The fires in Graveton had been quenched, but Jayden's heart still burned with questions.
He stood alone in the ruins of the old library, sifting through ash and broken stone. The dust swirled, disturbed not by wind, but by memory.
> The girl with the veil.
Her eyes. Her voice. Her power.
She knew him.
But how?
---
The Vision Tree
Veyna found him near midnight under the twisted branches of the Vision Tree, an ancient root that had once grown in Noctis Hollow but was moved to Graveton for protection.
It glowed faintly when Jayden touched it.
And then—
> A vision struck.
He fell to his knees, hands gripped against the trunk. Images poured into his mind.
Two children, one wrapped in red silk, the other in black shadow.
A great hall filled with gods arguing over fate.
A scroll burned by divine fire — with only one name left unburned: Jayden.
---
A Name from the Past
In the dream, a voice spoke:
> "She was never supposed to awaken. Not until you had chosen. Not until the gods returned."
Jayden gasped, yanking himself back to the present.
Veyna steadied him. "What did you see?"
Jayden's voice cracked. "Her name... I think it's Seraya."
Veyna's eyes widened. "The name from the Sealed Verses?"
Jayden nodded. "She was supposed to be dead… centuries ago."
---
Flashback — The Lost Bond
We flash back briefly:
Two children in robes run through a dark temple. One laughs, the other cries.
Jayden — but younger.
Seraya — smiling, holding his hand.
> "They said we'd forget each other when the world reset," she whispers.
"Promise me you'll find me again. Even if I'm darkness."
Jayden nods. "Even if I'm light."
---
Return to the Hollow
Jayden called an urgent council in the temporary Hollow outpost beneath Graveton.
"Seraya isn't our enemy," he said.
Kaelric — scarred and unnaturally silent — stared at him. "She attacked this city."
"She was forced to," Jayden shot back. "Just like I was."
A murmur.
Lady Morrienna leaned in. "If Seraya lives… the prophecy's second half may be in motion."
Jayden frowned. "There's a second half?"
Nyxa appeared, ghostlike as ever. "Yes. And it was erased for a reason."
---
The Hidden Prophecy
Nyxa opened an old scroll sealed with flesh-ink. It pulsed in her hand.
> "When the Shadow-Blood awakens, the Twin Flame shall burn.
One shall bring peace through chaos.
The other… chaos through peace."
Jayden felt a chill.
"Which one am I?"
Nyxa didn't answer.
---
Meanwhile: Seraya's Reflection
In a secret sanctum within the ruins of a forgotten city, Seraya stood before a mirror of smoke.
Her fingers trembled.
She remembered Jayden now.
She remembered everything.
> "They lied to us," she whispered.
"They split us — not to protect the world, but to control it."
Behind her, an ancient figure approached — neither god nor vampire.
"You know what you must do," it rasped. "The gods are waking."
Seraya clenched her fists. "Then let them come."
---
Reader's Reflection
> Sometimes the person you fear the most…
Is the one who carries half your truth.
Some people leave not because they want to — but because they were taken.
But when reunion happens… so does reckoning.