đ” "The Host of Seraphim" by Dead Can Dance
(Haunting, divine sorrowâperfect for the unraveling of Kyrell's mind and Lucian's fury.)
---
The dreams had changed.
No longer warm or soft or wrapped in the scent of Lucian's cloak. Now they pulsed with warningâsmoke rising from charred wings, whispering voices he could almost name. In one, Kyrell stood on a cliff of white bone, and Lucian was far below, drowning in a sea of black fire.
He woke with a gasp.
Still bound. Still in Damien's shelter, deep beneath roots and forgotten wards.
"You dreamt of him again, didn't you?" Damien asked from across the chamber. He wasn't sleeping. He never did.
Kyrell didn't answer.
"I remember when you used to dream of me," Damien said, voice too calm. "Back when we used to burn things together. You weren't soft then."
Kyrell pulled against the binds. "Is this what you wanted? For me to forget him?"
"No," Damien said, slowly rising. "I want you to remember who you were before he bled into you like poison."
He approached, crouching beside Kyrell's pale figure. "He's made you weak. I'm giving you back to yourself."
Kyrell didn't flinch. But his eyes were changingâturning darker, ancient.
"Then why," Kyrell murmured, "am I still dreaming of him every night?"
---
Back in the heart of the castle, Lucian no longer whispered.
He roared.
Three council halls trembled under his voice, and those who once questioned his loyalty now questioned their survival. Elder Renak stood silent as Lucian shoved a map across the chamber table.
"He's being hidden. And not by fate. Someone moved him."
"Damien?" Renak asked cautiously.
Lucian's voice cracked like ice. "If he took Kyrellâthen Damien has declared war."
There was something new in Lucian's eyes. A flame not even time had dared stoke. The old powerâthe one he had sealed awayâwas beginning to resurface.
A shadow slipped from his wrist, darker than night itself.
"Summon the specters," he ordered. "The ones bound to my blood. We'll tear through every forgotten inch of this kingdom until I find him."
Renak hesitated. "And the Council?"
"They'll kneel or burn," Lucian said. "I'm done asking."
---
MeanwhileâŠ
In a quiet room veiled in red silk and tension, Mara lit a candle and stared into the flame.
"So⊠you saw him leave?"
The boy across from herâyoung, tremblingânodded. "Yes, my lady. Damien left with the prisoner. Slipped through the east wall."
Mara's lips curled. "Then it wasn't me who betrayed Lucian, was it?"
She waved her hand. "Leave. Forget we spoke."
The boy vanished into the shadows.
Mara's hands trembled as she brought them to her chest. "Let's see how long your love lasts, Lucian," she whispered. "Let's see how far you're willing to bleed for a boy who only haunts you."
---
And in a place no sunlight touched, Kyrell closed his eyes again.
This time the dream came in fire.
Lucian stood over a pyre, blade in hand, crown of bones on his brow.
And behind him⊠the voice returned.
But this time it didn't whisper.
It screamed.
---