A dead silence followed Elira's declaration. For a breathless moment, time itself seemed to hold its breath. Saphira stood tall, though her heart pounded beneath her corseted chest. Beside her, Kael had already stepped forward, instinctively positioning himself as her shield. His hand hovered over the sword strapped at his hip, his eyes never leaving Elira's glowing red ones.
Guards surged forward but the moment they crossed the blood-slick marble threshold of the hall, their weapons turned to ash in their hands. A surge of ancient magic crackled in the air, knocking several of them off their feet.
"Elira," Saphira's voice was calm, but iron-steeped. "You dare defile the coronation of your own blood?"
"You are no blood of mine," Elira spat. Her voice was doubled, layered with something dark and inhuman. "You were always the favored one. Always the queen in waiting, while I was the shadow. Not anymore."
With a wave of her hand, a violent wind howled through the grand hall, toppling tapestries and extinguishing every candle. Only the sickly glow from the storm outside illuminated the room in flashes of lightning.
Kael drew his blade. "Back!" he ordered the guests, ushering the nobles and elders behind the line of collapsing thrones.
Saphira stepped forward. "Sister—"
"Do not call me that!" Elira shrieked, the magic in her voice causing the crystal chandeliers to shatter.
A pulse of power erupted from her body, a wave of red-black energy that surged toward the dais. Saphira raised her hands and summoned a blood-shield, barely containing the blast. Sparks danced at her fingertips.
From behind her, Kael joined the defense, flanking Saphira. "She's channeling something older than the coven," he said under his breath.
"She's become a vessel," Saphira said grimly. "I should've seen it."
Elira's body levitated slightly from the floor. Her eyes were no longer red but abyssal, brimming with shadows. "You've married a half-blood, destroyed centuries of purity. This court is corrupted. I am here to purge it."
Suddenly, monstrous figures emerged from the storm-clouds outside winged creatures with bones of shadow and eyes like flame. They descended onto the glass roof, cracking the surface.
Saphira turned to Kael. "Protect the nobles. I'll hold her off."
Kael hesitated. "I won't leave you."
"You have to," she insisted. "Our bond strengthens me. You're her target, don't give her leverage."
Kael's jaw clenched, then he nodded once, fiercely. With a kiss to her temple, he spun and joined the guards to herd the remaining guests to safety.
Saphira turned back toward Elira, blood magic rippling around her like a cloak. "You want the throne?" she said, eyes glowing silver. "Come and take it."
Elira shrieked and launched herself forward. Their clash shook the hall.
Elira and Saphira collided mid-air, the impact echoing through the throne room like thunder cracking the sky. Sparks of blood magic exploded around them, illuminating their airborne battle in shades of crimson and violet.
Saphira's arms were ablaze with the sigils of the D'Noir lineage, each one a glowing rune etched into her skin, pulsing with her fury and fear. Elira moved with unearthly grace, her body no longer entirely her own part flesh, part darkness. The ancient spirits she had summoned had fused with her being, twisting her power into something both beautiful and monstrous.
The two sisters clashed again, their powers meeting in a blinding surge. Magic spiraled through the room, tearing banners from their mounts and splitting columns down the middle. The crowd had scattered, many fleeing through underground tunnels guarded by Kael's men. But the sounds of chaos and distant screeches from summoned beasts still rang outside the palace walls.
Kael battled the creatures on the stairwell, slashing through wings and clawed limbs with precision. But for every beast he felled, two more took their place. He could feel Saphira's energy surging behind him like a blazing sun, her fury and passion bleeding into the magic itself.
Back in the throne room, Saphira lunged, catching Elira by the arm. "Stop this madness! You're destroying everything!"
"You destroyed it first!" Elira screamed, wrenching free and slamming her palm into Saphira's chest. A blast of shadow-magic hurled her into the base of the throne. The impact cracked the stone, but Saphira rose, blood trailing from her lip.
"You were always meant for more than this," Saphira said, summoning a sphere of red flame in her hand. "Why choose vengeance?"
"Because love was never enough!" Elira cried. "Not mother's. Not yours. Never his."
Saphira froze. "His?"
Elira's laugh was broken glass. "You never even knew. He loved me first. Kael. He was mine before the war changed him."
The truth landed like a blow. Saphira's flames flickered.
"You… lied."
"I was cast aside, again and again," Elira spat. "So I made myself worthy of remembrance."
Enraged, Saphira surged forward. Their powers collided again, this time setting fire to the tapestries and splintering the dais in half. Their magic roared as memories and betrayal fed the flames.
Suddenly, the glass dome above cracked entirely. A shriek rang out as a massive winged beast a void wyvern crashed through, its scales etched with blood-glyphs. Elira beckoned it.
"This is the judgment you feared!" she screamed. "Bow before the true queen of blood!"
Saphira summoned every ounce of her lineage. Her veins glowed with ancient bloodlight, her hair streaming like a banner in the wind. She leapt onto the throne's edge, raised both arms, and unleashed a bolt of power so blinding it momentarily silenced the wyvern's roar.
Kael burst through the side doors, bloodied but unbroken. "Saphira!"
She turned, face flushed with exhaustion, but smiled. "Took you long enough."
Together, they launched a coordinated attack Kael wielding a blade infused with her magic, slicing through the wyvern's wing while Saphira struck its heart with a spear of searing bloodlight. The beast wailed, twisted, and exploded in a burst of ash and fire.
Elira staggered, her connection to the creature severed. "No!"
"You've summoned death, Elira," Saphira said, advancing. "Now you'll face it."
The sisters clashed one final time. This time, the force of it threw both to the ground. Saphira landed atop the broken throne. Elira collapsed before her, panting, her body flickering with the remnants of her magic.
Kael stepped forward, blade raised, but Saphira held up a hand.
"No," she said softly. "She was my sister once."
Elira's eyes welled with something unspoken regret, perhaps. "I only wanted to be seen."
"You were," Saphira whispered, kneeling beside her. "But not like this."
A final surge of magic passed between them as Saphira touched Elira's heart, drawing the cursed spirits from her. They screamed and dissolved into mist.
Elira's body slackened, her breathing shallow. "End it," she whispered.
"I already did," Saphira said. "You're free."
The storm outside calmed. The fires died. The throne room fell into silence once more.
Kael helped Saphira stand, and the two looked out over the wreckage. There was no celebration now only ash and truth.
"I never wanted this to be our coronation," Saphira said quietly.
Kael wrapped his arm around her. "Then let it be our rebirth."