Queen Returns
The mortal air burned.
Mona gasped as she fell through the rift, crashing onto the cold earth of the mortal realm. Her body ached, her veins on fire. The world around her spun — trees warped and groaning, the soil bleeding faintly red beneath her hands.
She had escaped the Shadowlands… but not unscathed.
Her power flickered, unstable. The link with Kimberly had nearly ripped her apart. Yet even through the pain, she smiled.
“I felt it,” she whispered. “Her light… and his darkness. Together.”
She spat blood into the soil, the drops sizzling like acid. “Then they’re both mine.”
The forest was silent — too silent. Even the moon above seemed to hold its breath. Mona lifted her gaze to it, the faint crimson tint still clinging to its edge.
“The next rise will be mine,” she
