Chapter 24 Etheryn - The Living Crown

Chapter 24 Etheryn - The Living Crown
Ysara POV

The forest went quiet in that way that makes your skin prickle and itch.

My body went into high alert. We followed the hunter fae in a tight formation, our boots crunching over loam threaded with glowing roots. Etheryn leaked theough the portal around us, the air thicker, sweeter, and alive. Every step felt watched.

One of the hunter fae raised his hand, his palm glowing golden as he prepared to activate the portal.

Then...a screech tore through the trees. High, and wrong. Full of hunger and rot.

Darken went absolutely still. Just… deadly calm.

“That’s a demon,” he said quietly. “The Broker found us.”

My stomach dropped. Fear punched through me hard enough that my vision blurred, and before I could even think, my men and the hunter fae moved. They were fast, precise, and instinctive. Bodies closed in around me, steel and magic forming a living wall.

Then the woods vomited gross monsters.

They came in a rush of twisted limbs and too many teeth, their skin stretched thin over warped bone, and their eyes glowing sickly red. Some crawled. Some loped. One flew badly, it's wings torn and asymmetrical.

I screamed. And my power answered.

The ground fell away as I floated into the air again.
Silver fire exploded at my palms, and heat roared through my veins as I rose into the air without wings, without effort. My eyes burned, and my vision sharpened until I could see every vein in every creature below.

Below me, chaos erupted. Wyatt and Rafe shifted, their massive golden and silver lycans tearing into demon flesh with snarls that shook the trees. Kalesh moved like living shadow, his blades flashing as he danced through bodies like a beautiful fae harbinger of death. Darken unleashed hell itself, his shadows swallowing screams whole. The hunter fae were surgical, precise, and fucking ruthless.

I saw the biggest demon then. The anchor, or leader. He was massive, bloated with power, and smiling. It was creepy as shit. Rage surged up so clean and pure it felt holy. He thought this was amusing? I'd show him fucking amusing.

I lifted my hands. Silver light gathered, condensing into a single, blinding beam.

“FUCKING DIE,” I screamed, and released it.

The beam punched straight through the demon’s chest, vaporizing flesh, bone, and whatever ugly soul lived inside. He dropped like a sack of rot, hitting the ground dead before he finished falling.

I didn’t stop. I turned in the air, firing again and again, my silver beams slicing through the remaining demons as my men and the fae finished them off. Screams were cut short. Bodies dissolved into ash and smoke.

And then..silence. I hovered there, with my chest heaving, and power crackling around me.

I flipped the sky off with both hands. “FUCK YOU, BROKER!”

Below me, Rafe bark-laughed. “I just love her so much.”

The hunter fae didn’t waste a second. “Portal. Now.”

They activated it in a burst of solar light, and we moved fast, our boots pounding, and our hearts racing. I dropped back to the ground just as we crossed through.

And Etheryn.... knew me.

The moment my foot touched the soil on the other side, the world reacted. Wind surged, warm and scented, whipping my hair around my face. Trees bent toward me, their branches creaking as if bowing. Flowers bloomed in violent bursts of color along the path, petals opening mid-step.

Creatures emerged from everywhere. Deer with antlers of living crystal. Winged serpents coiling lazily through the air. Moss-covered beasts blinking ancient eyes. The guards and hunter fae stared at me like I’d just rewritten their religion.

A massive bouquet of flowers floated gently into my hands, and the stems were braided with gold-veined vines.

I gasped. “Well thank you! These are so beautiful!"

I laughed, delighted, and immediately walked over to the nearest tree, wrapping my arms around its trunk. The bark was warm, and familiar.

“Thank you for the warm welcome,” I whispered, pressing my cheek to it and petting its leaves. The tree shuddered like it purred.

Behind me, someone whispered, “By the Crown…”

The guards recovered enough to do their jobs, searching everyone quickly before ushering us toward the Solar Court portal. As we walked, the land followed me. Flowers bloomed where I stepped. Vines brushed my ankles affectionately.

A tiny flying creature zipped up in front of my face, her wings buzzing like a hummingbird. She had bark brown skin, leafy veined wings, and enormous golden eyes.

“Hello, Ravelyn!” she squeaked.

I melted. “Ohh you’re beautiful!”

She blushed green. “Thank you, my queen!”

I startled. “I’m not a queen,” I laughed.

She giggled. “If you say so! Gotta go, byeee!” And she zipped off, trailing pollen.

By the time we reached the throne room, flowering vines had wrapped loosely around my arms and waist, and flowers had woven themselves into my hair, forming a soft circlet. My skin glowed faintly, like moonlight under water.

The doors opened. The Solar Court awaited. Everyone dropped to their knees. Everyone except me. I moved to bow, instinctively lowering myself...and the fuckkng ground rose.

Literally. Earth lifted beneath my knees and pushed me back to standing. The Thorn Queen stood from her throne, with fury blazing in her eyes.

“You will bow to me,” she snapped.

I tried again. Vines erupted from nowhere, wrapping gently but firmly around my waist and shoulders, holding me upright.

I shrugged helplessly. “Look, I tried, okay? I’m not trying to disrespect you in your own throne room.”

The Thorn Queen’s rage hung in the air like a blade. The whole throne room held its breath, the kind of stillness that makes your brain prickle because you can feel something bigger moving underneath it.

Etheryn wasn’t just watching. Etheryn was deciding.
The king rose slowly from beside her, tall and radiant and furious in a way that screamed entitlement. His eyes flicked from me to the vines holding me upright, and then to the court as if daring anyone to interpret what they were seeing.

But no one spoke. Because the floor was… shifting.

The vines that had wrapped around my waist began to slide away, not retreating, but gathering. Coiling. Braiding together in thicker strands that moved with intention. Like hands. Like arms. My breath caught.

“What is that,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone.

Wyatt’s hand brushed my back. Steady, and solid. He didn’t speak, but I felt his presence like a shield.
Rafe’s growl rumbled low in his chest. Tharion stood rigid behind me, his wings flickering in and out like his dragon couldn’t decide whether to burn the room down. Darken’s stare was unreadable, but his body angled slightly, positioning himself between me and the throne.

Kalesh was the stillest of all. He watched the vines like he’d seen prophecy become real, and he wasn’t going to blink through it. The vines rose, like a being standing up. They formed a spine, a ribcage, and a throat. Leaves layered into a gown that looked like a living coronation robe. Blossoms bloomed across the chest and shoulders, opening one by one like eyes.

Then the face formed. A woman’s face made entirely of woven vine and bark. Her eyes glowed the deep green of ancient forest heartwood. She inhaled and the entire throne room inhaled with her, as if Etheryn had just drawn breath through her lungs.

The Thorn Queen’s lips parted in shock. The king’s jaw clenched. The vine woman turned her head slowly, her gaze sweeping the room with calm authority that made the nobles recoil without even realizing they’d moved.

Then she spoke. Her voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be.

“You have been judged,” she said to the King and Queen, every word crisp and final. “You have been found wanting. Your corruption will no longer rule here "

A ripple went through the court. Gasps. Whispers. The hunter fae tightened formation instinctively, but none of them dared raise a weapon. The vine woman lifted her chin.

“Etheryn has crowned a new queen.”

The Thorn Queen’s face went white with fury.

“Lies,” she snapped. “This is...”

The land shuddered in warning. The vine woman didn’t even glance at her. “The land will enforce this. And you will bow to your Ravelyn Queen.”

My mouth fell open. Me? What!? Holy fuck. I can't be a queen. A queen? A queen of FAE!? I'm not even fae. Wait...am I fae!?

I blurted, "Am I fae!?"

The vine woman smiled slowly. It was unnerving.

"Yes, my Queen. Would you like me to bring forth your fae side? I'm afraid you'll have pointy ears."

I squeeled in delight. "Yes please! What do I call you?"

She smiled again, "You, and only you, may call me Etheryn."

The court froze, torn between terror and disbelief and that instinctive, ancient fae knowledge that you do not argue with a living world when it chooses.

Then Etheryn bowed. “My queen.”

Everything in my chest cracked open. I tried to speak and couldn’t.

She rose and her gaze softened, just slightly. “You bow to no one.”

The vines that had been restraining me loosened into something almost affectionate, like the land itself was apologizing for the awkwardness.

“You will be safe here from what hunts you,” she continued, her voice carrying so every noble heard. “But you have mates you must find on Earth, where it is not safe.”

My stomach turned. So that part was real too.

Etheryn extended her hand and a stone formed in her palm, glowing green like captured spring. It pulsed once, warm, and alive.

She placed it into my hands. The moment it touched my skin, it thrummed in response, like it recognized my blood the way the whole realm had.

“This will bring you here,” she said. “Immediately. No matter where you are. Keep it safe, Ravelyn.”

I nodded numbly, my fingers curling around it.

“Protection will be sent,” she added. “Your circle will not stand alone. Now lets show the world who you truly are."

Then she placed her palm on my arm. A searing pain tore through me and i felt her palm burning into my flesh. She lifted her palm and smiled, then dissolved into vines again, melting into the floor like she’d never existed. Green-gold light flared and seared into my skin, a living palm print branding itself into me like it had always been there. The mark pulsed once… twice… then sank beneath the surface of my arm, and power flooded me.

I sucked in a sharp breath and nearly collapsed. The world snapped into focus so violently it stole the air from my lungs. I could hear everything. Roots shifting under stone. Leaves brushing against one another miles away. Heartbeats. Breathing. Magic humming like a second atmosphere.

My ears pulled, stretching painfully, and sharpening into long, elegant points.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, my voice shaking.

My vision fractured, then reassembled. Browns bled into green and silver, light refracting through the world in layers I’d never known existed. I lifted my hands and froze. Claws. Not monstrous. Beautiful, and deadly. My canines lengthened, pressure building until fangs slid into place. Power rolled through me, thick and heavy and intoxicating. Not borrowed. Not mirrored. Mine.

I could feel Etheryn now. The living world. Breathing with me. Through me. I was High Fae. I just knew. Knowledge flooded my mind. I laughed, breathless and a little hysterical.

“This feels fucking incredible” I murmured.

Silence. And then the entire throne room exploded.

The Thorn Queen screamed, “You will not do this to me!”

The king roared in fury, magic flaring from his hands.

I turned and caught my reflection in a gorgeous floor length mirror and my mouth fell open. My hair was longer. Much longer. My eyes, omg my ears! So pointy!

I smiled sharply. I was a fucking hot ass fae.