Chapter 5: The Bloodbound Truth
The temple walls shimmered with a cold, eerie glow as ancient glyphs pulsed softly in the dark. Moss crept along the stone pillars, and the air smelled like a thousand years of forgotten blood. Kian stirred awake, lying on a stone altar engraved with symbols that seemed to whisper as his pulse returned.
He blinked against the dim torchlight overhead. For a moment, he forgot who he was, where he was, and why everything inside him burned like a curse.
Then it hit him.
The memory of almost sinking his fangs into Rai's neck—the taste of rage, confusion, and something far darker that had nearly taken over.
He sat up sharply, heart thundering. "Rai... I almost—"
A voice cut him off, light and dry. "Yeah. You did." Rai was leaning casually against the far wall, arms folded, watching him with that crooked smirk he always wore like armor.
He tossed something to Kian—a cold pouch that slapped against his chest.
Kian looked down. A sealed blood bag.
"You're going to need that, killer," Rai said. "If you want to stay conscious... or sane."
Kian hesitated. "Is this... human blood?"
Rai shrugged. "Donated. Black market. Pick your moral poison. But drink. Unless you want to go wild on your new friends again."
Kian's hand trembled. His throat burned. He hated how much his body screamed for it.
"I'm not a monster," he whispered.
"Nobody said you were. But you're not human either," Rai said, crossing the room to sit beside him on the altar's edge. "You're something in between. Or maybe something more."
Kian slowly bit into the seal. The coppery scent filled his nose, and his fangs extended instinctively. With every gulp, the haze in his mind cleared. The burn subsided.
Selene's voice echoed behind them. "You're stabilizing faster than I expected. That's good."
Kian turned. She looked pale, limping slightly, her left arm wrapped in bloodstained gauze.
"You're hurt, aren't you?" Kian said.
Selene gave a slight nod, her eyes tired but sharp. "I burned through too much energy shielding us from that Bloodhunter's last strike."
Rai reached into his bag and pulled out another blood bag, handing it to her without a word. She took it with a grateful nod and sat near a stone basin carved into the wall.
As she fed, Kian watched in silence. "So what now? What is this place?"
Selene wiped her mouth, then gestured around them. "This is the Temple of Nytheris. Named after the Firstborn—the original Nightborn. It was built by those who carried the ancient bloodlines before the Great Purge."
Kian stared at the runes along the walls. "I've seen some of these in my dreams. The flames. The voice... my mother's voice."
Selene's gaze sharpened. "Dreams... or memories?"
Kian leaned back, flashes burning through his mind—the house fire, the screams, and that one moment before he lost consciousness. His mother holding his face with trembling hands. Her eyes full of love and fear.
She had whispered to him: "Blood makes you dangerous. But love makes you strong. Be the man who controls both."
The memory slammed into him like a wave. He gasped.
Rai raised a brow. "You okay?"
Kian nodded slowly. "I think... she knew what I was. My mother. She wasn't afraid. She was warning me."
Selene stood. "Then she was part of the Bloodbound. And she gave her life to protect the last Nightborn."
Kian looked up. "The last...? You said that before. Am I really the last?"
Selene exchanged a look with Rai, then sat across from him.
"Centuries ago, the Nightborn were hunted nearly to extinction by their own kind—vampires who feared their power. The Bloodhunters were created for one purpose: to erase your bloodline. That relic you activated? It unlocked what was sleeping inside you."
Rai leaned forward, fingers steepled. "You're not just a vampire, Kian. You're something older. Deeper. You're connected to this temple, to the Firstborn. You're... a beginning. Or an end."
Silence settled over them. Only the torches crackled.
Kian's breath caught. "Why me? I didn't ask for any of this."
Selene said, "You didn't have to. Destiny has a taste for the reluctant."
Rai added with a wink, "Plus, the fangs suit you."
Kian gave a weak chuckle, rubbing his temples. He hated how much sense it all made... and how fast everything had changed.
Suddenly, he froze.
The scent.
Blood.
So close.
His pupils dilated. Fangs extended again. The bag had helped, but now the hunger was surging back stronger—more primal. He could hear Rai's heartbeat. Smell Selene's still-healing wounds.
He gripped the altar, knuckles white.
Rai noticed instantly. "Kian. Breathe."
"I... I can't—"
Rai stood slowly. "You're stronger now. But that means the hunger is too."
Kian lunged forward, eyes red, fangs bared.
Rai caught him mid-air, holding him in a firm but unafraid grip.
"Easy, killer," Rai said, voice steady. "I'm not on the menu."
Kian snarled, shaking.
"Fight it," Rai whispered, his hands firm on Kian's shoulders. "You're not a beast. You're not like them. You choose who you become."
Kian shuddered, forcing himself back. The red in his eyes slowly faded.
He dropped to his knees, gasping, ashamed.
Selene watched silently, then stood and faced the glyph-covered wall.
"We have to begin the Bloodbound Ritual," she said. "Or he won't survive the transformation."
Kian looked up, still panting. "What's the Bloodbound Ritual?"
Selene's eyes met his. "The truth of who you are... and what you must become."