Romane von Amjiyeon

The rumble of falling stone died down, replaced by a suffocating silence. The air grew thin, heavy with the stench of damp earth, thick dust, and the rancid bite of dark magic. The shield of darkness I’d cast seconds before the tomb collapsed was still holding, pulsing with a faint crimson glow, our only light inside this cramped stone pocket. "Cough... cough!" Simon’s coughing shattered the quiet. "Is everyone... still alive?" "I'm here," Alaric called out, his voice low and winded. I could hear the scraping of steel as he shoved a massive rock off his leg. "Simon, Rose... you guys okay?" "I made it," Simon whispered. "But Rose... she’s not responding. She’s just huddled up, hugging her knees." I tried to move, but something heavy was pinning my chest down. Not a stone, it was Kaelith’s body. He was still holding me close, as if he’d been completely ready to trade his own life just to make sure not a single piece of rubble touched my skin. "Kael..." I breathed. My hands, still

The sound of our voice, sent a shiver down my spine, even as the dark energy humming through my veins tried to numb the terror. It sounded like velvet laced with winter frost, overlapping perfectly with a deeper, ancient resonance that didn't belong to me. Kaelith flinched as if I’d struck him. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened so hard his knuckles turned white, the blade trembling against the stone floor. He looked at me, desperately searching my eyes for the girl he had spent the last few weeks protecting. "Vael..." he choked out again, his voice cracking under the weight of a heartbreak four centuries in the making. "Please." "Get away from her, Kaelith!" Lucien hissed from his knees beside me, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism as he glared at Kaelith. "She is no longer your little human plaything. She belongs to the dark. She belongs to us." "Shut up," I said. The command snapped out effortlessly. The sheer malice behind the words came from the dormant entity tha

"Vaelora, don't!" Kaelith’s voice was raw, laced with a desperation that cut me to the bone. From the corner of my eye, I watched his body get thrown back yet again as he slammed ruthlessly against the translucent red barrier trapping me. Lucien’s black chains kept binding his arms and legs, forcing him down onto the cold stone floor. Every single time he tried to stand, the chains clamped tighter, sending up plumes of black smoke that burned through his armor and sizzled against his skin. I sobbed, staring down at my shaking hands. The mark on my neck felt like a branding iron being shoved straight through my flesh. The pain was so white-hot it blurred my vision with tears. "Good... come closer, Vaelora..." the voice in my head whispered again, growing louder, celebrating every single inch of ground I gave up. "Take back what belongs to us." "Vael, get away from the altar!" Alaric yelled from somewhere in the chaos. I stole a quick glance over my shoulder. The back of the

The room went dead silent. I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice. "Seal?" Simon hurriedly flipped through his book with shaking hands. His face went completely pale, entirely drained of color. "No... no way..." "What does it say, Simon?!" Alaric demanded, losing his patience. Simon pointed to a page featuring a drawing of the black coffin we had found earlier. Beneath the illustration was a line of ancient text, which he translated in a trembling voice: "The blood of the First Bride shall open the Final Gate." I froze. The first bride... Rose. "Rose, aren't you—" But Lucien shook his head slowly, shutting down my theory. "No." Every eye in the room—including Rose’s—snapped to him. "Not Rose," Lucien said firmly. I frowned, completely bewildered. "Then who? History says Rose was the bride who was sacrificed!" Lucien smiled thinly, his gaze practically stripping my soul bare. "You are the real First Bride." My body locked up like stone. "That's impossible! Rose i

Vaelora's POV "...It’s been a long time, Vaelora." The man’s voice echoed softly, but every single word hit my chest like a sledgehammer. I froze. He knew me. And he didn't just know the *current* me. His gaze cut right through my flesh, staring straight at a soul that had lived hundreds of years ago. Instinct kicked in. Kaelith stepped right in front of me, using his body as a solid shield. "Don't look at her," Kaelith said, his voice dropping to absolute zero. The man in the black robe gave a faint, amused smile. "Still the same as always. Always putting yourself between her and the world." His cold eyes flicked over to Kaelith. I grabbed Kaelith’s arm, my fingers digging into his sleeve. "Kael... who is he?" Kaelith didn't answer right away. I could feel every muscle in his body lock up, completely ready for a fight-to-the-death. Meanwhile, Rose was glaring at the man with a hatred so pure it could kill. "Lucien..." The name tore from Rose’s lips, dripping with pure

"You two have a child?!" Rose suddenly let out a yell, talking to Kaelith and me. Her voice echoed throughout the basement, and she looked totally shocked. I had no idea what had startled her. Did she really have to react like that just because I was carrying Kaelith's child? I was still trying to fight off the nausea, so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The longer I was there, the more nervous I got. "Vaelora," Kaelith put his arm around my shoulders, holding me steady as I suddenly bent over and covered my mouth. "I'm doing well, Kael. It's just that my stomach's doing a lot more churning." "Vaelora, if you really can't take it anymore, just throw up," Alaric told me. "I can still hold it in." Rose was still looking back and forth between us, pointing at me and Kaelith in turn. I thought she was being a bit over the top. "A child?" "Yeah," Kaelith replied casually. "A child?" Rose repeated. "Yes." "A CHILD?!" Kaelith massaged his temples; honestly, I thought Ros