The Final Battle: The Amaranthine Chronicles, #3

By Tiffany Shand

Only light can come from the darkness.

The city of Ormere has become a vast wasteland, where danger lurks on every corner. Lawlessness has exploded while the government has been reduced to tatters. For Kaylan Avilion, this is a fight to the finish. After she and her ex-fiancé Elijah barely managed to stop her sister Freya from obtaining the dangerous Amaranthine Chronicles, Kaylan knows she can't rest.

 

Meanwhile, Freya is undeterred and will destroy what's left of her family so she can gain the ultimate power. Kaylan and 
Elijah must put their troubled past aside as their very future is on the line and on the verge of extinction. But their allies have fallen by the wayside and ruthless shapeshifters are hot on their trail as the darkness keeps up its unrelenting pace.

 

Kaylan is stuck between two people she loves, and her victory may come at the ultimate cost. With everything at stake, she can't afford to miss a step. And as she pushes through the darkness, she comes to realise a horrifying truth: to save everyone and everything dear to her… she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tiffany Shand
• Release date: Feb 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386782728

Tiffany Shand

Tiffany Shand was born in Essex, UK and started writing short stories when she was a child. She has always done writing in one form or another and started writing novels in her early teens. She writes both non-fiction and fiction, but mostly fantasy and paranormal romance. After doing a creative writing course in her early 20s she is now a freelance writer and professional proofreader. Tiffany lives in Essex with her two spoiled cats and one very nutty hamster.

Book preview

THE FINAL BATTLE

THE AMARANTHINE CHRONICLES BOOK 3

BY TIFFANY SHAND

Copyright © 2017 Tiffany Shand

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written consent of the author, except for brief quotes in reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

Cover Design by Emcat Designs

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Also by Tiffany Shand

About the author

Chapter 1

Kaylan winced as bright light flashed around her and Elijah. She glanced around, saw that they had reappeared in the great hall of the High Lord’s mansion. Her sister, Freya, glared at them from across the room.

I think we’re back, Kaylan murmured and shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory of witnessing her parents’ final moments and the shock of discovering Freya had been behind it.

Elijah breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness.

Freya staggered, clutching her side as blood dripped down her dress from where a long, silver knife embedded in her abdomen. Kill them! she screamed.

Three shifters appeared, advancing towards them, fangs and claws extended.

Kaylan glanced around the room for a possible escape route. To her disappointment, there was no sign of either Geth or Sierra.

Elijah growled, his own fangs and claws emerging as he braced himself for an attack.

They were trapped.

Kaylan reached for magic, but it felt weak and sluggish as she tried to conjure a fireball. Damn Freya for dragging them back in time. It would take a few hours for her powers to recover, since the spell had sucked so much of her energy.

Elijah punched the first shifter that came at them.

Kaylan tried to take flight, but her ability wouldn’t work either. A chandelier sparkled overhead, sending prisms of dancing light over the dark oak floor. Kaylan raised her hand, mustered all the energy she had and hurled a fireball at the ceiling. The chandelier exploded, crashing to the floor, sending crystals and bits of plaster flying. She grabbed Elijah’s arm, dragged him across the hall and out into the corridor.

Nicely done, he murmured.

Two guards, also known as Glistans, stood at the end of the hall. They fired streams of energy towards them.

My powers are too weak for me to fly, she said.

Elijah picked her up, and using his speed, shot down the corridor.

She clung to him as they blurred. We need to find Geth and Sierra.

We’ll worry about them later. Let’s just get out here, Elijah replied.

No matter which way they turned, guards and shifters came at them from every direction.

Head for the study, Kaylan suggested. Dad always said it was the safest room in the house.

Elijah darted up the stairs, making Kaylan’s head spin from the force of their speed. It felt much more nauseating than flying.

They had almost reached the door to the former High Lord’s study when a male shifter charged towards them.

Elijah gripped Kaylan in a bone-crushing embrace as the shifter slammed them against the wall. He grunted, and Kaylan yelped from the impact. Bits of stone and dust flew down from where their bodies had formed an outline in the brickwork. The air left her lungs in a whoosh, leaving her gasping for breath.

The shifter stared at them; his mop of black hair fell almost his shoulders and his glowing golden eyes fixed on them.

She heard Elijah’s sharp intake of breath. Michael? he asked, brow furrowing.

The shifter’s eyes widened and turned to a shade of brown. Do I – Elijah? His claws and fangs retracted. Is it really you?

Kaylan winced as Elijah set her down but didn’t let go of her. She knew she’d have bruises despite his body shielding hers. What’s going on? she asked. Do you know him?

Despite Elijah being a shifter himself, Kaylan had never considered the possibility of him knowing some of her sister’s other creations.

Yeah, we met when I was first captured, Elijah murmured and shook his head.

Michael hesitated and glanced behind him.

Michael, listen to me. Freya is the one responsible for changing us. You have to let us go, or she’ll keep hurting innocent people, Elijah said. We’re fighting to put an end to this chaos.

What good does that do to me and all the others who have already lost their lives? Michael demanded.

If you kill us, then you will be a prisoner to my sister’s will until she kills you. Or you could do the right thing and let us go, Kaylan said.

Michael hesitated, ran a hand through his hair. I don’t care what happens to me, but Freya will punish the others if–

Elijah punched the