Aelion Thornwood's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Aelion stood at the back of the crowded theater, watching her sing. Thirty years he had waited like this, close enough to hear, too far to be seen. She looked mortal tonight, but something in him insisted she was not. He kept the small golden bracelet in his pocket, ready, never used. Tonight, like every night, the wall of admirers around the stage was too thick to cross. Then the doors burst open. Demons poured into the hall, and screaming swallowed the song. Aelion moved. He cut through the creatures and reached the stage as the rafters cracked, scooping the singer into his arms and running. Outside, she shoved against his chest. "Put me down. I didn't need you." She caught her breath. "Lyra. My name is Lyra. Thank you." The king's guards surrounded them before Aelion could answer, and the king named him the kingdom's blade against the demon lord. That night, Lyra slipped from the palace with a stolen cloak and a hard jaw, refusing to be left behind while her handmaiden remained captive. Aelion saw himself in the set of her shoulders. He slid the bracelet onto her wrist. "Then wear this," he said. "And keep walking."