The pact with the Skyborne changed everything.
News of it raced faster than flame.
The kingdoms reeled. The witches whispered. The nobles began to doubt. Even the demon clans, once silent now stirred with unease.
For if the winds stood with Seraphira, then so too might the balance shift.
But before a Queen could claim the world, she had to claim the darkness.
The Underworld would not yield by prophecy alone.
It demanded its tithe.
At the Hollow...
Vaerik came to Seraphira in the middle of the night, his voice carrying the weight of a summons older than kingdoms.
"The Devil King requests your presence."
"Not as Queen. Not as flame."
"But as his match."
She didn't flinch.
I knew this moment would come.
Vaerik's golden eyes glowed faintly. "There is a ritual. Ancient. Binding. It is called the Tithe of Shadows."
What is the price? she asked.
He bowed his head.
"A piece of your soul."
The Gates of the Underworld yawned open for her alone.
Not with screams. Not with fire.
But with silence.
Seraphira descended into the dark with her cloak trailing like smoke, the spiral on her wrist dimmed to a faint red ember.
The walls pulsed. The stone groaned.
And at the end of the path stood Kaelreth.
Wreathed in black. Crownless. Bare-footed. Waiting.
Not as a king.
But as a man who knew what it meant to walk alone.
You've come, he said softly.
I had to.
Do you know what this means?
Seraphira nodded. If I offer the tithe, our souls will be bound. I will carry your shadow, and you… my flame.
Kaelreth stepped closer. And if you refuse?
I walk without darkness. And the kingdoms fall apart from fear of it.
He reached for her hand.
She did not pull away.
Then choose, he whispered.
Not as the world demands.
But as your heart does.
Seraphira looked into his eyes and saw everything:
The war. The prophecy. The breaking. The becoming.
Herself, not as queen or pawn but as equal.
And finally, she said:
I choose.
"I accept the shadow. Not to be ruled by it but to balance it."
Kaelreth raised his palm.
Seraphira raised hers.
And where their hands met, the world trembled.
The spiral on her wrist split, forming a second ring of darkness within the flame.
And on Kaelreth's chest, just above his heart, a spiral of fire bloomed beneath the skin, marking him in return.
A bond.
A pact.
Not of chains or crowns.
But of truth.
When Seraphira rose again to the Hollow…
The witches bowed deeper.
The Skyborne descended to meet her.
Even the human lords fell silent.
For she no longer carried just the mark of flame.
She bore the Tithe of Shadows.
And with it, the right to rule both realms.
🌑 In the Underworld…
Kaelreth stood alone again, watching her image fade from the pool.
Malkor approached slowly.
Are you certain this was wise?
Kaelreth's eyes glowed faintly.
"It was not wise."
"It was destiny."