Hello!

I'm incredibly excited to be officially presenting the final chapter of the TLO saga, and begin the final quarter of Heirs of Darkness. I cannot wait to hear what you lovelies think of it, and I hope you all enjoy! Further shrieking about my thoughts and spoilers on this chapter will most definitely be coming in the AN of my next upload, apologies in advance.


When it All Falls Down


Blood swirled within the stone in the centre of the medallion, thick and dark. Magic kept it from solidifying, and even with the medallion dormant in the wake of the death of the creature tied to it, Mel could feel the cursed power within.

Her hand trembled slightly as she reached out, the metal clicking into place in the large stone door as though finally settling into its rightful place. The ground under their feet began to rumble, and Mel steadied herself as the door before her began to move aside with slow scraping. The air that rushed out of the sealed room was like a cold exhale, of someone, or rather something, letting out the breath it was holding.

She stared into the darkness as her eyes began to adjust, dragging in a long breath before steeling herself and stepping through. She wasn't quite sure what she expected, something fancy and dramatic for the most dangerous of the orbs, but it certainly wasn't the bare cave that she was met with. A clawed stand stood at the centre of the cave, a pulsing orb held in its grip.

Every step forward felt like a step closer to destruction, and as she reached a mere foot away she found herself hesitating. She glanced over her shoulder, met with the supportive nods and looks of her friends who she'd never be here without. Another deep breath and she turned back once more, ignoring the way her stomach clenched as she strode up to the orb and laid her hands on either side.

The surge of power that washed through her made her eyes widen, magic fizzling through her veins like liquid power. The darkness within her was surging to the surface, called by the power of the orb as it's glow grew stronger. She let out a hiss, gritting her teeth as she wrestled with the orb. It was reacting with erratic pulses, as if pulled on by something more than just her.

"What is the orb doing?" Edward demanded, everyone on edge by the close proximity to a relic of death.

"I don't- I don't know." Mel got out, staring down at the glass in confusion. "Everyone stand back."

Her order was met with her companions falling back against the wall space closest to them, as Mel brought it up over her head to throw at the stone below her feet.

Only, the orb never followed that trajectory.

As she brought it down, the orb in her hand gave a mighty lurch, Mel stumbling forward a step with the force of the pull. She gave a yank, trying to fight the invisible pull, but her attempt had no impact and much to her shock and horror she felt the orb yank away from her hands and fly through the air towards the entrance.

The arm that reached up to catch it was garbed in purple and yellow, and Mel's heart dropped into her feet. The orb flared in the woman's hands, reacting to the magic that glowed in her finger tips.

"How-?!"

She didn't have to look around to feel as her friends fell into defensive positions, Mel taking a step forward to Gyendal's side as she readied herself for whatever was coming next.

"Another Darkthrop…?" Gyendal breathed, glancing over at Mel who was as perplexed as she was.

How could a Gynna command a family heirloom that required a Darkthrop to be touching it to awaken?

The woman laughed, cradling the orb close like one would a child as she stepped further into the cave, face still hidden within the large hood. The winged men stepped through the entrance with cruel smiles, Mel's breath catching fearfully in her throat as for the first time since her parents death she truly faced the monsters responsible.

"In a world as wide as Aia, the amount of shock in your voice that there could be another Darkthrop astounds me." The woman said mockingly, the poison in her words a startling contrast with her honey smooth voice.

Gyendal raised his chin slightly, eyes narrowed calculatingly.

"Not at all, simply shocked that it would be from amongst the gynna. I searched for another Darkthrop from the beginning, but the only such family power to reach me came from Mel. You have been eclipsed by the fractured auras of your companions."

His statement had been one designed to test the water, feel out the nature of the enemy. Instead Mel and her companions watched as the light within the cave dimmed, a once tender hold on the orb transformed into a strained grasp as the hooded woman let out a hiss.

"Eclipsed, as though her mere presence erases the sorcery I wield. Oh yes, no matter what I do in my undying loyalty, it always comes back to her, and her power. Strong enough to go toe to toe with a vampire, yet it is not her who holds the death orb now is it?" The woman spat, near hysterical in her rage.

The atmosphere in the cave was thick with magic, power fluctuating in a physical manifestation of the instability of the mage standing across the cave from them.

"You boast on your sorcery, yet stand here cloaked. If you have the strength, why do you hide?" Mel pointed out, brain racing for ways to stall, anything to give her time to retrieve that orb.

Just as quickly as the oppressive atmosphere had come, Mel felt it slip away, as the woman raised a hand as if to muffle a laugh.

"Hiding? How sweet, you think you can bait and distract me. Put some of your specially learned thieving skills to use on me." Pitchy giggles echoed through the cavern, and slender fingers moved to grasp the fabric of the hood. "You can't play me in a game I taught you."

The thick hood fell away, revealing a slender face framed with warm brown hair. Mel's eyes met the steely ones of the woman, blood red lips curving into a cruel smile as twisted joy twinkled in eyes so familiar.

"Tell me, does this look like hiding to you Mel?"

It felt as though someone had punched her in the stomach, Mel sucking in air with panicked gasp. She stared at the face so much like the one that only lived within memories, fitting perfectly between what her mother had once looked like and the familial similarities Mel saw each time she looked into a mirror.

A fumbling hand reached over to grab onto Gyendal's arm, Mel desperately trying to steady herself as she felt the world around her tilt.

"Lamb, what's happening?" Gyendal's voice was low, urgent, as he turned to face his bond.

"So this is what a mighty fate bond is supposed to look like, how utterly pathetic." Came the scornful reaction. "Open access to the memories she holds of the life before meeting you, yet still you cannot recognize me? I was always told I'd be the spitting image of our mother when I grew into adulthood, and they were right."

Mel's lips moved without sound, afraid to give voice to what had to have been a nightmare. But even as she willed herself into awakeness, biting her cheek hard enough to draw blood, she was forced to accept what she saw before her.

"Rayina."

The name escaped her with a choked sound, disbelief and horror filling her in equal parts.

Her friends echoed the name in confusion, Edward staring between Mel and Rayina.

"But you died!" His baffled statement echoed and Rayina's face twisted into a sneer.

"You'd love for that to be true, wouldn't you. Everyone's precious Mel, last of the family line and automatic heir to our legacy and empire. Overshadowing your big sister even in death, just like Mordred showed me you would. But you will never be the last, and it'll be MY NAME that they sing the praises to!" Insanity glittered in Rayina's eyes, her smile just a little too wide to come naturally..

Each word hit like a physical blow, and Mel struggled to shake off the shock that wrapped her thoughts in cotton.

"How?" She whispered, looking around as if she expected to see her parents pop out of the walls.

Rayina gestured behind her, to the gynna that stood behind each shoulder.

"They came to the tower for the heir, the presence that enabled Mordred to reach through the veil between realms into ours. I returned to the house as the spell of destruction was set, they saw me in time and I was rescued from the flames and taken to the spirit of Mordred within Underfall. He understood me, saw what I could become with the right mentorship." The older mage said, raising her hand to the blood sorcery master amulet around her neck.

The satisfaction and pride in Rayina's tone was sickening, and Mel saw red. Magic crackled in her hands as she lunged forward, voice cracking as she screamed.

"THEY KILLED OUR PARENTS!"

The orb flashed, and Gyendal just barely managed to pull Mel aside into his enforced shield as Rayina fired magic channeled from the orb in her direction. She strained against the grip that held her back, feeling as though something within her chest was burning.

Rayina's eyes glittered with tears as the older Darkthrop turned on Mel, hatred and bitterness fuelling her words.

"They died because of you! You just couldn't listen to me, you had to approach the tower. You awakened the powers within it, you brought their attention down on our parents who sacrificed themselves for your mistake. The oracles little pet, bound by fate to the vampire and granted dark power by the fates who stole my birthright before I could even enter the world." Spit flew from Rayina's lips with each word spoken as she pointed accusingly at Mel.

"I never commanded the Gynna, they killed our parents on Mordred's command. He is the monster!" Mel shouted, tone raw with pain.

"He is my true family!" Rayina's voice rose into a shriek with that statement. "He gave me the power that was taken from me, taught me how to be something greater. People will bow at my feet one day, he promised me this. He did what he needed to do to make me greater, and he gave me a new home that understood my calling as his successor."

Nausea welled in Mel at the words coming out of her sister's mouth, she could barely process the scene before her. This didn't seem real, every memory she had built her life upon ripped out from under her as she stood facing the ghost of her past.

"Raya, time is short."

The guttural voice of one of the men next to her shook Mel to her core, flashbacks of the first time she heard it surging to the forefront of her mind. The man's words seemed to snap Rayina out of whatever state she was in, and at once the older Darkthrop straightened her shoulders with a dark stare. Power crackled between her finger tips and she took a step forward, the aura of the orbs power beginning to expand.

"Like hell." Gyendal growled, and Mel felt the ground shake as an unholy spell circle formed beneath his feet.

Cursed lightning formed above the heads of the Gynna, striking down at their own shields hard enough to falter their own preparation for attack. The magic of the orb wavered, fading with just enough time for June to strike out with a triumphant sound.

The raw magicians power flew from June's hand, colliding with the orb and wrapping around it like an insulator. Rayina's eyes widened slightly and she let out a furious curse, the ancient language sending a shudder through Mel. The blood sorceress fought to reawaken the magic of the death orb, but June's magic clung to the glass with particular stubbornness, unable to be broken by the spells forced over its surface.

"GO!"

Edward's shout echoed through the cavern and Mel's friends lunged, raining attacks down on the enemy around their shields and dodges. Yet, even with the strength in their group, they were fast falling under the onslaught of spells that the Gynna on either side of her sister unleashed. Physical and magical became one as they steadily drove Mel's friends back, the sight of those closest to her falling prey to the same nightmares of her childhood driving her into action. The first spells were wild and not quite on target, but they did the trick of catching the Gynna's attention.

The presence that came up at her side was cold and familiar, years and years of training winning over the shock that rendered her thoughts slow. It was easy to fall into the pattern of battle that she and Gyendal had perfected over the years, magical attacks wrapping around the Gynna that fought back with bloodthirsty smiles. June had fallen to the back of the room, guarded by everyone in their party as she poured her magicians magic into blocking Rayina from the orb. Mel could see the exhaustion in the movements of her companions, even the tonics they had would not be enough to hold their own against the Gynna. Her eyes flicked to her sister, and the dark orb in her hand.

Blood Sorcery was deadly, but it took time to pull on. Time that would afford Mel just enough space to get the orb and return to enforced shields and safety.

Mel didn't have to say a word, Gyendal could feel what her plan was. She felt his silent agreement, and the preparation that this could go very wrong if they had misjudged the speed of the Gynna. With a brief touch to Mel's shoulder, Gyendal let out a war cry and raised his hands as cursed winds began to churn around the Gynna. It was not a spell that even such a powerful dark mage could sustain against the Gynna's attacks, but he could hold it just long enough to be a distraction.

There was no time to second guess her decision as she attacked, wielding dark spell hybrids that she knew Rayina would have no counter for. Her sister let out a shriek, eyes wild as she began to pull on the sorcery within the amulet around her neck. Mel could already feel the beginning stages of her blood slowing within her body, she had precious few moments before Rayina was able to activate the amulet.

Her hands grabbed onto the orb, and she began to yank, grappling with Rayina in a desperate grab to take the orb before the window of opportunity closed permanently.

"Give me the damn orb, no human is going to wield this cursed power!" Mel gritted out.

Rayina twisted her grip, dragging Mel forward a step as she let out a second shriek, this one of laughter.

"You're right, no human will. But I am no longer fully human, I am becoming something far better!"

Her features twisted slightly, losing their humanity as runes faded in and out of sight on her skin. As the warm brown eyes Mel had grown up with began to glow a poisonous yellow, it all began to fall into place for her. The fluctuation of her natural magic, and the way her essence blended just enough with the Gynna to mask her.

"Mordred has taken part of your soul."

It wasn't a question, and Rayina let out a hiss.

"He is making me stronger, stripping away the weaknesses that plagued me as a human. I can't expect you to understand, you seem to revel in the weakness of family and companions."

She could feel the amulet now, so close to full awakening. She was out of time to distract, and there would be no winning physically against someone beginning the transformation into Gynna. Each breath burned in her chest, and she swallowed around the dry lump in her throat before letting out a shout.

"June, now!"

Nothing more needed to be said, and Mel felt the instant that June let her magic fall away. Teeth bared in a snarl she forced a burst of magic through the orb, watching as the glow suddenly spiked and Rayina let out a haunting cry. Her palms were burnt with magic, and she staggered back away from the orb as the death magic washed through her. Mel stumbled back, turning her head wildly towards the winged Gynna, looking on in shock as their forms wavered, becoming nothing but inky blackness for a split second before returning to their normal forms.

The men turned on her with laser focus and Mel reacted instinctively, throwing out another weak wave of magic through the orb at them. They howled in sync, a grating sound as they moved with inhuman speed to Rayina's side. The men lifted a shaky sorceress to her feet, even beings as powerful as Gynna defenseless against the power of pure harnessed death.

Mel's coat whipped in the wild rushes of magic that circled around her, the orb desperate to break free of the tight restrictions Mel had placed on it. She could feel the urges of the power inside, the insatiable hunger for the death of any that opposed her. She stared at the Gynna before her with blurred eyes, it would be so easy to kill them. Memories of her parents death played through her head on loop, the heat of the flames and the screaming as she lost those dearest to her.

Faint shouts from her friends vaguely reached her, though she couldn't register their words. She gazed into the hateful eyes of the winged men, the gynna frozen by the power the orb was emitting. She began to ready herself, the drive for vengeance through her pain near overwhelming.

Then Mel looked to her sister.

No longer did her face resemble the Gynna, the glow of the eyes gone once more to leave behind the features of family. Rayina's cheeks were tearstained and she begged Mel to stop, to spare her dearest older sister. Mel could see the emotion in her eyes, but it was empty and hollow.

Mel's teeth gritted and she pushed energy into the orb with a renewed sense of desperation, she could not let the Gynna leave here and recover or there would be no end to this nightmare. She knew what she had to do, so why couldn't she do it?!

Another sob of her name, one so raw and young sounding that Mel felt herself near double over with the memories of Rayina's voice the fateful day in the tower clearing. The same terror was there now, the same helplessness.

She couldn't do it.

The sound of shattering glass echoed around the cave, far louder in Mel's head than any shouting in the battle thusfar had been. The oppressive hold over the cave vanished abruptly, and Mel stared as a thick black mist rose out of the remains of the orb.

"Go, go go GO!" The pitchy scream was almost background as Mel stared, transfixed, while the mist rushed towards her and enveloped her whole.

It latched onto her anywhere it could reach, mixing with the oxygen she inhaled. The burning cold of the orbs power rushed through her mouth and nose, Mel letting out a panicked gasp and stumbling back. Then, as soon as the power had rushed to her it was gone, fading away into nothingness. She looked around the cave, staring as the remnants of a portal closed where Rayina and the Gynna had once stood.

"They got away." Stella said softly, sounding stunned.

Mel turned back to her companions, watching as Stella hurried to heal Yvette who had been lashed with magic by the Gynna trying to get through her to June. Off to one side Gyendal was on the ground, hands trembling as he struggled to pull the stopper from a healing tonic. Mel dropped down next to him, pulling the stopper free and helping her bond down the contents as everyone rushed to recover.

"We must go before they return here for us, we must leave Peliad behind entirely." Yvette said, her tone unusually grave.

Mel looked down at the shattered orb at her feet, before glancing around at her friends with dull eyes. Survival had seemed so very unlikely when they began the day, she couldn't quite believe they had made it out of that alive.

"She's right, they never achieved their mission of killing Gyendal and I, and we still have the book of Mordred's records even if the orb itself is gone. Rayina and the Gynna will be back." She finally said, gesturing at the direction of the now-closed portal.

Uneasy looks were exchanged as people gravitated closer to one another, all eyes moving to Mel.

"What do we do now? How do we leave and get somewhere safe before the Gynna return and track us." Edward asked expectantly.

Mel blinked slowly, trying to process his question. Nothing was coming to mind other than background static, blankness that expanded over her like a haze.

"We'll use portals to leave, the mix of magic from everything that's happened in this cave today will make it impossible to track for them just as we cannot track theirs. We'll go to Haruakana, the Gynna will not be able to cross the wards around the city or the magic protective boundaries that the elder oak has." Gyendal said suddenly, stepping up next to Mel as he smoothly took over.

Mel saw her friends exchanging looks, yet she simply couldn't bring herself to care. Everything felt strangely detached, and even as Gyendal opened a portal for all of them she couldn't bring herself to do much more than follow the others through. Before exiting the cave she stooped down, taking a larger piece of the orb glass from the mess on the ground to tuck into her pocket before stepping through to the other side.

As she exited the portal into Haruakana, Mel found herself stumbling slightly with a delayed reaction time. Edward quickly reached out to catch hold of her and steady her steps, but Mel only ripped away with a snarl.

"If I wanted your help I'd ask for it Ed." Her tone was biting, hostility and defensiveness forming a toxic combo.

Her friend pulled back from her with wide eyes, June asking in a faltering voice if she was okay only to be met with silence as Mel pushed through them towards the main city. Her emotions felt like a maelstrom of darkness, memories and fears becoming one as she pieced together all the clues that led up to her sisters arrival.

Checking into the inn was done numbly, and without another word to the others she retreated to her room. The click of the door behind her felt too-loud, and Mel took several steps into the centre of the room before coming to a stop.

Her sisters words echoed through her head on repeat, Mel staring blankly at the floor.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

None of this was right.

It had to be a nightmare, a spell from Mordred.

She couldn't let it be true.

Because if it was, every piece of the hell she had lived through had been for nothing.


Gyendal had gone into autopilot as he checked with the group, slipping into the role of the leader without much thought. Everyone was deeply shaken by what happened, and even with the animosity between himself and the little prince, it seemed that even Edward was willing to listen and work with him to organize everyone.

Exhaustion weighed down everyone like lead, and no complaints were voiced as Gyendal directed everyone to their rooms with an order to rest and not to leave the inn until morning after everyone had regrouped. June and Yvette retreated into their room with little else said, neither of them really understood what had transpired in the cave but everyone could feel the change it had brought.

"Should we talk to her?" Stella spoke up softly, exchanging a look with Edward.

"No." Gyendal cut in before Edward could answer. "Not today. I'll check on her."

Edward turned sharply to him, but any protest the prince may have had died before it left his lips as he got a look at Gyendal's face. Instead he presented a cautious question, broaching a topic he had always avoided around the ex-vampire in the past.

"You can feel it through the bond, the edge she's on."

Gyendal was silent, but he could see that his lack of answer was taken as confirmation. He would not admit to them that at the moment, he could not feel anything. Mel had laid walls over their bond, haphazardly placed and fragile, but they did the job.

No more was said as he walked away, approaching the closed door to his bonds room. A knock was met with silence, Gyendal instead using his magic to unlock her door and slip inside. The door closed quietly behind him, and he focused on Mel who stood stiffly in the centre of the room.

Her posture was ramrod straight, as if even giving up the smallest amount of control would destroy everything. She didn't react to his presence, nor to the closing of the door. It was as though she was frozen by whatever was playing through her head.

"Lamb."

His quiet call seemed to awaken her from her stupor and the young woman turned to face him, eyes glassy. She said nothing out loud, but Gyendal could feel the faint touch of emotion just beyond her barriers. She was barely keeping it together, her carefully blank expression did nothing to fool him. All it took was a simple touch, a mental tap against the walls around the bond, for them to dissolve away into nothingness.

As the walls crumbled under the onslaught of pain, he watched Mel fall with them.

Two quick steps forward, and he was catching his bond before she could hit the ground as her knees gave out from under her. Panic danced in her eyes as she dragged in ragged gasps, desperate for oxygen it was clear she felt like she couldn't get enough of. Gyendal pulled her against him, lowering them both to the ground as he pushed as much calm through the bond as he could muster up, talking her slowly through the breathing as Mel clung to his arm. Her nails dug into his skin through the sleeve of his tunic without her realizing as she struggled to ground herself.

"I don't- I can't-"

He began to count down in his head from ten, he had only reached four before the first full body sob wracked Mel's slender frame.

In all the years since the beginning of the bond, from her terrified discovery of her magic to the battle against her in the memory caves, Gyendal had never seen Mel like this. Her entire body shook with the force of her cries, and even so much as reaching through the bond towards her left him feeling as though he was drowning in an endless ocean of shock and unfathomably deep pain.

Around the sobs Mel reached up with a shaking hand, scrabbling at the ribbon in her hair with violent yanks before ripping it free and throwing it away from her.

"All of this means nothing, it never had any real purpose. Everything I was built on- And she never came back for me." Her statements were as fractured as her thoughts, and after a moment she gave up.

There were no words that could fix what she had just discovered, the emotional bomb that had just been set off. Mel half turned to face him, the look in her eyes one of someone haunted by knowledge.

"Mordred sent her on an assasination mission, to kill me in cold blood, and she knew exactly who I was when she hunted me. My sister wants me dead, all those years I grieved her... she spent hating me." Her voice faltered as she finished that statement, and Mel slumped against him as if the last remaining bit of strength left her.

She was breaking in his arms, the tight grip she had always held on her pains and emotions slipping away. He could nearly feel her heart shattering, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.

"That is not her, that is what Mordred made of her."

A dry, pained laugh escaped Mel.

"So long as we're on the run from her attempts to kill us, there is no difference any longer."

He had no answer to that, instead he simply tightened his grip around her.

In the morning they would go on as normal as they could, this night of vulnerability and holding one another in such a way to be avoided in conversations. So outside their comfort zone, neither individuals very touchy or open to such all encompassing embraces.

But tonight was different. As strange as it was, Gyendal couldn't help but fear that if he let go and walked away, Mel would lose herself to this overwhelming tempest of memories and pain. The fates were cruel and unusual, but for all the evil they had put the two of them in their individual lives through, they had done one thing right by giving them an anchor.

He shifted them around until he could lean back against the frame of her bed, Mel slumped against his chest. He had no idea how much had time passed before a soft click at the door pulled his attention, and he looked up to see Edward and Stella peeking in. There were tears sparking in Stella's eyes as she looked at Mel's crumpled form before looking to Gyendal, Edward soundlessly mouthing to ask if they needed anything.

Gyendal looked down at the young woman in his arms, her eyes closed and breathing ragged. She hadn't registered her friends at the door, and after a moment he shook his head at them. One nod was the only response, looks of understanding on their face as they retreated unnoticed and the two were left alone once more.

He didn't know how much time had passed before Mel relaxed and her breathing evened out, utterly spent by the emotions of the day. He rested his head back and allowed his eyes to drift shut, exhaustion pulling him under into the blissful escape of sleep.

Together they slept, as evening turned into night. Neither awoke as the door to the room opened a last time to reveal Stella, the Naylithin gathering Mel's blanket off her bed to wrap around the sleeping pair.

Tonight they would rest, and recover from the physical injuries. Tomorrow would come soon enough, to begin the process of piecing life back together.