The City Beneath the Stone — The Vampire Court
The throne hall was carved into the spine of a dead mountain. No torches burned here — only bloodlight, filtered through veins of red crystal that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Caelum stood before the throne.
He did not bow.
Around him, five vampires watched in silence, each older than empires. They wore shadow like robes. Their eyes burned in different hues — silver, ember, rusted gold, and one, pure white.
On the obsidian throne lounged Lord Valtar, sovereign of the Court.
He smiled like a wolf. "Caelum. The oathbreaker returns."
Caelum's voice was steady. "I was summoned."
"And you obeyed. Curious." Valtar rose, descending the steps. "Did the witch send you? Or has she finally broken you?"
"I don't answer to the Court anymore."
"You never stopped," another vampire murmured — Syrine, black-veiled and dust-pale. "You carry its blood. Its curse. Its will."
"I carry choice," Caelum snapped.
A third, broader than the rest, leaned forward. Irikos, the Butcher of Halrow. "And yet the prophecy stirs again. Seals break. The Order is moving. And you shelter the witch who is key to all of it?"
Caelum met their eyes, one by one. "I protect what the Court is too afraid to understand."
"You forget," Valtar said coldly, "fear is a privilege of the living."
Then came the formal decree:
"Your blood is summoned. Your will is demanded. Will you kneel?"
Caelum's fangs pressed into his tongue. He whispered, "No."
In an instant, three vampires blurred forward—vanished again.
Only Valtar stood still.
"Then you are rogue once more," he said, voice soft. "But don't mistake your exile for freedom."
Ash Circle — The Child and the Flame
Tovin had wandered too close to the well of echoes — where forbidden spells whispered back.
Elira found him kneeling at the rim, dazed, eyes shimmering with magic that didn't belong to him.
She yanked him back just as a shimmer of glyphs lit the inside of the stone.
Vessa rushed in moments later, fury barely hidden. "He could've died."
"He was called," Elira said. "Not curious."
Vessa narrowed her eyes. "By what?"
Later, in Naerina's chamber, the mood was heavy.
Elira sat, arms crossed, still shaken. "I need answers."
Naerina folded her hands. "What you need is patience. Answers won't save you from what's coming."
"Tovin found something. I saw a glyph—"
"The fifth seal?" Naerina interrupted.
Elira froze.
Naerina continued, "It's not here. But its echo is. That's what called him."
Elira leaned forward. "Then where is it?"
Naerina only smiled faintly. "That's the question even the prophecy feared."
Beyond the wards — in shadow
Vireya crouched on the edge of the Ash Circle, cloak drawn tight, watching the coven's tower. She'd seen Tovin stumble. She'd seen Elira return alone.
She whispered to her blade, "Too close."
Then her eyes shifted — and for a heartbeat, she saw a second shadow at the treeline.
A figure in silence. No scent. No breath.
The Silent One watched her… before vanishing.
Vireya's hand tightened.
She'd seen it before — in a ruin Caelum had once burned to the ground.
And whatever it wanted with Elira, it had waited far too long.
Back in the Court, Caelum walked alone through obsidian tunnels.
He touched the wall once — and blood shimmered beneath it, forming a rune.
A symbol of prophecy.
A mirror of the one Elira had seen in the archives.
Only this one was broken — as if someone had tried to rewrite fate and failed.
He muttered under his breath, "It's beginning."
And not even he knew what it would become