#Marion Lochan

[the-regal-warrior]

The Captain’s Daughter: Part One

I’m back! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything, but the writing gears in my brain stalled for a while. But they’re working once more and I’m back with a brand new story inspired by my newfound love of sea shanties.

Note: the song mentioned in here is Haul Away by Nathan Evans.

Summary: Elide and Lorcan living life as part of the best pirate crew.

Warnings: None.

.

The sea was unusually calm that night. Having spent as many years at sea as she had, Marion wasn’t used to such eerie stillness. She’d led her crew through more storms than she could remember, and found the motion of the waves soothing. 

On nights when it was calm and the ship didn’t rock, sleep wasn’t easy to find. After tossing and turning for a few hours, her husband and first mate snoring away beside her, Marion had left the warmth of her bed and Cal’s arms for a walk around the deck in the chilly ocean air, deciding that was just what she needed. 

Her crew always said that she had a bond with her ship, The Wyvern, and laying her hands on the mast while the night swirled around her had always brought her peace.

She’d made for the wheel, checking in with her helmsman and the course of her ship. Nox was a young man, not much older than her daughter, but he was a damn good crewman, and she trusted him implicitly to guide them all safely while they slept. But a good captain knew that no one job was beneath them, and Marion Lochan was a damn good captain.

“All good, Nox?” she greeted, trailing her fingers over the rail as she climbed the steps to reach the man.

“Yes, Captain.” He patted the wheel with a certain fondness every member of her crew possessed. “She’s a steady girl and we’ve got nothing but clear skies ahead.”

Nodding, she circled the rear mast, one hand braced on the wood as she moved. The faint sound of someone singing reached her ears, barely audible over the breeze that had kicked up, but it was lost as Nox spoke once more.

“Everything okay, Captain?” Keeping his face tilted toward the horizon, he turned to her in concern. “Worried about our last run-in with the Navy?”

Marion chuckled, the sound escaping her before she could stop it. “The Navy is the least of my concerns.”

Many would have found her statement egotistical and a harbinger of certain trouble, but Marion had a secret most other pirate captains didn’t share. Her closest friend and former crewmate was none other than Evalin Ashryver, the wife of Rhoe Galathynius, Admiral of the Terrasen Navy. Not to mention that Evalin’s daughter, Aelin, and nephew, Aedion, had both served briefly on the ship as well. The latter had become Captain in the Navy, serving under Rhoe and helping Marion and Cal continue their reign as pirate lords.

Descending the steps, she caught the tail-end of Nox’s smirk at her statement, and she shook her head in laughter once more. “Fair wind, Nox,” she said. 

Reaching the main mast, she offered a wave up to Kaltain, her barrelman and the other person she trusted with the safe guidance of her ship through the night. The woman was a damn good lookout, and her affinity for climbing the ropes faster than anyone she’d ever seen only added to her value. 

The woman waved back before offering a complicated set of hand signals in the direction of the wheel, and it was only moments before Marion heard Nox’s laughter rumbling behind her. The two of them had developed their own form of signs and signals so they could communicate without speaking. 

Placing her hands on the solid bulk of the main maist, Marion breathed deeply, her eyes slipping closed and the smell of salt wrapping around her like a familiar embrace. The life of a pirate hadn’t always been easy, but she’d never wanted to trade it for anything else. She knew she’d miss nights at sea too much to ever give it up.

Marion wasn’t sure how long she stood there before she became aware of two things: the singing had become audible once more, and her husband had found her, if the arms wrapped around her waist were anything to go by.

“What brought you out of bed, husband?” she murmured, leaning against his chest without taking her hands off the mast.

Ghosting his lips over the very top of her forehead, Cal just sighed softly. “You know how hard I find it to sleep without you, Captain. I’ve been up since you left our bed, but I know how you cherish your time with your ship.”

“You,” she told him, finally turning in his embrace, “are a good first mate and an even better man.” Marion paused as the singing grew louder, finally allowing her to place the tune as Haul Away. “Who is that, I wonder?”

Her husband smiled down at her. “Just wait, you’re going to love it.” Taking her hand, he pulled her toward the bow. “Come with me.”

Walking slowly so as not to disturb the two people she could just make out sitting on the forecastle deck, Cal pulled her into the shadows at the bottom of the steps, motioning for her to keep quiet. Marion peered up onto the deck, smiling when she realized what exactly she was seeing. 

Lorcan, one of her gunners - not that her style of piracy had much use for heavy artillery - and her newly appointed quartermaster, was seated against the railing. Resting between his legs with their fingers intertwined was none other than Elide, Marion and Cal’s daughter. The two of them had been together in secret for several months, only a select few people on the ship - Marion, Cal, Nox, and Kaltain - having been made aware out of a desire for privacy in the early stages of their relationship.

The dark-haired man was singing softly in her ear, the sound only carrying because of the breeze, and Marion felt her heart swell at the obvious love she could see growing between the two of them. 

Wrapping her fingers around her husband’s wrist, she pulled Cal back toward their quarters. “Let’s leave them be, my love,” she murmured, catching the smile on his face. He’d told her once that he couldn’t picture anyone better suited for their daughter, and she wholeheartedly agreed. 

As they slipped through the door and down the stairs to their room, Lorcan’s voice swirled around them before being carried off to sea on the breeze.

.

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[acourtofquestions]

"I'm glad we met. I'm proud to know you. And I think your mother would have been proud of you, too, Elide.”

[loonylooly]

ASOIAF 🤝 SJM

Generation of dead women that are important to the plot but have very little to no characterization and only serve to make the important characters sad over their deaths

[tragcdysewn]

closed starter for marion lochan!! ( @lcngliive )

the woman is vaguely familiar behind the mask, and lorcan gives her a polite nod. "it's good to see you again." he greets, knowing he should at the very least attempt polite conversation while elide is off doing who knows what.

[lavendaers]

@lcngliive elide lochan for marion lochan

elide wasn't much of a dancer so she did her best to avoid the dance floor, especially with her ankle. "mom!" she called out as soon as she saw the familiar face. she moved forward slowly, not sure why she was attempting to keep her limp a secret from marion. "are you having fun?"

[tragcdysewn]

"it shouldn't, but i've seen it do terrible things in the few weeks i've been here." lorcan replies, his tone tight as he remembers what's been done to elide and aelin. "i am happy to hear that you've found your daughter."

"I don't think there is magic with the power to bring someone back from the dead," not that she had heard of before. but maybe out there somewhere there was. "I suppose this city isn't all bad, I've been reuinted with my daughter again,"

[leiawritesstories]

Horsey

Rowaelin Month 2024, Day 5: Birthdays @rowaelinscourt

Word count: 954

Warnings: so so SO much fluff teehee

inspired by the work of @sassyhobbits. i could not resist. enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where’s the birthday girl?” Aelin crooned, pretending not to notice the big purple bow that bobbed behind Lorcan’s leg. 

“I right here!” The giddy exclamation was coupled with a blur of purple silk and dark curls as newly five-year-old Marion Salvaterre Lochan launched herself into her auntie’s arms. “Hi Auntie!” 

Aelin beamed and hugged her niece. “Happy birthday, Mari darling! Are you having the best day and eating all the yummy cake?” Marion nodded excitedly, clapping her little hands. She was a perfect image of her mother, but she had Lorcan’s sharp dark eyes. 

“Auntie Lyssie gave me pretty bwace-wet!” The small girl proudly held out her right arm. “See?” 

“Ooh, yes, very pretty.” Aelin kissed the top of Marion’s head. “Alright, honey, why don’t you go find your da? I think he’s looking for you again, birthday girl.” 

“Okay!” Marion ran over to Lorcan, her little purple silk shoes pattering on the tile of the Lochan manor’s sunlit ballroom. “Hi Dada!” Lorcan lifted his daughter into his arms, whispering something that was probably disgustingly sweet into her ear. Aelin chose not to let her Fae ears pick it up. 

Elide crossed the room and stopped to kiss her girl’s rosy cheeks before she came to Aelin. “Thank you so much for being here,” she said, beaming. “I know you’re terribly busy with running a kingdom.” 

“She has people for that,” Rowan murmured, just loud enough for them to hear. Aelin swatted his chest, sending him a long-suffering look. 

So uncivilized.

He smirked. That’s why I don’t take on court duties.

Maybe I should have commanded you to keep an eye on things while I went to my beautiful niece’s birthday celebration. 

And spent half the treasury on gifts? I think not. He dodged the elbow she angled at his ribs. Ah-ah, love. I know the way you move.

She gave him a saccharine smile. As do I, buzzard, she all but purred. 

Elide sighed loudly. “Will the two of you stop flirting with each other right in front of everyone’s poor eyes? It’s bad enough how disgustingly in love you are already.” 

“Says the woman whose husband willingly gave up five hundred years of warrior high life to play housemaid and change diapers,” Aelin returned, winking at her dear friend. 

The petite woman snorted. “Lorcan knows damn well he’s better off here than he ever would be whacking himself off in some army tent.” 

“Godsdamned right I do.” Lorcan covered Marion’s eyes and bent nearly in half to kiss his wife. 

Aelin groaned and covered her own eyes. “Gods above.” She tugged subtly on the blood oath before Lorcan could show her a vulgar gesture. “Now now, Salvaterre, there are children present.” At her side, Rowan snickered, amused at Lorcan’s grumpiness. 

“Why don’t we give our favorite niece her birthday present?” he suggested, smoothing over the situation before either Lorcan or Aelin could pester the other. 

Marion clapped and exclaimed her excitement. “Yes yes yes! I wanna present, Unc’a Ro!” 

Rowan laughed. “Alright, Mari. Should we go outside? I think there might be something out there for you.”

Led by Aelin, and with Marion still sitting comfortably in her father’s arms, the handful of them went out into the courtyard, where a small, intricately worked wooden trunk sat on the stones. Marion gasped and squirmed, and when Lorcan set her down, she ran over to the box and opened it up. Her dark eyes went huge with wonder, and she lifted a length of lavender silk and gauze out. 

“It’s a pretty dress!” she screeched, jumping excitedly. “Yay!” She brought the dress to her mother, who laid it carefully over one arm, and sprinted for her aunt and uncle, who showered her with hugs and kisses before letting her go back to her favorite spot in Lorcan’s arms. 

“There’s one more little present,” Aelin said, winking at Marion. 

The small girl’s eyes grew even wider. “Really?” 

“Really.” Aelin grinned conspiratorially. “Let’s go around the corner, shall we?” They walked towards the stables, and Rowan’s confusion crowded her mind. 

What did you get her, Aelin?

Something she’ll be able to love for a very long time.

That…is not very descriptive.

Of course not. She chuckled at his confusion and grandly slid the stable doors open. “Happy birthday, my little love!” All the sets of eyes peered into the stable, and shock bolted like lightning through everyone except the queen of Terrasen. 

Because there was an Asterion standing in the Lochan stables. 

Elide turned slowly towards Aelin. “Did you…No, you most certainly did not. I’m dreaming.” 

“Did you seriously get our daughter an Asterion?” Disbelieving, Lorcan asked the question Elide couldn’t vocalize. 

“She said she wanted a pony!” Aelin shrugged. “The royal stables have been taking wonderful care of our Asterions, and this young mare is three years old, fully trained, and probably the sweetest and most evenly tempered Asterion you could ask for.” 

“HORSEY!!!” Marion squealed, instantly in love with her birthday gift from Auntie Aelin. 

The simple, childish, gleeful declaration made the situation seem simple. Despite Rowan’s look that screamed we will be discussing this later, even he applauded when Lorcan set Marion astride the back of the young Asterion mare, which didn’t so much as twitch at the feeling of a passenger. She was so ecstatic that Elide just shook her head as she hugged Aelin. 

“You are far too extravagant, but we love you,” she whispered. “Thank you.” 

“Anything for my favorite and only niece.” Aelin had a soft, faraway look in her eyes as she watched Marion gently pat the horse’s mane, dreaming of the day one of her own children might do the same thing. “We love you too.”

~~~

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[cthoniian]

elide : no one is going to hurt you . do you know why ? because i'll hurt them first .

she's   promised   more   than   vengeance,   she's   promised   protection.   but   there's   a   crease   between   her   brows   as   she   reaches   for   her   queen's   hands,   callused   and   coarse   from   the   work   she's   done   for   years   --   there's   more   strength   in   the   delicate   fingers   than   one   would   expect.   there   are   tears   fighting   past   her   lashes,   but   she   holds   them   back.   her   voice   doesn't   quaver   as   she   looks   up   to   aelin's   gaze.

'   i   know.   aelin   i   know.   but   --   you   don't   have   to   save   me.   i   can  do   it   myself.   i   learned   how.   and   --   for   the   record,   you   don't   have   to   save   everyone   else   either.   let   us   --   save   you   sometimes.   even   if   it's   just   in   the   little   ways.   alright?   '

that   same   gentle   touch   raises   to   cup   aelin's   cheek,   the   other   to   brush   away   the   strands   of   loose   golden   silk   hair.   so   reminiscent   of   her   mother.   of   the   love   marion   had   so   generously   and   unashamedly   given,   and   despite   it   all   --   the   daughter   has   it   in   her   to   give   it   too.

'   we   love   you   aelin   --   you'll   never   have   to   do   the   hard   things   alone   again.   '

ask prompt answer for @firehcart // from elide lochan.

[blodgmonster]

Part 4 (and hopefully the last part) of my Kingdom of Ash reread. Life has been a bit rough and it's taken me far longer than usual to finish this book. Deep breaths. Here we go.

-- you know...Manon losing the Thirteen is kind of a nerf-ing in its own. Aside from Abraxos they are what she loves the most in this world. And in order to save the day, to save the world, they sacrifice themselves, yielding their power. Leaving her alone. So that's Amren, Nesta, and now Manon in a different way.

-- I forgot this whole thing happens at Endovier of all places.

-- I remember thinking that SJM was just being weirdly lazy not giving the King a name. Ding dong I was wrong.

-- Aelin, you ding a ling! What if you and Dorian AND the King had done this together? Maybe you could have kept some of your goddamn fire power!

-- "your parents are...They are so very proud of you. They asked me to tell you that they love you so very much." Ouch

-- "Where light and life had flowed within her, there was nothing. Not an ember. Only a droplet, just one, of water." And here we witness the most egregious SJM nerf-ing. Why? WHY!? Dorian gets to keep his power, most of it anyway. Why couldn't she keep SOME of her power? Take her from a powerhouse firebender to a fae of normal/middling power. Which I suppose is what happens but...it's not fair. Or...here's a crazy idea, just LET HER KEEP HER FUCKING POWER. And then she loses all her power and then she trades Erawan for Elena's soul. And then they DONT save Elena. So she makes this big sacrifice for NOTHING. And now she has to go into battle without her fucking fire!

-- Mala is the only cool one of the bunch.

-- Aelin ripping open a portal to hell in the gods world lololololol I love her.

-- Hey, Crescent City!!!!

-- Hey, Rhys!!!!!!!!

-- AELIN RIDING THE LORD OF THE NORTH!!!! THAT'S MY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

-- Gavriel

-- Elide's plan, Aelin's courage, Lysandra's strength, and Yrene's skills are what save the day. And they are alive because of the sacrifices made by Josafin Towers and Lady Marion Lochan. Who save the world? Women!

-- "You have no power over me." Sick Labyrinth reference, SJM.

-- the Wolf Tribe, hell yeah!!!!

-- KILL HER, FENRYS MOONBEAM, YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND

-- "I will bind my life to yours. So we will never know a day apart. Never be alone, never again." A THIRD SJM couple with the "die together" trope. However much I loathe it, it kind of works here because it evens out an imbalance. Lorcan would have to live to watch her age and suffer and die and then live without her. That would be agony for him. And now they'll get to live like a normal couple, aging together. Somehow this one works better than Chaol and Yrene's and WAY better than Feyre and Rhys'.

-- Manon Cursebreaker

-- Fenrys' face is scarred now. Probably just makes him sexier. I'm not big into blonde dudes but he can get it.

-- "In silence, the two queens stared toward the decimated field. Toward the future beyond it. "

Edit: TITS this posted on accident. I guess there will be a small part 5

[f1ameheir]

 ❛   if you really do hate him as much as you say , you’re doing a bad job at showing it.   ❜      there is a rare glimmer of lightness in aelin’s voice as she joins beside elide aboard the ship.      two weeks , in two weeks her feet would once again step onto the soil of her birthright.      her lungs filling with that of pine coated in the winter’s bite.      and alongside her , apart from the men who had sworn their alliance to her , was someone who she never would have imagined to see again.      elide lochan , the woman whom she owed so much to.      not just for what she had done , but for her mother’s selfless act over a decade prior.      the mother of which aelin could see within her every time she looked her way.      the way her hand rested upon her knee in that clearing , her silent comfort she offered when the world was but a daze after she was long from that camp   ––   she truly was marion’s daughter.      but , whereas she held her caring nature , it was the headstrongness that aelin picked up on quickly.      elide’s glaring towards lorcan since they climbed onto that boat in the caves , the way she moved keeping a large birth of space between them.      aelin had overheard her disdain towards the man , but the way she looked at him   . . .    ❛   you do know , no matter how hard you try , he is still going to pine after you like a wounded pup , right ?   ❜

@ircnwrought liked for a starter for elide

[hiddenwashington]

@lcngliive said : can i drop marion pls?

no worries ! marion lochan is reopened for applications, please do not unfollow!

[livlepretre]

Do you ever wonder just what Elide’s relation to the witches was and how Marion Lochan related to the witches? We get Maeve saying that it was no wonder Manon itched to retrieve Elide if Marion’s blood ran in her veins, but then it’s just, no answers about what exactly Marion was and how she related to the witches. If she was a witch, why was she living in Terrasen and helping out with taking care of Aelin? Why doesn’t Elide have any witchy abilities, like the teeth or some super strength? I have questions but no answers

Look, this haunts me. I don't understand this.

Like, we know that witches have witch mothers and human fathers??? So how can someone be "part witch" when obviously the witch mother/human father results in a full-blood witch? The books seem to imply that all children born are female and witches, at least in the Ironteeth clans.

SJM could have solved this by just like... letting us know that sometimes the child is mostly human, or, if the child is male, which is very rare, then that results in a human, but that male child's female descendants could have witch traits, yet not be full-blooded witches, or something. Anything! I would literally take anything! Manon could have pondered this when it turns out her father was a Crochan prince, for example. (Does that make Manon... like, more witchy than most witches since her father was a witch? Or was he a human because he was male, yet born to witches so therefore a Crocahn prince? Who knows!)

[acourtofquestions]

Kingdom of Ash Chapter 61

Chapter; Highlights (okay the entire chapter is a highlight)🤣

As requested @mysterylilycheeta I NEED TO SQUEAL IN WYVERN FANGIRL WITH YOU NOW CAUSE OH M GOODNESS THIS CHAPTER ON SO MANY LEVELS I JUST AHAKWIHUHFEJLZXBKEKA

Agony was a song in Lorcan's blood, his bones, his breath.

Every step of the horse, every leap she made over body and debris, sent it ringing afresh. There was no end, no mercy from it. It was all he could do to keep in the saddle, to cling to consciousness.

To keep his arm around Elide.

She had come for him. Had found him, somehow, on this endless battlefield.

His name on her lips had been a summons he could never deny, even when death had held him so gently, nestled beneath all those he'd felled, I, and waited for his last breaths.

And now, charging toward that too-distant keep, so far behind the droves of soldiers and riders racing for the gates, he wondered if these minutes would be his last. Her last.

She had come for him.

Lorcan managed to glance toward the dam on their right. Toward the ruk rider signaling that it was only a matter of minutes until it unleashed hell over the plain.

He didn't know how it had become weakened. Didn't care.

Still Elide kept urging the horse onward, kept them on as straight a path toward the distant keep as possible.

No ruk would come to sweep them up. No, his luck had been spent in surviving this long, in her finding him. His power would do nothing against that water.

The farthest lines of panicked soldiers appeared, and Farasha charged past them.

Elide let out a sob, and he followed the line of her sight.

To the keep gate, still open.

"Faster, Farasha!" She didn't hide the raw terror in her voice, the desperation.

Once the dam broke, it would take less than a minute for the tidal wave to reach them.

She had come for him. She had found him.

The world went quiet. The pain in his body faded into nothing. Into something secondary.

Lorcan slid his other arm around Elide, bringing his mouth close to her ear as he said, "You have to let me go."

Each word was gravelly, his voice strained nearly to the point of uselessness.

Elide didn't shift her focus from the keep ahead. "No."

That gentle quiet flowed around him, clearing the fog of pain and battle. "You have to. You have to, Elide. I'm too heavy-and without my weight, you might make it to the keep in time."

"No." The salt of her tears filled his nose.

Lorcan brushed his mouth over her damp cheek, ignoring the roaring pain in his body. The horse galloped and galloped, as if she might outrace death itself.

"I love you," he whispered in Elide's ear. "I have loved you from the moment you picked up that axe to slay the ilken." Her tears flowed past him in the wind. "And I will be with you ..." His voice broke, but he made himself say the words, the truth in his heart. "I will be with you always."

He was not frightened of what would come for him once he tumbled off the horse. He was not frightened at all, if it meant her reaching the keep.

So Lorcan kissed Elide's cheek again, allowed himself to breathe in her scent one last time. "I love you," he repeated, and began to withdraw his arms from around her waist.

Elide slapped a hand onto his forearm. Dug in her nails, right into his skin, fierce as any ruk.

"No."

There were no tears in her voice. Nothing but solid, unwavering steel.

"No," she said again. The voice of the Lady of Perranth.

Lorcan tried to move his arm, but her grip would not be dislodged.

If he tumbled off the horse, she would go with him.

Together. They would either outrun this or die together.

"Elide-"

But Elide slammed her heels into the horse's sides.

Slammed her heels into the dark flank and screamed, "FLY, FARASHA." She cracked the reins. "FLY, FLY, FLY!"

And gods help her, that horse did.

As if the god that had crafted her filled the mare's lungs with his own breath, Farasha gave a surge of speed.

Faster than the wind. Faster than death.

Farasha cleared the first of the fleeing Darghan cavalry. Passed desperate horses and riders at an all-out gallop for the gates.

Her mighty heart did not falter, even when Lorcan knew it was raging to the point of bursting.

Less than a mile stood between them and the keep.

But a thunderous, groaning crack cleaved the world, echoing off the lake, the mountains.

There was nothing he could do, nothing that brave, unfaltering horse could do, as the dam ruptured.

Rowan made himself stand there, to watch the last moments of the Lady of Perranth and his former commander. It was all he could offer: witnessing their deaths, so he might tell the story to those he encountered. So they would not be forgotten.

The roaring of the oncoming wave became deafening, even from miles away.

Still Elide and Lorcan raced, Farasha passing horse after horse after horse.

Even up here, would they escape the wave's reach? Rowan dared to survey the battlements, to assess if he needed to get the others, needed to get Aelin, to higher ground.

But Aelin was not at his side.

She was not on the battlement at all.

Rowan's heart halted. Simply stopped beating as a ruddy-brown ruk dropped from the skies, spearing for the center of the plain.

Arcas, Borte's ruk. A golden-haired woman dangling from his talons.

Aelin. Aelin was—

Arcas neared the earth, talons splaying.

Aelin hit the ground, rolling, rolling, until she uncoiled to her feet.

Right in the path of that wave.

"Oh gods," Fenrys breathed, seeing her, too.

They all saw her.

The queen on the plain.

The endless wall of water surging for her.

The keep stones began shuddering. Rowan threw out a hand to brace himself, fear like nothing he had known ripping through him as Aelin lifted her arms above her head.

A pillar of fire shot up around her, lifting her hair with it.

The wave roared and roared for her, for the army behind her.

The shaking in the keep was not from the wave.

It was not from that wall of water at all.

Cracks formed in the earth, splintering across it. Spiderwebbing from Aelin.

"The hot springs," Chaol breathed. "The valley floor is full of veins into the earth itself."

Into the burning heart of the world.

The keep shook, more violently this time.

The pillar of fire sucked back into Aelin.

She held out a hand before her, her fist closed.

As if it would halt the wave in its tracks.

He knew then. Either as her mate or carranam, he knew.

"Three months," Rowan breathed.

The others stilled.

"Three months," he said again, his knees wobbling. "She's been making the descent into her power for three months."

Every day she had been with Maeve, bound in iron, she had gone deeper. And she had not tapped too far into that power since they'd freed her because she had kept making the plunge.

To gather up the full might of her magic.

Not for the Lock, not for Erawan.

But for Maeve's death blow.

A few weeks of descent had taken her powers to devastating levels. Three months of it

…

Holy gods. Holy rutting gods.

And when her fire hit the wall of water now towering over her, when they collided —

"GET DOWN!" Rowan bellowed, over the screaming waters. "GET DOWN NOW!"

His companions dropped to the stones, any within earshot doing the same.

Rowan plummeted into his power. Plummeted into it fast and hard, ripping out any remaining shred of magic.

Elide and Lorcan were still too far from the gates. Thousands of soldiers were still too far from the gates as the wave crested above them.

As Aelin opened her hand toward it.

Fire erupted.

Cobalt fire. The raging soul of a flame.

A tidal wave of it.

Taller than the raging waters, it blasted from her, flaring wide.

The wave slammed into it. And where water met a wall of fire, where a thousand years of confinement met three months of it, the world exploded.

Blistering steam, capable of melting flesh from bone, shot across the plain.

With a roar, Rowan threw all that remained of his magic toward the onslaught of steam, a wall of wind that shoved it toward the lake, the mountains.

Still the waters came, breaking against the flames that did not so much as yield an inch.

Maeve's death blow. Spent here, to save the army that might mean Terrasen's salvation. To spare the lives on the plain.

Rowan gritted his teeth, panting against his fraying power. A burnout lurked, deadly close.

The raging wave threw itself over and over and over into the wall of flame.

Rowan didn't see if Elide and Lorcan made it into the keep. If the other soldiers and riders on the plain stopped to gape.

Princess Hasar said, rising beside him, "That power is no blessing."

"Tell that to your soldiers," Fenrys snarled, standing, too.

"I did not mean it that way," Hasar snipped, and awe was indeed stark on her face.

Rowan leaned against the battlements, panting hard as he fought to keep the lethal steam from flowing toward the army. As he cooled and sent it whisking away.

Solid hands slid under his arms, and then Fenrys and Gavriel were there, propping him up between them.

A minute passed. Then another.

The wave began to lower. Still the fire burned.

Rowan's head pounded, his mouth going dry.

Time slipped from him. A coppery tang filled his mouth.

The wave lowered farther, raging waters quieting. Then roaring turned to lapping, rapids into eddies.

Until the wall of flame began to lower, too. Tracking the waters down and down and down. Letting them seep into the cracks of the earth.

Rowan's knees buckled, but he held on to his magic long enough for the steam to lessen.

For it, too, to be calmed.

It filled the plain, turning the world into drifting mist. Blocking the view of the queen in its center.

Then silence. Utter silence.

Fire flickered through the mist, blue turning to gold and red. A muted, throbbing glow.

Rowan spat blood onto the battlement stones, his breath like shards of glass in his throat.

The glowing flames shrank, steam rippling past. Until there was only a slim pillar of fire, veiled in the mist-shrouded plain.

Not a pillar of fire.

But Aelin.

Glowing white-hot. As if she had given herself so wholly to the flame that she had become fire herself.

The Fire-Bringer someone whispered down the battlements.

The mist rippled and billowed, casting her into nothing but a glowing effigy.

The silence turned reverent.

A gentle wind from the north swept down. The veil of mist pulled back, and there she was.

She glowed from within. Glowed golden, tendrils of her hair floating on a phantom wind.

"Mala's Heir," Yrene breathed.

Down on the plain, Elide and Lorcan had halted.

The wind pushed away more of the drifting mist, clearing the land beyond Aelin.

And where that mighty, lethal wave had loomed, where death had charged toward them, nothing remained at all.

For three months, she had sung to the darkness and the flame, and they had sung back.

For three months, she had burrowed so deep inside her power that she had plundered undiscovered depths. While Maeve and Cairn had worked on her, she had delved. Never letting them know what she mined, what she gathered to her, day by day by day.

A death blow. One to wipe a dark queen from the earth forever.

She'd kept that power coiled in herself even after she'd been freed from the irons. Had struggled to keep it down these weeks, the strain enormous. Some days, it had been easier to barely speak. Some days, swaggering arrogance had been her key to ignoring it.

Yet when she had seen that wave, when she had seen Elide and Lorcan choosing death together, when she had seen the army that might save Terrasen, she'd known. She'd felt the fire sleeping under this city, and knew they had come here for a reason.

She had come here for this reason.

A river still flowed from the dam, harmless and small, wending toward the lake.

Nothing more.

Aelin lifted a glowing hand before her as blessed, cooling emptiness filled her at last.

Slowly, starting from her fingertips, the glow faded.

As if she were forged anew, forged back into her body.

Back into Aelin.

Clarity, sharp and crystal clear, filled its wake. As if she could see again, breathe again.

Inch by inch, the golden glow faded into skin and bone. Into a woman once more.

Already, a white-tailed hawk launched skyward.

But as the last of the glow faded, disappearing out through her toes, Aelin fell to her knees.

Fell to her knees in the utter silence of the world, and curled onto her side.

She had the vague sense of strong, familiar arms scooping her up. Of being carried onto a broad feathery back, still in those arms.

Of soaring through the skies, the last of the mist rippling away into the afternoon sun.

And then sweet darkness.

[ircnwrought]

some fourth wing au ideas for my muses

elide - cal and marion lochan were executed during the rebellion. ever the faithful servant of the crown, elide's uncle assumed control of the family lands and allowed elide to be branded with the rebellion relic. when time came for her concription, elide was forced into the rider's quadrant and most assumed her small stature would get her killed. her mind is more suited for the scribe quadrant, but with the help of the other children of the rebellion, she survives to threshing where she ruins her leg in her attempt to bond a dragon. her dragon does not reject her and instead she starts the series as a second-year student with the signet of foresight.

morgan - an instructor at the college, morgan is a semi-legend for her ferocity in battle and signet ability to control the elements (earth, wind, fire, and air). while appearing loyal to the crown, she lost her family and home in the rebellion and secretly plots the next uprising using the knowledge of the new riders.

aelin - a child of the rebellion who was smuggled out of her home before she could be found and branded with the rebellion relic. she is assumed dead. when her conscription came around, she was deemed a nobody and joined the infantry under the name of celaena. her ability with blades and cleverness got her assigned to a top secret unit known for assassinations.

clove - clove is a legacy rider. both her parents were riders who earned medals and accolades for their service to the crown. she and her twin choose the rider's quadrant to bring glory to the family and to stay together. her twin is killed during threshing and clove's grief masks itself in her cruelty. she starts the series as a third-year student with the signet ability of blade curving (similar to diego's powers in tua)

annie - annie only volunteered for the rider's quadrant because her village promised to take care of her parents if she did. in a wartorn world and still reeling from the death of her sister in a raid, annie takes the chance. she survives to graduation and is now stationed on the front lines. she appears slightly unstable after the death of one of her squadmembers, only she harbors the secret of her signet. while her publicly known signet is the ability to manipulate water, she is also a mind reader, an ability punishable by death.

[lavendaers]

"i grow a lot of things." the rain master explained as she turned to look at the other. "i grow vegetables, herbs and fruits, but no flowers." she shook her head, a smile forming on her lips as she glanced back at the flowers. "you should. there's something so relaxing and amazing about growing things."

marion smiled at the other. "they're very beautiful," she'd never been one for growing flowers - she never had the time. "I've never been one to grow them either, but I do agree, they're good to look at - maybe I'll try my hand at it sometime,"

[randomfandomnerd]

You know who needs to be talked about more?

Kaltain Rompier

and

Marion Lochan

Just putting that out there