The city that promised sanctuary had become a grave.
Salvianna realized it too late—running from one danger had led her straight into the jaws of another. And in the shadowed veins of Starteburg, something ancient was hunting.
Something that made vampires look like prey.
Three days had passed since Salvianna and Enneta arrived.
Starteburg was unlike anything they had ever seen—its towering spires clawed into the clouds, its markets pulsed with life, voices, color. But beneath it all… something was wrong.
A distortion in the air.
A presence.
Watching.
Waiting.
Enneta barely left their rented room during the first two days. She didn't eat. Didn't speak. Guilt hollowed her out from the inside. Her betrayal had cost everything—home, status, safety.
And even here, at the edge of the world… they weren't safe.
On the third night, the truth revealed itself.
Salvianna was returning from the market when a scream tore through the stone walls.
Enneta.
She ran—heart pounding, breath breaking—taking the stairs two at a time.
Then she froze.
Three figures stood over Enneta.
Their eyes burned with a sick, unnatural red in the candlelight. Vampires. Not the romantic lies whispered in taverns—these were predators. Fangs exposed. Low growls rumbling from their chests like distant thunder.
"Where is the girl?" one snarled, claws digging into the wooden table. "Salvianna. You promised to deliver her to our master."
Enneta trembled, tears streaming down her face.
"I—I don't know where she is—"
The vampire struck her.
Not enough to kill.
Just enough to remind.
"Your lover," another hissed, "was nothing but a pawn. A tool. And now that you've failed… your value is questionable."
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Perhaps your blood will suffice instead. Noble lines always taste… sweeter."
Salvianna's mind fractured.
No weapons. No magic. No chance.
Still—
She stepped forward.
Ready to die for her.
And then—
The air shattered.
A thunderous crack split the room. One of the vampires erupted into flames, his body disintegrating into ash that hung suspended before falling like black snow.
Silhouetted in the window—
Kaer.
But he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood a woman whose very presence bent reality—scales shimmering like molten gold and silver beneath the moonlight. Her eyes burned with something older than kingdoms.
Uverta.
Dragon Heir.
"You hunt in my city?" her voice echoed—silk and thunder woven together. "You dare spill Geuke blood under my watch?"
The remaining vampires turned—and for the first time—
They hesitated.
Fear.
Real fear.
One lunged toward the window—
Too slow.
Kaer moved.
Faster than thought.
Shadows wrapped around the vampire mid-air, binding him like chains forged from darkness.
The last one froze.
Calculating.
Failing.
"Your master sent you to collect a debt," Uverta said, stepping forward with slow, predatory grace. "But did he not know? The Geuke bloodline is not unguarded."
The vampire's voice broke.
"The Shadow of Death… said the old bloodlines had weakened…"
Uverta's expression darkened.
"So Kaer was right."
For a single, terrible moment—
Her form broke.
Ancient scales. Wings vast enough to eclipse the sun. Eyes that had witnessed empires rise and rot.
A dragon.
Compressed into human flesh.
The vampire didn't scream.
He simply… ceased to exist.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Absolute.
Salvianna collapsed beside Enneta, who trembled uncontrollably. Not just from pain—
But from truth.
Used. Betrayed. Broken.
Kaer approached, his expression unreadable.
"Salvianna. You made it."
"Kaer…" she whispered, breath finally returning.
"I found him at the Forsaken Mausoleum," Uverta said calmly. "The vampires were already moving through Starteburg. Hunting."
Kaer nodded.
"I knew you'd be targets."
Uverta knelt beside Enneta, her touch surprisingly gentle.
"She'll live. The vampires fed on curiosity… not intent."
But they all understood.
This wasn't random.
It was a message.
"Shadow of Death…" Kaer muttered, voice low.
"It's real."
"And it's targeting my bloodline."
Salvianna looked between them, fear tightening in her chest.
"Why? What does it want?"
Kaer's jaw clenched.
"To find out… I have to go where it all began."
A pause.
Then—
"The Forsaken Mausoleum. The burial ground of the Geuke dynasty."
Uverta's golden eyes locked onto his.
"You understand what waits there? That place is not just a tomb. It's a nexus of ancient power."
Kaer didn't hesitate.
"Then I get there first."
Salvianna grabbed his hand.
"Take me with you."
He shook his head.
"You stay here. With Enneta. Uverta will protect you."
His voice softened—just slightly.
"There are things in that place… meant only for me."
For a moment, she wanted to argue.
But something in his eyes stopped her.
Something heavy.
Uncertain.
When Kaer turned toward the window, ready to disappear into the night, he paused.
Looked back.
Just once.
And in that fleeting glance—
Salvianna saw it.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Doubt.
"Kaer…" she whispered. "Come back."
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know if he could.
The Forsaken Mausoleum was waiting.
And deep within its ancient stone halls, something had already awakened.
The Shadow of Death had been patient.
It had waited for blood.
For lineage.
For him.
Kaer wasn't walking into a ruin—
He was stepping into a trap laid generations ago.
And the truth buried there…
Would not just change him.
It would consume him.