Ashes of the hybrid

r the flickering neon light of a broken sign above a closed pawn shop. Her eyes, wide and unfocused, stared ahead as the cold seeped through her

d under the veil of the woods that had not known daylight in centuries. Hidden beneath rock and fog and silence, a chamber stretched beneath the ro

eyes gleaming crimson beneath a hood. Her name was Maelira, the Crimson Regent, and she wa

esumption h

ike silk dragging over a blade. "Of the human m

irring unrest. "The princess," on

e disappeared nearly a decade ago. Thought to be de

n it, shadows danced unnaturally. Smoke curled and shifted, forming the fai

ore the line. This war-torn world needs the ro

rward. "If she lives, she w

s cold. "Then she

d outside screamed through the branches. The Nightb

Still, she scrambled up and moved quickly down the alley. Something had changed in the

often hid in at night. She passed the graffiti-covered walls,

he stirred. Like a memory she didn

ng, two sets of eyes watched. One, feral

id not