The Heart pulsed before me, crimson light washing over my trembling fingers as they hovered just inches from its surface. Each throb sent waves of energy rippling across my skin, whispering ancient warnings I couldn't fully comprehend.
Behind me, Damian's impatient voice cut through the sacred silence. "Take it now, Seraphina! Or shall I give the order to execute your precious friends?"
My chest tightened as I pictured Regina and Ronan in the dungeon, silver chains burning into their flesh, death hanging over them because of me. The choice before me was impossible—desecrate my ancestors' legacy or condemn innocent lives.
"Forgive me," I whispered to my mother's stone face above me.
I closed the distance, pressing my palm against the Heart of the Selenias.
The world exploded into crimson light.
Images crashed through my mind like a tidal wave—memories not my own, yet somehow part of me. I saw her—my mother—younger, more vibrant than in any vision I'd had before. Her stomach was swollen with pregnancy, her hands caressing the rounded curve with such tenderness it made my own heart ache.
"My little one," she whispered, her voice achingly clear. "My Seraphina. How I long to meet you."
The scene shifted. My mother lay on a bed, her face contorted in pain as she struggled through labor. Her screams pierced my soul. Around her, hooded women chanted, their hands glowing with magic that pulsed in rhythm with her contractions.
"Push, my Queen," urged an older woman. "The child must come now. They approach."
With one final, agonizing effort, my mother delivered her child—delivered me. The room filled with my infant wails, but instead of joy, terror filled my mother's eyes.
"They're here," someone hissed. "The vampires have breached the eastern wall."
My mother clutched me to her chest, tears streaming down her face. "No," she begged. "Please, not yet. I haven't even held her properly."
"We have no time," the older woman insisted. "The child must be hidden. The prophecy must be fulfilled."
The scene blurred again. My mother stood in a dimly lit chamber, still weak from childbirth, cradling me in her arms. Before her stood a tall figure shrouded in darkness.
"You must take her far from here," my mother pleaded. "Where they cannot find her."
The figure stepped into the light, and my heart stopped.
Damian. Younger, less hardened, but unmistakably him.
"I will protect her with my life," he vowed, extending his arms.
My mother pressed a desperate kiss to my forehead. "Remember me, my daughter," she whispered. "Remember who you are. One day, when the time is right, you will return to fulfill your destiny."
With visible agony, she placed me in Damian's waiting arms.
"Keep her safe," she begged. "Let her grow strong, hidden from those who would harm her. When she's ready—when her powers manifest—bring her home."
Damian nodded solemnly. "I swear it, my Queen."
"Go," my mother urged, even as fresh tears tracked down her cheeks. "Go now, before they find you both."
As Damian turned away with me in his arms, my mother fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "May the Goddess watch over you, my child," she whispered. "Until we meet again."
The vision shattered, leaving me gasping and disoriented. I yanked my hand away from the Heart as if burned, my mind reeling from what I'd seen.
Damian had been there. He had been entrusted with me as an infant. He had sworn to protect me, to return me to my mother when the time was right.
Instead, he had become my tormentor, my enemy.
"What did you see?" Damian's voice sliced through my thoughts.
I stared at him across the blood lake, seeing him now through new eyes. "You," I managed, my voice hoarse with emotion. "You were there when I was born."
Something flickered across his face—surprise, perhaps, or discomfort. "What nonsense are you babbling about? Take the Heart!"
"My mother trusted you!" I cried, rage building within me. "She gave me to you for protection. She believed you would keep me safe!"
Damian's expression hardened. "That was a lifetime ago."
"You betrayed her trust," I continued, trembling with fury. "You abandoned her child—abandoned me!"
"I did what was necessary."
"Necessary?" I laughed bitterly, tears streaming down my face. "Was it necessary to hunt me? To torture my friends? To threaten everything I love?"
He sneered. "Sentiment is a weakness. I learned that lesson long ago. Now stop wasting time—take the Heart before I lose my patience."
I turned back to the glowing artifact, mind spinning. Everything had changed. This wasn't just about saving Regina and Ronan anymore. This was about betrayal spanning decades—my mother's faith trampled, my birthright stolen.
As I reached again for the Heart, the blood lake beneath me began to churn.
"What's happening?" I called out, panic rising in my throat.
Damian's eyes widened. "No," he breathed. "It can't be..."
The statues surrounding the fountain—ones I had barely noticed before—began to crack. Stone limbs shifted, joints creaking as they moved for the first time in centuries. Female figures with stern faces and fierce eyes—the ancient Selenias, guardians of this sacred place.
"The guardians," Damian hissed. "They've awakened!"
One by one, the stone women stepped from their pedestals, their hollow eyes fixed on Damian. With each movement, cracks spread across their stone bodies, crimson light spilling through like blood from wounds.
"Stop them!" Damian shouted at me. "Use your power!"
But I couldn't move, transfixed by the sight of my ancestors coming to life before me. They moved with terrible purpose, stepping into the blood lake, which parted before them like it recognized their authority.
The first stone guardian reached the shore where Damian stood. He snarled, fangs extending, hands glowing with dark magic. He hurled a bolt of energy at her, but it dissipated harmlessly against her stone chest.
"This is sacred ground, vampire," the guardian spoke, her voice like grinding stone. "You have no power here."
Damian backed away, his confidence faltering for the first time. More stone guardians emerged from the blood, surrounding him, closing in.
"Seraphina!" he bellowed. "Help me or your friends die!"
I remained frozen on the fountain platform, torn between the vision of my mother's plea and the reality of Damian's threats. My hands hovered over the Heart, which pulsed faster now, as if sensing my indecision.
A sharp crack above me drew my attention upward. The massive stone figure of my mother—the one holding the Heart—was changing. The serene expression morphed into one of fierce determination, her empty eyes suddenly burning with crimson light.
"Defiler," she spoke, her voice rumbling through the chamber. "Betrayer. You shall not take what is not yet yours."
Horror swept through me as I realized she was speaking to me. This wasn't my mother—this was another guardian, another ancient protector awakened to defend the Heart from those who would steal it.
The massive statue shifted, the spear in her hand angling downward—toward me.
"Wait!" I cried, scrambling backward. "I am Seraphina! Daughter of Queen Seraphina! I am one of you!"
"You come to take, not to give," the guardian replied, unmoved. "That is not our way."
The spear plunged downward. I threw myself to the side, losing my footing on the slippery stone. I tumbled from the platform, splashing back into the blood lake below.
"Please!" I begged, struggling to stay afloat in the thick liquid. "I don't want to do this! He's forcing me!"
The guardian descended from her perch, each step sending tremors through the fountain. "Intentions matter not. Results remain."
At the shore, Damian fought against the other guardians, dark magic crackling around him as he fended off their stone fists. "Get the Heart!" he shouted between blasts. "Now, or your friends are dead!"
The towering guardian loomed over me, stone spear raised for a killing blow. I had seconds to decide. With a choked sob, I dove beneath the surface of the blood lake, swimming desperately toward the fountain's base.
The blood was warm and thick around me, filling my ears with whispers of the past. I surfaced, gasping, at the foot of the fountain. Above me, the guardian descended, her stone face implacable.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, though I wasn't sure who I was apologizing to—my mother, the guardians, or myself.
In that moment, I made my choice. Not for Damian, not for the Heart, but for my unborn pup. I would not die here, would not let my child perish before taking its first breath.
I felt the change ripple through me—not the painful, forced transformation Damian had triggered before, but something smoother, more natural. My own choice. My own power.
Black feathers burst from my skin, wings unfurling from my back. The blood lake parted around me as I rose, no longer the helpless woman I had been moments ago.
The guardian's spear struck where I had been standing, missing me by inches. I hovered above the blood lake, my wings beating steadily, facing the stone warrior who would kill me in the name of protection.
"I am Seraphina," I declared, my voice stronger now. "Last of the Selenia line. And I will not die today."
The guardian readied her spear for another strike. "Then prove yourself worthy of the blood that flows in your veins."
She lunged, and I knew the real battle had only just begun.