Page 97 of Fallen Heirs

Purplelightning.

Lenora stilled and gazed up at the sky.

The lightning hit the battlefield, leapfrogging out and targeting the enemy near the ruined entrance, taking out a good twenty or so of them, electrocuting them, their bodies jerking wildly, before they dropped hard in unconscious heaps.

Then it rained down all around Lenora, the chaotic nature of it striking every which way around her, overwhelming her and preventing her from being able to call her power.

I caught sight of flames coming through the dark clouds and smiled to myself as I used my vampiric vision to make out Talon flying in.

In the next moment his flames were tearing around Lenora, effectively trapping her in a circle of phoenix fire.

And then the purple lightning gave way to smoke appearing all over the battlefield.

At least three hundred beings materialized from the mass teleportation.

All in uniform, in armor.

An army.

Our army.

I took them in.

Breastplates and backplates, along with the gauntlets appeared to be made of the infamous Dark Fae metal,Duariam, and infused with Orpheus’ magic. The breastplates also bore the mark of the new incarnation ofObsidian,with a fearsome skull engraved on the material with stars arcing above it and the word, Obsidian, below in a sleek script font.

Orpheus touched down next with Talon right near Lenora.

A battle cry sounded from Orpheus and as I watched his army run into the fray, a couple of them took direct hits from some magic-wielding acolytes, but their magic just bounced right off their breastplates, being repelled by the special material infused with Ore’s magic, and deflecting right back at their attackers, sending them flying across the battlefield.

As the army tore into the acolytes with a fearsome assault unlike anything I’d ever seen before, Ore strode toward his mother with Talon at his back, his phoenix flames at the ready as Ore summoned his own power on either palm.

“Stand down,” he demanded of Lenora.

A snide smile spread across her face as she took one eye off the battlefield to look at her son. “It’s been too long, Orpheus.”

“Not long enough,” he bit back.

“You’ve been awfully busy. Constantine won’t be pleased.”

“I’m counting on it,” Ore returned evenly.

She scoffed. “Such hubris. Just like your father. Look where that’s gotten him.”

“You’re one to talk, standing there wielding angel magic againstExemplarand the most powerful sorcerer in all the realms.”

“He holds little power now and it will stay that way until he’s eradicated entirely.”

“You can’t destroy his magic. If Constantine’s led you to believe that, he’s bullshitting you.”

“Correct, it can’t be destroyed. But it can be transferred. To his son.”

I saw Ore try to hide his shock, but he couldn’t quite manage it entirely. Obviously Vanessa hadn’t managed to convey everything we’d figured out yet. There clearly hadn’t been time.

Lenora went on, “His son will wield it instead.ForConstantine. As his little puppet. His heir, as he prefers to refer to it. And with Elliot gone, Constantine will sit at the head ofthe table atExemplar.Where he should have been all along. AnExemplarof his own making. One that the people will actually fall all over themselves to follow.”

“One he’ll force them to follow, you mean.”

“Like I told you before, you’re on the wrong side of things, making all the wrong choices.”

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