Alliance Forged by Kylie Griffin is the second book of her Light Blade series, and if you remember from my review of Vengeance Born, this is romance urban fantasy. Griffin does a masterful job of creating this worldbuilding, of Humans (Light Blade), Na'Reish (demons), and Na'Chi (half human/demons). The story picks up shortly after Vengeance Born left off, when Kalan, the Chosen of the Light Blade, forces his command of the Council and Soldiers, by allowing Na'Chi to be part of their alliance, and his commitment to Annika, a NaChi, as his mate. In order to win the ungoing war with the Na'Reish, the two sides need to join hands to work together to defeat the enemy.
But prejudice is still a big issue for many to accept the Na'Chi as friends. Alliance Forged is a dual story, showing how prejudice threatens to divide the Light Blade soldiers, with friends turning against each other. Those that are willing to work with the strong Na'Chi and those who refuse to accept them as allies. The other part is the romance between two unlikely pairings, but one that you saw the start of in Vengeance Born.
Kymora is Kalan's sister, she is the priestess, the Temple Elect. Kymora, who is also blind, speaks for the Lady, who is the human's deity. Kymora is such a wonderful character. She cares about others, and you marvel at how she can get around her blindness. She uses her gift, being able to sense aura's and has worked to perfect that gift. Kymora believes she has a destiny that the Lady expects her to fulfill, and that is to bring the Na'Chi and Humans together to help save them all.
Varian is the leader of the Na'Chi. We met Varian in Vengeance Born, when he led his people to follow Annika and Kalan when they returned the Sacred Lake. That was when Varian and Kymora met, and soon thereafter, an uneasy alliance was born. In this book, Kymora is working with the Na'Chi to teach them how to live with humans, and help them. She befriends Varian, who isn't an easy person to deal with. Varian takes it upon himself to protect his people, and half of his inner self is full demon, that he brings out during battles. Varian has a hard time keeping this dangerous angry part of him in control. He begins to realize that Kymora soothes his anger, and he finds unfamiliar feelings, he doesn't know how to handle when he is around her. Kymora, finds herself content and happy around Varian, and she was very aggressive with him, trying to entice him to act on his feelings, until he could no longer resist. Varian has always believed he would never have someone love him; that his people respected him as a leader, but did not want to be his friend.
This is an amazing love story, to watch Kymora, whom I loved, break the shield around Varian, and how they both explored their growing love, something neither had experienced. Very nicely done, as I really enjoyed this romance, as it was totally different, and very nice to see.
The ending was very exciting with the rebels fighting the alliance taking things too far, bringing danger to their own people, and sides have to be chosen. The climatic ending is a race against time to save their own. A great story, and wonderful ending. The battle is still on the horizon, with the humans/na'chi to possibly face the uncoming Na'reish demons. I already cannot wait for his story, and to find out what will happen to him, as well as the war upcoming. Great story by Kylie Griffin.
