The first thing Riven felt was the cold.
It wasn't the cold of weather, it was the kind that came from marble and silence, the kind that lived in places untouched by the sun. His wrists were bound in chains carved with runes. His throat burned.
When he opened his eyes, the world bled crimson.
He was in a throne hall made of ruin and beauty ,black stone veins glowing faintly like heartbeats beneath frost. The ceiling arched high above, painted with ancient wars. At the end of the hall sat a throne forged of bone and obsidian.
And upon it ;Seraphine.
Her gown flowed like spilled ink. The moonlight from a broken window kissed her skin, pale as frost and almost translucent. She did not look like a queen; she looked like a sin that learned how to smile.
Riven's voice was hoarse.
"Why am I alive?"
Seraphine's ruby eyes studied him; not with warmth, but with fascination.
"You're not," she said softly. "Not entirely."
Riven pulled at the chains. "Then finish what you started."
She rose from the throne, each step echoing against the marble. "You think I would waste something as exquisite as you?"
He glared. "You call this… exquisite?" He bared his claws, half-human, half-wolf. "I'm your enemy."
Seraphine stopped before him. Her scent 'cold roses and iron' brushed against his breath.
"Enemy?" she whispered. "My dear hybrid, you are my mirror."
He laughed bitterly. "You drank the sun dry. You burned my mother. You slaughtered my kind. Don't speak to me of mirrors."
Her eyes flickered, a small fracture in her perfect calm. "Your mother died for love. You think I burned her? No. I envied her."
The words struck like a blade. "Liar."
"Truth," she murmured. "Shhh go wee loved your father so fiercely that even the gods flinched. And when she bore you, the world changed. You are proof that the old laws are dying. Wolf and man, blood and light, life and death — all tangled in one fragile heartbeat."
Riven stared at her, his breath uneven. "Then what do you want from me?"
Seraphine's smile curved — slow, dark, hungry.
"I want to end the hunger. The curse. The war."
She leaned close, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I want your blood."
He stiffened. "So that's it. You keep me alive to feed on me."
Her fingers brushed his cheek,cold, gentle, devastating. "Not feed. Merge."
He froze. "Merge?"
"Two halves of eternity," she said, eyes glowing brighter. "Your blood carries both beast and man. Mine — pure vampire. Together, they form what the prophecy calls the third dawn. The night that never ends nor begins."
Riven met her gaze, defiant. "You think I'll let you use me?"
"You already are used," she whispered, brushing her lips close to his ear. "By the wolves who fear you. By the gods who abandoned you. By the ghosts that whisper your name. At least I offer you truth."
Riven's chains rattled as he turned away. "Truth from a liar is just another curse."
Seraphine's voice hardened, steel under silk.
"You think you can fight what you are? You will either rule beside me or be hunted by both worlds until your name is dust."
Riven's amber eye met her crimson one.
"Then let them hunt," he said quietly. "I was born from ruin. I know how to burn."
For a heartbeat, silence reigned. Then Seraphine smiled not with malice, but with something far more dangerous. Admiration.
"Then burn for me, Riven Kael," she whispered. "And let the world see what fire truly means.".
The torches flared to life, as if obeying her command. The shadows danced.
Somewhere deep beneath the citadel, something ancient began to stir... the sound of chains breaking.