**Mark of Blood Chapter 8 The First Memory**
The crypt walls bled as they moved deeper.
Not water—thick, dark blood welled between the stones, running in rivulets along grooves carved centuries ago for this exact purpose. Keth's boots left crimson footprints as they followed Valtheris through the winding passages.
"You've been here before," Keth said.
Valtheris didn't turn. "I watched this place being built."
The admission hung between them as the tunnel opened into a circular chamber. No skeletons here—just an empty dais at the center, surrounded by seven arches. Six were sealed with stone. The seventh gaped open like a hungry mouth.
Keth's Mark flared. The pain dropped them to one knee.
Valtheris was at their side in an instant. "Fight it. The first memory is always the worst."
"Why?" Keth gasped.
"Because it's the one that killed you the first time."
The vision struck like a hammer blow.
_Keth stood on a battlefield under twin moons, wearing armor that wasn't theirs. Before them stretched an army of creatures with too many eyes and shifting forms. At their side, a younger Valtheris—hair shorter, face unlined by centuries—readied his blade._
_"Remember," the younger Valtheris said. "No matter what happens, you have to remember."_
_Then the gate opened._
_The thing that came through wore human skin poorly. It smiled with the woman's face—the same face Keth had seen in the earlier vision—and spoke a single word that shattered the sky._
Keth screamed back into the present. They were on the ground, writhing, Valtheris pinning their shoulders.
"Breathe," the vampire ordered. "It's not real anymore."
But it was. The memory clung like cobwebs. Keth grabbed Valtheris's wrist. "I died. You watched me die."
Valtheris's expression didn't change. "You've died seven times. I've buried you in six different worlds." He stood, pulling Keth up with him. "The Mark always brings you back. Always chooses someone new to carry the memory."
The howls were closer now. Rhis's voice rang through the tunnels, twisted with rage. "You can't outrun the moon, bloodsucker!"
Valtheris turned toward the open arch. "We're not running." He drew his shadow blade. "We're finishing what you started three hundred years ago."
The Mark burned in agreement.
Keth touched their chest, feeling the echo of countless heartbeats. "What if I don't want to remember?"
Valtheris smiled his knife-edged smile. "Then the next person who bears the Mark will suffer instead."
The first werewolf burst into the chamber.
Keth made their choice.
They stepped through the arch.