The dream came again.
But it was not Kyrell this time.
Lucian stood barefoot in an endless hall made of obsidian and glass. The moon above bled silver. A throne of bone and black flame rose at the end, cracked, overgrown with ivy and time.
He knew where he was. He had never seen it before.
The Palace of the First Blood.
The voice came not as a sound, but as a tremor in his bones.
"You carry our name but deny our fire."
Lucian stepped forward, breath visible in the frozen air. "I didn't ask for it."
The flames around the throne hissed in reply.
"And yet you sit upon the world's fate."
Lucian reached out.
The moment his hand brushed the armrest of the throne, pain exploded through his spine. Symbols flared beneath his skin—runes he did not know, but had always been there, dormant.
The dream broke.
---
(Back in the Shelter)
Lucian shot upright in the cold light of early dawn.
Kyrell was already watching him, bare chest half-covered by the twisted blanket, eyes soft but alert.
"You felt it too," Lucian said, voice low.
Kyrell nodded. "The blood is waking."
Lucian ran a hand through his hair. "I saw it. The palace. The throne. It's calling to me."
Kyrell reached out, brushing a lock of hair behind Lucian's ear. "And you're afraid you'll become him."
Lucian looked away. "Silas?"
"No," Kyrell said. "Worse. Yourself."
Lucian met his gaze then. And it was as if something shifted between them.
Not fear.
Power.
---
(Meanwhile—In the Council's Hidden Chamber)
Renak sat down with the council members..
"The seal is real."
The elders stared.
"The First Blood still runs. He's not just a rogue descendant. He's the heir.do you all understand what it means".
One elder—the oldest of them all, with hollowed eyes like winter's dusk—leaned forward.
"And if the line is restored, the curse returns."
"Not just the curse," another whispered. "The war we buried."
They looked at the sigil again.
Burned into the edge of the letter Silas had hidden in his private vault:
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘨
The elders stood as one.
"We kill him," someone said.
Renak didn't answer. He stared at the seal.
And then murmured under his breath—
"He's not who I thought he was."
---
(Kyrell and Lucian)
Later that night, Lucian sat beneath the stars. His shirt undone, the moonlight painting his collarbone.
Kyrell stepped behind him, wrapped his arms around Lucian's chest, pulling him into his warmth.
"You're still shaking," he whispered.
"It's not fear," Lucian murmured. "It's fury."
Kyrell kissed the nape of his neck, tongue flicking lightly across his skin. "Then let it burn through me."
Lucian turned. They kissed slow this time. Reverent. But there was no innocence left.
Kyrell straddled his hips, lips roaming down Lucian's chest.
"I'll kneel for you," he whispered against his stomach, "before anyone calls you King."
Lucian's voice was breathless. "Don't kneel."
He dragged Kyrell up and pinned him beneath him. "Stand with me."
And with teeth and tongue and whispered promises, Lucian reminded Kyrell that some thrones are taken not by blood—but by desire.
---
(Far Away – The Awakening)
The First King walked barefoot through the forgotten corridors of his buried palace.
He had no eyes, only sockets burning with cold fire.
"He is awakening," the King murmured. "And so must I."
Behind him, the spirits of those Lucian had killed began to stir.
One of them... was Silas.
---