The church groaned as the heavy door creaked open, old wood protesting against time. Dust spiraled in the air like memories disturbed. Seraphina stepped inside, heart thudding with every footfall.
The scent of wax, ash, and something older—something wild—hung heavy in the air.
Moonlight filtered through shattered stained glass, casting fractured colors across the stone floor. At the far end, a broken altar stood beneath a symbol—half-moon, half-blood drop—chiseled into the wall behind it.
Seraphina stopped breathing.
The symbol was identical to the mark on her wrist.
"It's real," she whispered.
Vael stepped up beside her. "It always was."
Eryn circled the room, sniffing the air. "This place reeks of old magic. Forgotten magic."
Seraphina walked toward the altar, her fingers brushing the edge. The moment her skin made contact with the stone, warmth surged through her arm.
Her mark lit up.
Red and silver.
Alive.
The altar cracked open with a soft click, revealing a hollowed chamber beneath. Inside lay a book. Bound in leather, sealed with wax and threaded with vines that looked freshly grown despite the dust covering everything else.
She reached for it.
The vines receded, curling away like they recognized her.
As soon as she touched the book, a voice echoed in her mind.
You are the end and the beginning. The lock. The key. The bearer of dusk.
Her knees buckled.
Vael caught her before she hit the ground.
"Seraphina!" he called, but her eyes had already glazed over.
She wasn't with them anymore.
She was somewhere else.
A forest, moonlit and bathed in red fog.
She stood between two trees—one silver, one crimson. One pulsed with calm, the other with chaos.
Two figures emerged.
One with glowing red eyes, cloaked in darkness—fangs gleaming, voice cold.
The other—golden-eyed, fur on his skin, moonlight clinging to him like armor.
The vampire. The wolf.
Both reached toward her.
Choose, they said in unison.
Choose what you will be.
She looked at both hands extended toward her.
And then down at her own.
One of her hands shimmered with moonlight.
The other bled.
She gasped awake.
The book lay in her lap, the mark on her wrist burning hot.
Eryn hovered above her, worry etched across her face. "You blacked out."
Seraphina sat up slowly, heart still racing. "I… I saw them. The ones I come from."
She looked at the book again. The cover had changed. It now bore a single line:
She who is dusk must choose the day or devour it.
Vael stepped forward. "That's what they're afraid of."
Seraphina looked up at him.
"Who?"
"The clans. The world. Because no one ever chose both."
Eryn frowned. "What do you mean?"
Vael's jaw tightened. "There's a reason the Blood Seal and Moon Crest were never on the same person before. Every attempt to unite them failed. The hosts went mad. Or vanished."
Seraphina's mouth went dry. "So they think I'll lose control?"
"They don't think," Vael said grimly. "They expect it."
Eryn sat beside her. "Then we prove them wrong."
Vael's eyes met Seraphina's. "That's only possible if she survives the Reckoning."
"The what?" she asked, a chill running down her spine.
Vael hesitated. "The full moon after awakening. It brings the first test of control. Blood calls to blood. Moon pulls the beast."
Seraphina's thoughts reeled. "And if I fail?"
Eryn looked away.
Vael answered for her. "You'll become the very thing the prophecy warned about."
That night, Seraphina couldn't sleep. The book sat at her feet, its pages whispering in a language only her blood could understand.
She sat by a window, staring at the stars, her mark glowing faintly.
She didn't ask for this life.
Didn't ask to be the lock. The key. The storm.
But it didn't matter now.
She couldn't run anymore.
The reckoning was coming.
And she would be ready.
Even if it killed her.
Author's Note:
We're getting deeper into Seraphina's destiny! 🌕🔥 What do you think of the vision between the trees? Do you think she can survive the Reckoning? And what would you choose—blood or moon?
Drop a 🌑 if you think Seraphina should forge a new path entirely. Or a 🌕 if she should embrace the moon. Or 🔥 if you're just ready for war.