Jade: Emerald Wraith by Jade Gretz

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Jade: Emerald Wraith ANIMATION

The Shattered Throne of Edenia

The moon over Edenia was broken that night—split into uneven shards that hung like teeth in the black sky. Its light slanted through the mist, painting the ruins of Sindel’s palace in sickly silver. The marble steps had long since cracked, vines crawling over them like living veins. Statues once dedicated to the royal bloodline were reduced to eyeless torsos, their features devoured by time and ash.

And in the courtyard where roses once bloomed, only one figure stood now—a woman cloaked in emerald and shadow.

Jade’s staff gleamed faintly in her hands, her stance poised yet trembling. The air was heavy with whispers—the kind that came from no throat. She heard them in the mist: her name, spoken by a dozen tongues.

“Jade…”

She turned sharply, the staff sweeping low, ready to strike. Nothing. Only the echo of her own heartbeat.

She had come alone, though Kitana had begged her not to. “It is madness,” Kitana had said. “Mother is no longer the woman you once knew. The palace is a mausoleum.”

But Jade had to see for herself. Sindel had been resurrected before—once a queen, then a revenant, now something uncertain. Rumors spread through Outworld and Earthrealm alike that Sindel’s soul had splintered, that part of her haunted these ruins, unable—or unwilling—to die.

And so Jade came, bound by loyalty to both queen and friend.

The silence shifted. A low hum began somewhere deep within the palace—a vibration through stone, like the awakening of a throat unused for centuries.

Then, from the throne room’s shattered archway, a silhouette emerged.

Sindel.

Her hair was white as frost, flowing like a spectral banner. Her eyes were pools of violet glass, catching the moonlight. Her royal gown was torn, but even ruined, it commanded awe. Around her, tendrils of spectral energy moved like cautious serpents.

“Jade…” Sindel’s voice carried through the courtyard. “My faithful handmaiden returns at last.”

Jade’s breath faltered. “My queen,” she said, lowering her staff—but not completely. “I came to find the truth. They say your spirit lingers here. I thought—”

Sindel’s lips curved in something between sorrow and mockery. “You thought I needed saving.”

The air quivered. A wind rose from nowhere, scattering the petals of ghost-roses that had never truly existed.

“I came because Kitana still hopes for you,” Jade said. “She believes the darkness can be undone.”

“Hope?” Sindel’s tone was sharp now. “She still clings to that childish illusion? After all she has lost?”

“She loves you,” Jade said softly.

“Love is the cruelest chain,” Sindel replied. “It binds even the dead.”

They faced each other in the courtyard—past and present, mentor and student, loyalty and despair incarnate.

Jade felt the old ache stir in her chest. Sindel had once been her guide, her protector. The queen who taught her grace and discipline, the meaning of beauty as both weapon and shield.

But this Sindel… her aura was not regal but ravenous. The air thickened around her like a storm about to break.

“Do you remember,” Sindel whispered, “the day you were chosen for the royal guard?”

Jade hesitated. “Yes.”

“I told you,” Sindel said, stepping closer, her voice silk over steel, “that loyalty to the crown was loyalty to Edenia itself. But tell me, Jade… which Edenia do you serve now? The one that breathes? Or the one that dreams?”

“I serve what remains pure,” Jade answered.

Sindel’s eyes flared. “Then you serve nothing.”

Her scream came without warning—an unholy sound that ripped through the courtyard like thunder shattering glass. Windows exploded. Statues split. Jade dropped to one knee, covering her ears, but the sound wormed into her bones, clawing at her mind.

The world bent, colors bleeding.

When she looked up, Sindel was gone.

In her place stood three figures—mirror-images of Jade herself, each wearing the same emerald garb but with eyes hollow and black.

Illusions. Or memories twisted into flesh.

The first Jade spoke, her voice brittle: “You vowed to protect your queen.”

The second hissed, “You abandoned her.”

The third smiled, teeth sharp as pearls. “Now she calls for your devotion one last time.”

They advanced, their staffs striking stone in unison.

Jade spun her weapon in a defen
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