"F**k you, and your gods."
Back at the Cave
The forest was alive. Boots pounded. Hounds barked. Shouts tore through the trees. The first soldier broke through the brush, sword raised.
Aurel stood in front of Luceris, dagger drawn. He was barely conscious.
"Surrender!" the captain shouted. "By order of the crown!"
Steel glinted all around. They were surrounded.
Luceris's voice was faint. "Don't fight. It's too late."
A hound lunged. Aurel slashed low, driving it back—but a soldier grabbed her from behind, twisting the blade from her hand. She kicked, struggled—but another blow sent her crashing to her knees.
Luceris didn't resist.
They chained his hands in iron as he swayed on his feet. Aurel's eyes met his—haunted, searching—but he looked away.
The captain stepped forward, eyes fixed on the silver blood drying on Luceris's jaw.
"You'll answer to the king, Moonborn."
And just like that, it was over. They were dragged from the trees. Hauled through the night. Back to Argentum.
To answers.
To chains.
To the beginning of the end.
Castle Argentum – Lower Dungeons
The cell was carved from the mountain's gut—damp, dark, and cold. Water dripped from the ceiling like a clock counting down.
Aurel sat chained, her wrists raw, her dress in tatters.
The door groaned open.
Luceris was shoved inside between two guards. Bruised, limping—but unbroken. His eyes found hers.
Then the king entered.
Cloak trailing behind him, Haedron stood silent as he looked from Aurel to Luceris—and saw the threat.
"Speak," he said coldly. "Why are you here? Why bring your war to my kingdom?"
Luceris met his gaze.
"I didn't come to start a war," he said. "I came to stop one."
Haedron scoffed. "Is that what you call hiding with royal blood in the woods?"
Luceris straightened, even in chains.
"I'm the son of the last King of Noctavell. He died to send me here. I'm the last Moonborn. A prince without a realm."
He looked at Aurel.
"When she touched my blood... it answered. That shouldn't happen."
Haedron's stare sharpened.
Luceris continued. "My blood carries the Moonfire—the last light of our world. Somehow, she sparked it. That makes her something new. Something dangerous."
Aurel's voice cracked. "What do you mean?"
Luceris turned to her. "There's something inside you that isn't human. That's why you were marked by the Moonfire—and why its power chose you."
Then back to Haedron.
"And that makes her a beacon. They'll come for her."
"Who?" Aurel asked, her voice barely audible.
He didn't flinch.
"The Veilborn."
The word hung like frost in the air.
"They came from the darkest, most evil realm of all—the place where all shadows hide. The Realm Veil, they move from world to world. Devouring. Consuming."
He paused. His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Noctavell has fallen. Earth could be next."
The king's jaw tightened. "Save us? That's what you expect me to believe?"
Luceris's voice didn't waver.
"I expect you to prepare."
Then, softer, to Aurel:
"You carry the fire now. They'll feel it. They'll come."
And finally, to the king:
"Whether you trust me or not doesn't matter. When they come, you'll be buried in ashes beside the dead. And by then, it'll be too late."
---
The dungeon stank of mold and rust. Aurel sat slumped against the wall, wrists raw from the iron chains, her dress clinging damply to her skin. The mark on her palm still pulsed—silver, searing. She could feel it thrumming in her veins, as if her own blood had turned to light.
Above, the cell door creaked open.
She blinked against the sudden glare of torchlight.
Her mother stepped into the cell.
Draped in mourning blue, Queen Virelya was tall and composed, her hair coiled into a crown of braids. Behind her trailed two maids bearing clean linens and bowls of steaming water.
"Unshackle her," Virelya said. Her voice was clipped, distant.
The guards hesitated, then obeyed. Aurel winced as the cuffs were removed. The maids moved quickly, guiding her to her feet.
"Why are you here?" Aurel croaked.
"The king wants answers," her mother replied. "And we do not present daughters in chains. "Come."
Aurel said nothing as they led her out of the cell.
Steam curled around her as warm water was poured over her skin. The maids worked in silence, scrubbing away blood and dirt. Aurel sat still, her eyes on the floor. The water that ran off her arm shimmered faintly silver.
They dressed her in a soft gray gown, simple but elegant. Her hair was brushed back, braided, pinned.
Then they led her to the dining hall.
The room was long and narrow, lit by tall candelabras. Her family sat in silence. Her father at the head—King Haedron, still armored, his expression unreadable. Her mother beside him, a goblet untouched. And Aeria—perfect, poised, her silver circlet glinting in the candlelight.
Aurel took the empty seat. The clink of cutlery was the only sound for a moment.
Then Aeria broke the quiet. "So, sister. Run far enough? Or did your fantasy finally catch up to you?"
Her voice was low, sharp. "Fantasy? You think I imagined silver blood and glowing marks?"
"I think you disgraced our house," Queen Virelya said coolly, her gaze like ice. "You fled on the Night of Ascension, our most sacred rite."
"Sacred to whom?" Aurel snapped. "I don't reject the divine, I honor the real gods. But yours?"
She took a step forward, her voice cold and trembling. "You killed daughters for your so-called gods. You're tried to sacrifice me."
She looked her mother in the eye. "Is that the god you bow to?"
A beat passed—then her voice dropped. "Then I want no part of your holiness."
Her mother stood sharply, eyes wide with fury.
Then—crack.
The slap echoed through the hall. Aurel reeled back, cheek burning.
"You blaspheme in this house," Queen Virelya said coldly. "You speak sin about Gods with no shame."
"Silence!" King Haedron's voice boomed like thunder.
That did not stop the Queen, She stepped closer, her voice seething with disdain.
"The Gods should've taken you that night, Aurel. But no, they let you live—cursed, defiled, and a disgrace to this family." Her voice was as cold as ice, each word a blade drawn to wound.. "You should have been left in the shadows, where you belong."
She couldn't breathe. The anger rose inside her like a tidal wave, drowning everything else. How could they do this to her? Her mother's words stung—she should have died that night. Anger surged, burning through her veins, consuming everything and now, she had enough.
As her mother spoke, Aurel's gaze locked onto her. Her silver eyes—pale, glowing—pierced through the distance, sharp as steel. Her breath caught as heat surged through her chest. The sigils erupted across her skin, pulsing with otherworldly light. Her hair shimmered, turning pale as moonlight.
The wind howled through the room, rattling the windows, and thunder cracked ominously outside—then, suddenly, it stopped.
Gasps filled the hall.
A cold flame snapped into her palm. Silver. Bright. Lethal.
Then, like thunder—she vanished.
And appeared directly in front of her mother.
Their eyes locked—one furious, one unyielding.
Aurel raised her hand slowly, the flame flaring higher, casting silver shadows over Queen Virelya's face. The heat rippled through the air.
Her voice dropped, sharp as a blade.
"F**k you, and your gods."
Queen Virelya barely had time to gasp.
The flame in Aurel's hand twisted violently, alive and furious. It roared up her arm, the air shimmering, the floor beneath her splintering.
In the Lower Dungeons
Far below, Luceris stirred in the dark. Shackled in silence, barely conscious, he suddenly gasped. Aurel's power rippled outward—an unseen wave that struck him like a jolt of lightning. His eyes snapped open.
The wounds across his body began to knit together. Heat surged through his chest. The chains around his wrists glowed—then cracked. He looked up, silver light gleaming in his irises.
With a shout that shook the stone, he tore free.
The dungeon door exploded off its hinges as he stepped through, fire trailing behind him.
In the Dining Hall
She was seconds from striking her mother—
—when thunder cracked.
Luceris burst into the hall in a rush of light and wind, chains still hanging from his arms. Guards were hurled aside as if swept by a storm.
He reached her in a blink.
Both hands gripped her wrist just as the flame surged.
"Aurel—stop!"
The fire raged between them.
Her eyes, wild and silver-lit, locked with his. A strangled breath caught in her throat.
Then—
The fire collapsed.
She crumpled into his arms, unconscious, the power draining from her like the last flicker of a dying star.
Silence gripped the room.
Luceris stood tall, holding her close.
"She's marked now," he said to the stunned room. "She carries the fire. And if we don't stand with her… it won't be the gods you'll need to fear."
King Haedron's face twisted with fury. "Seize him!" he bellowed.
Guards surged forward.
Luceris didn't wait.
With a flash of silver light, he vanished—taking Aurel with him.