Chapter 9 - Chapter 9: A Throne Made of Bones

🦴 What Remains After Glory

The smoke had barely settled over the corpse of Illumyn.

Where there had once been golden spires and hymnal winds, there now stood a crater of ash and cracked marble. Angels lay broken in silence. Faith had bled out like lifewater.

Lucien stood at the edge of a ruined cathedral, his shadow long in the blood-hued dawn.

At the center of the ruin rose something impossible.

A throne.

Wrought not of gold, not of mortal bone, but of divine spine—ribs curved into a jagged seat, vertebrae ascending like a stairway to the heavens.

Kaelira whispered, "Is that…?"

Serael confirmed, "A throne built from a god's remains."

Thal'Zira's eyes narrowed. "That's from the First Pantheon. Before language, before death."

Velka simply stared. "If he sits on it… he might become something else."

Nerexa said nothing.

She already knew.

Lucien approached.

🩸 The Choice Inscribed

The Throne was alive.

Not in the sense of breath or motion—but in how it listened. Every step Lucien took closer, the bones whispered. Regret. Power. Memory.

When he touched it, the Crown pulsed, rejecting.

The whisper became a scream.

"Balance is broken. Six cannot become One. A soul must be surrendered."

The Crown's ancient will echoed:

One queen must be offered—to make the Throne whole.

Lucien staggered back, heart pounding.

He turned to the others.

They hadn't heard.

Not yet.

🧠 A Council Divided

That night, the queens gathered in the wreckage of a divine temple, tension thick in the air.

Lucien broke the silence.

"The Throne… demands a sacrifice."

The silence snapped like ice.

Serael immediately rose. "What kind of sacrifice?"

"A queen."

Thal'Zira laughed coldly. "You can't be serious."

"It's not his demand," Velka cut in. "It's the Crown's."

"So we fight fate now?" Kaelira growled.

Nerexa finally spoke: "It was never going to let all six of us live. The Crown was forged by a soul shattered six ways. One piece must go."

Lucien looked at each of them—loyal, proud, powerful.

"How do I choose?" he whispered.

⚔️ Bonds Tested

As the days passed, the queens began to split.

Velka and Serael proposed a test: let fate decide—trial by combat, no death, just dominance.

Kaelira refused. "We are not playthings. I won't fight for love like some prize."

Ardana offered to go willingly. "I've burned enough. Maybe it's my time."

Lucien refused that immediately.

But the damage was done. Mistrust grew. Old pain surfaced. Jealousy flared.

They were not just queens anymore—they were contenders for survival.

Only Nerexa stayed cold.

"Let the Throne choose," she said. "Place us all before it. One will be taken."

Lucien hated it.

But agreed.

🪨 At the Throne's Foot

The ritual began at dusk.

All six queens knelt before the Throne of Bones. Lucien stood behind them, hands trembling, Crown ablaze.

He recited the ancient oath etched on the divine stone beneath his feet:

"To rule beyond death, a soul must splinter.

To wield the unbroken throne, a piece must fall.

Sacrifice, or shatter."

The Throne flared.

Bones cracked.

The Crown howled.

A vortex of divine force whipped around the queens—scanning, judging, deciding.

Lucien fell to his knees.

He saw flashes—memories of each queen's past:

Velka, burying her kingdom in ice to stop a plague.

Thal'Zira, draining her own blood to keep her people alive.

Kaelira, betraying her brother to save her soldiers.

Serael, burning her wings to defy heaven.

Ardana, holding the line alone against the god of war.

Nerexa, giving up her mortality for knowledge.

Then the light fixed on one.

🕳️ The Chosen Sacrifice

Ardana.

The flame queen.

She didn't cry. Didn't flinch. She simply stood, fire gently rising around her.

"I knew," she said quietly.

Lucien reached for her—but the Throne's power pushed him back.

"You are not losing me," she said, smiling sadly. "You're carrying me. Always."

Then she kissed him.

Long. Soft. Final.

As she turned to the throne, her fire ignited one last time.

Not pain.

Peace.

And she was gone.

The Throne blazed with unity.

The Crown pulsed—now complete.

Lucien fell to his knees as the five remaining queens gathered behind him in silence.

The world had changed again.

🖋️ End of Chapter 9

📣 CTA (Call-to-Action)

Ardana is gone. The Throne is whole.

How do you feel about the sacrifice? Did Lucien make the right choice?

🔥 Leave a comment if you want an Ardana memory chapter or epilogue!

🔜 Next Chapter: "The War of Suns"

With the throne sealed and Ardana gone, the High Gods retaliate—sending the twin suns of war to wipe Lucien from existence.

Expect: celestial weapons, mass resurrection, and Lucien's first divine duel.