The passage yawned before them, its walls slick with damp stones that glistened faintly in the dying crimson glow. The air that seeped from it was cold, sharp as broken glass, and it carried the faint tang of iron.
Kael's grip tightened on Veindrinker as he stepped into the tunnel first. Every sense screamed that they were walking into something older than any trial the Vale had thrown at them so far.
Rayne followed close, her dagger flickering with weak firefight. Her voice was low, strained. "The ancients bow, yet the path still opens? This is no victory, it's an invitation."
Kael glanced back at her, his jaw set. "Then we accept it, and we end it before it ends us."
The tunnel sloped downward, spiraling into darkness. Strange markings etched the stone, old as the bones of the world, their edges worn smooth by centuries. Some pulsed faintly, alive with a buried light that illuminated fragments of the murals: kings kneeling in chains, queens burning at the stake, armies drowned in rivers of blood.
Rayne's hand hovered above one of the carvings, not touching it. Her face was shadowed, her voice tight. "I've seen this symbols before. My mother spoke of then. They belonged to the Ashen bloodlines, the ones accused of breaking the first crown."
Kael slowed, the mark on his chest aching at her words. "And your clan paid the price."
Her eyes flicked toward him, sharp and bitter. "Paid, and burned. By your family's court."
The words struck like a blade. Kael looked away, throat tight, though his voice remained steady. "You think my blood chose that?"
"I think your blood carries the weight of it," she said coldly.
The silence between them deepened, heavier than the tunnel itself.
Then the markings ahead glowed brighter, casting a harsh light over a chamber that widened suddenly, revealing an altar of black stone. Upon it lay a body, shriveled but intact, crowned with rusted iron.
Kael stopped, his breath caught. "Not possible," he whispered. "That's... my grandfather."
The corpse lay still, its flesh drawn tight against bone, lips peeled back from teeth in a silent snarl. Rusted iron cling to its skull like a broken halo.
Kael stepped forward, Veindrinker humming faintly in his grip. His mark burned hotter with each step, pulling him closer ad though his blood recognized what lay upon the altar.
Rayne's dagger lifted, her voice sharp. "Do not touch it!!"
Kael's eyes narrowed. "That is my grandfather. He died before I was born. He should not be here."
The corpse's empty sockets flickered with a faint red glow. The air turned heavier, pressing against their chest until every breath hurt.
Rayne whispered, more to herself than to him. "Forgotten blood does not stay buried. It stains everything it touches."
The corpse's jaw cracked open. A whisper seeped out, brittle as ash.
"Blood of my blood. You carry the curse I could not end."
Kael staggered back, heart hammering. "It speaks."
Rayne's face hardened, fury and fear mixing in her eyes. "This is what your line does. It binds the dead, twists the living, and calls it destiny."
Kael shook his head, voice raw. "I did not choose this."
The corpse shifted, bones groaning against the altar. Its voice grew stronger, though still broken
"The Hollow Queen chained me. The Ashen blood cursed me. You will finish what I could not."
The chamber shuddered. The runes on the walls blazed red, light crawling toward the altar as if feeding it.
Rayne's flame flared. "We should burn it before it rises."
Kael's hand shot out, blocking her path. His voice was firm though his chest ached. "If this is truly my blood, I need to know what it carries."
Her eyes narrowed, staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and distrust. "And if it damns us both?"
The corpse sat up, rusted crown slipping down its skull. Its gaze, hollow yet burning, turned to both of them.
"Blood and fire. Heir and witch. Bound, cursed, forgotten. The throne waits."
The altar cracked beneath it.
The altar split as the corpse rose. Dust and shards of black stone fell away as it stood, taller than Kael remembered from faded painting, its frame stretched thin by centuries of decay. The rusted crown clung to its skull, glowing faintly with the crimson fire.
Kael lifted Veindrinker, his breath heavy. "Grandfather...."
The corpse's voice boomed, filling the chamber with brittle echoes.
"I was king, and I was broken. I bled for the crown and it chained me still. Now you carry it. Blood can not flee blood."
The mark across Kael's chest flared, forcing him to his knees. His sword trembled in his grip, eager, almost desperate, as if it longed to pierce its old master.
Rayne stepped forward, fire roaring from her dagger. Her eyes blazed with fury. "This is what I warned you about. Your family poisons everything. Even in death it rises again to chain the living."
Kael forced himself upright, his jaw set against the pain. "This is not my doing."
The corpse's empty socket turned towards Rayne. Its voice shifted, softer, almost coaxing.
"Daughter of Ashen fire. Do you not see? Your clan burned because the bloodlines refused the bond. They chose rebellion. They chose ruin."
Rayne froze. Her flame flickered, her knuckles white on the dagger hilt. "You lie!"
Kael's stomach twisted. He knew the wounds of her past, the weight she carried against him. He saw it now, raw in her eyes, and hated that his.... this thing used it to drive them apart.
The corpse's hands lifted, bone fingers curling like talons. Crimson fire surged through the chamber.
"Prove the bond, or die forgotten."
Kael leapt, Veindrinker blazing, and met the strike. Sparks and fire erupted as steel clashed against bone. Rayne hurled her flames, joining the fight despite the rage twisting her features.
Yet even as they fought together, the distance between them widened, filled with doubt and fury. And the corpse fed on it.
The corpse's claw struck like blades. Kael caught the blow with Veindrinker, the impact jarring through his bones. Sparks of crimson fire leapt from the clash, lighting the chamber with a sickly glow.
Rayne's flame surged, wrapping around the corpse's rib, burning deep into the shriveled flesh. Yet even as the body charred, it did not fall. The voice of the dead king boomed through the chamber.
"I carried the crown and it chained me. You are no different, boy. Accept it, and the bond will break before it damns you both."
Kael's knees buckled as the mark across his chest burned hotter, a weight pressing him to the stone. For a heartbeat, he almost yielded. He almost believed that surrendering to the bloodline would free them both.
Then he saw Rayne. Her fire wavered as she fought, her body trembling with the strain, her eyes locked on him. In them he saw not only mistrust but defiance, the refusal to bow to fate. And he knew he could not bow either.
His voice tore from his throat, hoarse but unbroken. "I am not your heir. I am not your chain."
Veindrinker blazed crimson, answering his defiance he swung hard, the blade drinking the corpse's fire, tearing through the chest where the crown's glow burned brightest.
Rayne cried out, her flame joining his strike, blue and crimson fire fusing in a storm that split the altar itself.
The corpse screamed, a sound that shook the chamber, then collapsed into ash. The rusted crown fell, clattering against stone before dissolving into dust.
Silence followed, broken only by Kael's ragged breath. He dropped to one knee, Veindrinker dimming.
Rayne lowered her dagger, flames fading. She looked at him, her expression unreadable, though her voice was quiet. "You chose to fight it."
He met her gaze, sweat streaking his brow. "I chose not to let it own me."
For a moment, something flickered between them. Not trust, not yet. But the first crack in the wall that separated them
The runes along the chamber wall dimmed. The split altar sank into the floor, revealing a dark passage yawning beyond. From its depths came a whisper, soft yet clear.
"The next crown waits."