Kael remained on his knees.Fingers knotted in split stone.His golden eyes, reddened, shone with a troubled gleam.
A tear slid down his cheek.He didn't even try to wipe it away.
— … I'm sorry.
His voice trembled.Broken.Almost strangled.
— I should have listened to you…
Silence pressed down.Thick.Saturated with his ragged breath.
Thana watched him.Her halo wavered, fragile, but her gaze stayed firm.She said nothing.She waited.
Kael clenched his teeth.His fists shook, smeared with dried blood.Every fiber of him still vibrated with the remnants of that consumed Magia.
He inhaled.Long.As if to anchor himself again.
Then lifted his head, eyes still wet.
He opened his mouth—ready to apologize again.
But Thana cut him off.
— In the end, you did the right thing.
Kael blinked, stunned.His breath paused.
— Because thanks to your mistake… I now know where your blood comes from.Which demonic lineage you descend from.
She paused.Her halo vibrated with icy intensity.
— And that means that from now on, we'll know where to look.How to help you control it.How to get answers.
Kael gaped.He didn't understand.Not at once.His thoughts were still fogged.His body still shook.
— Your lineage is vampiric, Kael.
Silence fell like a blade.
— I don't know if it's from your father… or your mother.But it's there.In your blood.
— And before we go any further—listen carefully, Kael.
Forget stakes.Forget garlic.Crosses.Holy water.
All those absurdities humans tell themselves…if you believe them, I will actually be angry.
— As for blood, however…
I have little information, but that part is partly true.
Vampiric abilities rely on it.They require blood.Often in large quantities.
Even pure-blood vampires—the ones whose blood eclipses every other race—are not exempt.
Their blood generation is richer, denser, yes.But still insufficient if they use their gifts regularly.In wartime, for instance, that limit becomes a chasm.
— But the clichés of your world stop there!
No divine curse.No cross.No murderous sun.All that… is human fable.
Here, only one truth exists:your blood.And what it can sustain.
Thana drew closer.Her halo pulsed with firm, undeniable intent.
— So now, listen closely.
Promise me…you will never again willingly absorb that much demonic Magia without my consent.
Her voice snapped like a blade.Not a request.An order.
Then, lower, graver:
— And in exchange… I make you a promise, Kael.To find someone able to teach you to absorb it properly.To channel it.To use it… without letting it destroy you.
Thana held his gaze a moment.Kael lowered his head, unable to meet it longer.A shadow crossed his eyes.A veil of bleakness.
She sighed softly.Then, more measured:
— As for the inhalation and exhalation process… you managed it perfectly, given that you deliberately kept the demonic Magia.
Kael flinched.His fists tightened on his knees.He did not answer.
— I don't need to teach you more, Thana went on.And you don't need to keep practicing it.
Her tiny eyes shone with sober resolve.
— Because during your frenzy… even while fighting, you continued.The intake.And the filtering.
Silence weighed between them.Kael barely raised his head, still lost.
— So for now… we stop here.Just recover physically.We'll continue… later.
But then—perhaps because calm had finally settled—Kael heard it.
A hubbub.A metallic crash.Chains clashing in every direction.
He frowned.His breath snagged.He didn't understand.Why now?Why the sudden uproar?
Thana spoke before he could ask.Her voice cracked—firm, assured:
— Kael, the reason is simple.
Her halo flashed cold.
— It was the Magia that smothered the noise.It acted as an insulator, a veil.
She held his eyes.
— Now that it's been absorbed…nothing masks their presence anymore.
A sharper chime rang out just behind them.Kael stiffened.His skin prickled.
— So, said Thana, the moment has come.It's time to free them.
The clangor still rolled—dull, oppressive.Kael clenched his fists, golden eyes fixed on the corridor's darkness.
— Then… what's the plan?
Thana did not hedge.— We advance.We reach the gaols.And we choose the order in which we free the souls.
Kael frowned.— Free them—fine… but what guarantees they won't attack me at once?
Thana lowered her eyes slightly.Her halo flickered, taut.— Nothing guarantees it.But that's the rule here.You break the seals.And you accept the consequences.
Silence thickened.Only the crash of chains filled the air.
Kael inhaled.Long.Then nodded.— Let's go, then.
He took a step.The corridor opened before them, pulsing with damp, ringing like a pit.His boots crushed the gleaming stone.
And at the very moment he crossed the threshold—
A burn flared across his shoulder.The dark mark began to thrum.Then to warp.
Kael grimaced, breath torn.The pain pulsed once—and a shape emerged.
Moving ink, liquid.Fluid shadows peeling away from his skin.
Umbra.
His shadow-body unfurled before them, rising from the tattoo on Kael's shoulder as if it had always been waiting for this moment.
The shadow spread before them.Umbra.But his voice… had nothing human in it.
A flood of guttural sounds filled the air.Deep.Rough.As if the stone itself were speaking.
Kael froze.Each syllable slid across his ears without yielding meaning.
— … Umbra?
He clenched his fists, frustrated.But Thana understood.Her halo tightened; its glow wavered.
She listened to the end.Without a word.
Then breathed out—slow, grave:
— He gave you a choice.
Kael lifted his head, surprised.
— With each victim of your Predation…you can choose to keep it within you.Or send it… into the cycle of reincarnation.
Her voice barely trembled.
— Here, many are trapped.Deprived of the rest they were owed.And you… you hold the key to free them.
Silence fell again, suffocating.Kael lowered his eyes, breath uneven.
He didn't understand yet.But he knew he had just inherited a burden…and a power.
He stood still for a heartbeat.Golden eyes on Umbra's wavering shadow.
Then suddenly his voice broke the hush:
— … And those who don't enter the cycle of reincarnation?Where do they go?
Thana answered without a flicker of hesitation.Her voice snapped—cold, implacable:
— To Purgatory.
Kael went rigid.His eyes widened.
A glacial shiver climbed his spine.
The underlevel's silence thickened, broken only by the clink of chains.
— … Purgatory?
Thana did not reply.Her dark gaze slid aside.As if saying the word once was enough.
The ground quivered faintly underfoot.And from the depths, a muffled wail rose.Long.Rending.
Kael felt his heart grow heavy.As if that single word…had opened a door he would rather have left shut.
Author's NoteAny feedback, even just a few words, helps me understand how the story is landing with readers here.Feel free to drop a comment if you wish.But if you prefer to stay silent, I completely understand as well.
Thank you, and I truly hope you'll enjoy what I've prepared for what's coming next.Enjoy the chapter.