Morning came soft and golden, streaking the Solarian castle in light.
Rhiannan awoke curled between her mates, warm and safe, but tension still coiled beneath her skin. They all felt it.
Today they would return. Today, everything changed.
The courtyard buzzed gently with activity. Brownies handed out enchanted coffee cups and bundled breakfast pastries with little embroidered cloths.
Mo bounced excitedly with one arm around Mela and the other holding a triple-shot monkey spice latte.
"Alright, fuckers, we're packed, caffeinated, and emotionally unstable, let's go!"
Gailia hugged Queen Virella tightly. The dragon twins bowed their heads in respect, and Kazra winked over her shoulder with a casual "See you when I torch something again."
Zeilar stepped forward in full phoenix battle leathers, golden flames dancing along his cloak.
"I'm going with them," he announced.
Queen Virella's breath caught. "You're the heir..."
"And I have a century before that matters," he said gently. "But this? This is war. And I choose where my fire burns."
The king nodded solemnly, pride glowing in his eyes.
The queen stepped forward and cupped Nyxar's face.
"Please," she whispered, "protect him. Love him. Make him better than we ever could."
Nyxar didn't hesitate.
"I vow it," she said. "With my blade, my body, and my bond."
Mela hugged her teary parents, kissed their cheeks, and turned to Mo.
"You better not let me die," she said.
"Not even in my sleep, baby," Mo grinned. "We're gonna come back here with at least three monkey shifter babies and a war story no one believes."
"You're such a menace," she whispered.
"And you're mine," he said, gripping her hand.
The group stepped into the portal, returning to their home with hearts full and spirits high.
Until.....
"INCOMING!"
Sasha's voice shrieked through the comms, panic laced.
"Shadow dragons! Twisted, deformed, at least thirty! Shields are down, TAKE COVER!"
They landed in the courtyard just as the sky darkened with wings made of nightmares.
The creatures were warped things, dragon shaped but stitched together with shadow magic, snarling with eyes that bled smoke.
"Protect the children!" Rhiannan shouted.
Mo and Mela darted into action, rounding up every child in sight, throwing up wards and illusions.
"Get in the vault!" Mo screamed. "NOW!"
Sable, Azarion, Kaleb, Arwen, Liam, and Elisha sprang into formation without a word. Zeilar's cloak ignited in flames as he took to the sky.
The battle was a blur of magic, fire, blood, and thunder.
Sable's demonic form tore through beasts like paper.
Kaleb's elemental rage cracked stone beneath his boots.
Azarion cast divine sigils into the air, slicing shadows with light.
Liam blurred from dragon to dragon, slicing throats midair.
Elisha launched twin infernos from both hands while shielding Rhiannan's flank.
Arwen roared commands, leading the dragon guard into perfect sync.
Zeilar soared above it all, glorious, wings of flame blotting out the corrupted sky.
"BURN, YOU FUCKING ABOMINATIONS!" he shouted, phoenix fire cutting a path of ash through the air.
They destroyed the creatures completely.
Not a single casualty.
Not one life lost.
And in the aftermath, only smoke, silence, and the scent of scorched shadow.
The Forgotten King...
A chill rolled over the land.
Rhiannan's eyes snapped to the sky, dark clouds swirling with magic. The veil rippled.
A vision shimmered to life...the Forgotten King's twisted throne room.
He watched from afar, eyes hollow, rotting, furious.
"So… my little goddess still has teeth," he hissed.
His voice slithered into the wind, reaching everyone.
"Enjoy your victories, Rhiannan. Enjoy your fire and your family. Soon… you will beg for the peace you once had."
He saw Zeilar behind her and growled.
"You brought the phoenix heir into this? Foolish."
Rhiannan stepped forward, blood splattered and glowing with divine power.
"I dare you to come for us," she shouted, voice vibrating the very earth. "You want my realm? My people? TRY ME. I'll burn your name from history."
The realms shook.
And from the shadow realm… came only cruel, echoing laughter.
"Soon," the Forgotten King purred. "Soon."
While the courtyard buzzed with celebration and cleanup....bodies burned to ash under Zeilar's phoenix fire, Rhiannan fell unconscious from a divine power surge, and was being cradled and bathed by her six...And another fire blazed elsewhere.
In one of the upper towers, Reyna lay sprawled on soft sheets, golden skin flushed, caught between her mates and drowning in the kind of need that made the air heavy.
She had seen something, a vision. Of the Forgotten King breaching the gates of hell, calling forth the undead.
But that would wait.
Because they were waiting for her.
Nahlia was already moaning beneath Torvax's weight, her pale thighs trembling as his broad shoulders pinned her down. His mouth devoured her, tongue circling her clit slowly, then faster, until she gasped and gripped his hair.
Beside them, Reyna arched into her red wolf mate, Vaerix, who had her bent over the bed, his mouth sealed over her soaked pussy, growling low as his tongue fucked into her, wet and hungry.
"So good," she panted. "Don't stop...fuck..."
The air was thick with scent, pheromones and heat, a divine mating haze. The wolf and the ice warrior were lost in it, their eyes glowing, their breath rough and fast. Veydran stood in the shadows. His wings unfurled and tail twitching in anticipation.
Reyna crawled over Nahlia, lips finding her mate's flushed mouth, kissing her deeply, hungrily. Her hands slid to Nahlia's full breasts, squeezing and sucking, nipples slipping between her lips while Torvax's fingers thrust into Nahlia's tight cunt.
"You're beautiful," Reyna murmured, "so soft. I want to taste all of you."
Nahlia gasped as Reyna kissed down her chest, biting gently, sucking one nipple, then the other as Torvax picked up pace, his thick cock replacing his fingers, stretching her open with reverent force.
Reyna groaned, feeling the bed shift as Vaerix slid behind her again, pressing the thick head of his cock to her slick folds, teasing.
"Don't tease," she begged. "I need it. I need you."
With a low growl, he thrust inside her, deep, slow, and then rough, slamming into her with rhythm that made her moan louder, clutching Nahlia's waist as they rocked together. Veydran watched with eyes full of lust, stroking his thick cock roughly.
Torvax's hand slid between Nahlia's thighs, thumb pressing against her clit in slow, hard circles while he fucked her steadily. She arched, crying out as Reyna kissed her, their lips crashing with open mouthed heat.
"Cum for him," Reyna whispered. "Let me feel you shake."
Nahlia bucked, moaning Reyna's name as her orgasm tore through her, cunt clenching tight around Torvax's cock.
Reyna came seconds later, body convulsing, a strangled cry tearing from her throat as Vaerix fucked her through it, one hand gripping her hip, the other stroking her back gently.
But they weren't done.
The women traded places, tangled together with lust glazed eyes and trembling limbs. Reyna slid into Nahlia's lap, grinding slowly against her thigh as their lips met again, hot, teasing, playful.
Nahlia pinched Reyna's nipples, rolling them between her fingers, then leaned down and sucked one gently, making Reyna gasp and shiver.
The men watched, breathless, cocks in hand, stroking slowly.
Reyna glanced over her shoulder with a wicked grin.
"You boys gonna keep watching, or are you gonna fuck us again?"
They didn't need to be asked twice.
Torvax took Reyna this time, thick cock slipping into her ass with practiced care and pleasure, her moan muffled against Nahlia's neck as she rocked against both lovers.
Vaerix claimed Nahlia, sliding into her slick heat with a growl that echoed off the stone.
Veydran joined Torvax and as he fucked Reyna, the demon slowly pushed his thick fingers into her ass, stretching it slowly. She gasped in pleasure. "Fuck I'm so full."
The two women kissed, gasping into each other's mouths, while their bodies rocked and clenched in perfect rhythm.
"Don't stop," Reyna panted. "Fill me, fuck me harder, I want to feel it." Veydran slowly pulled his fingers out and replaced them with his cock, both of Reynas holes now full. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she moaned with pleasure.
And when they came, gods, when they came, it was with roars and breathless cries, the men pulsing deep inside their mates, clutching them as waves of heat and pleasure drowned out everything else.
They collapsed together in a heap of sweat, kisses, and tangled limbs, bodies sticky, trembling, radiant.
"We're gonna have to burn this bedding," Nahlia muttered.
"Worth it," Reyna whispered, grinning, her demon mates tail wrapped around her eyes waist possessively.
The vision waited. But for now, they rested in each other's arms.