Oftentimes, locked in his castle, he wasn't privy to town gossip.

"There is no news of The Destroyer beyond that which we already know, My Lord."

Ash had expected to feel relief at Stanley's answer; instead, it merely put him even more on edge, even more desperate. He couldn't believe it had been that easy.

And if, somehow, Harper had managed to fake her death, to escape — to come back as some other form, even — he wasn't going to take any chances.

He stalks straight up to Stanley with the heavy, determined steps of a man almost driven mad. Ash towers above his second-in-command by nearly a foot.

"Is she dead?"

"Yes, Your Highness. As far as we know." Stanley regretted the last part as soon as the words left his mouth.

But it was already too late.

Ashleigh pins him with a deadly glare. "As far as we know?"

"Yes. The Destroyer died exactly one week ago by your own hand."

"What else do we know?"

"Regrettably, Highness, that is all. Word is still spreading of her defeat, and her forces have withdrawn far from our lands. It would seem the chance of a counter-attack or any attempt against you to avenge her is highly unlikely."

Ashleigh is silent for a long moment. His mind was racing, absorbing every scrap of information it possibly could and trying to fit it into the puzzle that was Harper Bryant sitting permanently inside his mind.

Then, his attention is suddenly back on his loyal servant. "What of the body?"

"I assume the body is still... lifeless, Sir."

As that is the very essence of death, Ash finds the answer highly un-amusing. Why is he surrounded by such idiocy? Surely the Master of Shadows deserves better? Mental sophistication wouldn't go astray, especially in such dire times as these.

"Where is the body?"

"With all due respect, Lord Ash, I struggle to understand your preoccupation with the current nature of the body. There were many witnesses that night, and each one of them saw you drive your blade into her flesh. I was under the impression nobody would be able to recover from that."

"I need to be sure, you imbecile. I can't risk the chance that her death had been a trickery of some form. If she survives, she threatens everything we stand for and everything we've both worked to achieve for so many years."

Ashleigh feels himself growing increasingly agitated. For so many years Harper Bryant had proven herself his biggest hurdle, even before he'd shown up on the doorstep of her house. His mind had always been focused on eliminating the Bryants', and yet, somehow, Harper had managed to slip through his fingers every single time, like grains of fine sand upon a pristine beach.

To think that she could truly be gone, forever this time, seems like something of a far-fetched reality. To go from constantly worrying about a threat for such a long period of time, to all of a sudden eliminating said threat, caused Ashleigh great anxiety.

She had almost single-handedly brought the Kingdom of the Shadows to its knees. She'd had so much power that she didn't even know about — that nobody knew about, save for him.

All those hours plotting to defeat her, all of the defenses he'd carefully put into place...

He'd never told anybody what she truly was.

He never would. It would forever remain his darkest secret, kept deep inside the vault of his consciousness.

And, above everything, perhaps her most damaging legacy of all was the obvious absence of his only two sons.

She'd torn his life apart, taken the two things the Lord of Darkness had held most dear in this world.

He wished he'd made her pay, made her suffer. Drawn out her death slowly and painfully.

That was his only regret.

Stanley senses the waves of anger rolling off of his master as his brain works flat-out once more. He reaches a hand out, placing it gingerly on Ashleigh's shoulder.

Ashleigh looks up, meeting his eyes. Dark voids stare back at him.

"She is gone, Your Highness. Forever."

With all the ferocity and speed of a bolt of lightning, Ashleigh throws his second-in-command against the cold stone wall. The blow knocks the breath out of Stanley, but the Lord of Darkness gives him no time to recover. He presses the cool, glinting blade of a dagger to Stanley's pale neck.

Ashleigh drops his voice to a harsh whisper. "If what you say proves a lie, I will cut away your life. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I want another squad sent out — I want them to find where the body is and I want them to burn it. I want Harper Bryant reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes."

"Of course, My Lord. I'll send a group out right away."

"Tell them not to come back until their mission is complete."

"But-"

"Or maybe you should go with them."

Stanley shakes his head as Ash suddenly releases him, and graces his master with a slight bow. "I'll tell them not to come back until it's complete."

And with that, Stanley hurries from the room before he himself is doomed to a deadly one-way mission.

Ashleigh hears the door click softly shut and diverts his gaze to the fire. The embers glow a volcanic orange, the logs that had been added hours ago beginning to char and decompose to nothing but white ash. The flames crackle and pop, licking out at the pit around it in a greedy effort to become all-consuming. The illuminance bounces off of Ashleigh's hard-set face.

It's in the same manner that the fire viciously consumes the logs that Harper Bryant continues to viciously consume his thoughts.

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Check it out! DAWN is out now, link in my profile!! What do you think?