E K Stokes

The morning was deceptively ordinary. The rain had ceased, leaving behind a sky the colour of a bruised plum, and the rhythmic thump-hiss of the laundromat below provided a steady, domestic heartbeat. In the small bedroom, Caleb was still asleep, his face relaxed for the first time in months, his breathing synchronised with the quiet hum of the city. Leo slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him. He felt a lingering warmth in his chest, a fragile hope that their intimacy from the night be

They cannot return to the other side by themselves, they have no power. But, a demon who was sufficiently strong and could channel energy from a rebuilt Citadel, might be able to take them with him. It's not impossible, but it would be much easier to destroy them in the human world.

And Europe (In France, the wealthiest 10% of households own approximately 54% of the total assets. Additionally, half of the households hold about 95% of the total wealth), plus whilst we're talking stats, in France unemployment is 7.7% and amongst under 25's 18.1%. Kind of similar to Columbia, but with the big difference that here there is social security, meaning you get benefit pay outs and help from the state, but that doesn't mean there isn't poverty.

Now the princes have returned to the human world they have lost all their demonic powers and cannot return to that other plane, the portal closed behind them forever. But, entities can as they always have, still pass into the realm of humans. They might destroy and harvest human souls although that is much easier to achieve in the Citadel. They could still bring a human back with them if the entities were powerful enough, because they would need the force to traverse a portal themselves and more to bring someone. It perhaps depends if the person is willing? Also, do not forget, the Citadel has been destroyed, only it is not obliterated, one might say, damaged.

The days in the Citadel dissolved into a seamless blur of sensory overload and cold, hard discipline. Under Leo’s tutelage, Caleb learned that the Aethel did not tolerate weakness. Every meal was a lesson in refinement; every night was a masterclass in service. His body changed rapidly. The soft edges of his youth sharpened. His skin took on that same translucent, marble-like glow that Leo possessed, and his eyes began to hold a permanent flicker of gold. He was being hollowed out and fille

It is not reasonable to ask too much of a sixteen year old, too stay safe, be honest, try to be a good person; that should be all the stuff his parents taught him, but they probably didn't, so he's having to learn for himself. You can't easily expect a long lasting relationship, although it could happen. That people get hurt, emotionally, that happens as we grow up, who could honestly say they've never hurt anyone? If you can you are a better person than me.

Readers are quite rightly a little shocked at developments. I cannot make any comment because I risk spoiling the drama which is unfolding.

Years had passed in the human realm, though in the Aethel, time was merely a suggestion, a tide that ebbed and flowed at the High Lord’s whim. Leo, the Prince of the Abyss, stood on a lonely stretch of highway outside a dying industrial town. The air here was thin, tasting of rust and stagnant rain—a far cry from the rich, spiced atmosphere of his palace. He was no longer the boy who had been hunted. He was the hunter. A few yards away, slumped against a rusted guardrail, was a young m

@akascrubber perfect summary and @drsawzall very true.

The steeple of Oakhaven Community Church pierced the twilight like a jagged needle. Inside, the muffled sound of a pipe organ groaned through a hymn—a sound that used to make Leo’s stomach twist into knots of dread. Now, it just sounded like a funeral dirge for a world that didn't know it was already dead. Silas walked beside him, his presence a silent, terrifying gravity. He didn't need to speak; the bond between them pulsed with a shared, hungry anticipation. "The stage is set," Sila

That is what's happening, we will have to see what Leo does?

Although he didn't know that when he first met Silas?

The "Morning of the Reforging" did not come with a sunrise. Instead, the amber glow of the Citadel turned a bruised, metallic silver. Silas, still in his towering demonic form, stood over a shivering Leo. The air between them tasted of copper and ozone. The ritual was not a gift; it was a grafting. Silas reached into the center of his own chest, his obsidian claws sinking into his skin as if it were water. He pulled out a pulsing thread of pure, liquid shadow—a vein of his own primordi

There is and it will be... I hope youre ready for retribution!

Leo’s acceptance was a quiet landslide. The suburban life he had known—the dusty bookshelves, the stifling silence of church pews, the constant fear of being "found out"—seemed to belong to a man who had died in his sleep. But as the days in the Citadel passed, Leo realised that while his shame was gone, his autonomy had been traded for something far more beautiful and far more terrifying. He was no longer a ghost, but he was very much a Vessel. Life in the Citadel was a choreographed