Chapter 109: Whispers in the Stone

The black fortress loomed before them like a jagged scar on the landscape, an impossible structure that seemed to drink the light rather than reflect it. No torches burned along its walls. No flags waved. And yet, the presence pulsing from within was suffocating—alive, aware.

Serena’s heart thudded painfully in her chest.

Every step closer felt like she was walking into the mouth of something ancient, something that had waited centuries just for her. The crest carved into the upper spire of the fortress wasn’t just her mother’s. Now that they were closer, Serena could see the delicate embellishments around it—symbols from an older time, an ancient bloodline buried by history.

Her own.

“It’s reacting to you,” Elias murmured beside her. His eyes were locked on the sealed archway ahead, where faint glowing lines pulsed like veins. “Your presence is… awakening something.”

Serena didn't respond immediately. The fortress was speaking, not in words, but in memory. Visions flickered at the edge of her mind—a woman in white robes, fire in her hands, her laugh echoing across marble halls. A golden crown. A betrayal. A blade drenched in magic and blood.

Her mother.

Zara broke the silence. “The entrance—it’s not closed. It's waiting.”

They crossed the boundary of twisted obsidian and stepped into the fortress yard. Serena half-expected an ambush, more of those shadow wraiths, but the silence was worse. It was as if the fortress had swallowed the world.

The gate, once seamless, creaked open without a touch. The stone folded inward like it had a mind of its own.

“Stay sharp,” Elias ordered, motioning for the team to fan out in a defensive arc.

As they moved inside, torches along the hallway ignited in a wave of blue flame. The air turned colder, but the light cast no shadows.

“This place…” Theron whispered, eyes wide. “It wasn’t just built with magic. It is magic.”

Serena led the way, her hand trailing along the wall. The stone was warm beneath her fingers, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.

A sharp pain shot through her temple.

She staggered.

“Serena?” Elias was instantly at her side, steadying her. “What is it?”

She gritted her teeth. “A memory. Not mine.”

The vision slammed into her like a tidal wave.

A throne room filled with cloaked figures chanting. A child—her, but not her—strapped to a stone altar. A woman with eyes like hers standing over her, whispering: Forgive me, my daughter. This is the only way to save you.

Then—light. Blinding, searing light. Screams. Silence.

Serena gasped as she was pulled back to the present, sweat clinging to her brow.

“My mother didn’t die by the Council’s hand,” she said, voice trembling. “She faked it. To hide me.”

Elias’s expression hardened. “Why? What were they trying to do to you?”

Before she could answer, a door opened at the end of the hall, and a figure stepped out.

Tall, draped in dark robes, with long silver hair flowing over her shoulders. Her face was partially veiled, but Serena recognized the way she moved, the tilt of her head.

Her heart stopped.

“Serena,” the woman said softly.

It was her mother.

Alive.

Whole.

And unchanged by time.

“No,” Serena whispered, shaking her head. “This isn’t possible. I buried you. I felt your death.”

The woman stepped forward, her voice calm but laced with power. “What you buried was a vessel. A fragment I left behind.”

Elias growled low in his throat, stepping between them. “This could be a trick.”

“It isn’t,” Serena said, unable to look away. “That’s her. I know it.”

“I had no choice,” her mother continued, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. “They were coming for you. They feared your bloodline—feared what you would become. I hid you in the only way I could. I sealed your power. I gave you to the human world.”

“You abandoned me,” Serena hissed, hurt radiating from her chest like a wound ripped open. “You let me grow up not knowing who I was—why I could do things no one else could. You let me believe I was alone.”

Her mother’s voice broke. “I did what I had to so you could live.”

Serena stepped forward, trembling. “Then tell me now—what am I? What is this place?”

“You are the last of the Dawnbloods,” her mother whispered. “The true heirs of light magic. And this fortress... was once ours. Until it was stolen and corrupted by those who sought to end the line forever.”

A cold silence fell over the group.

Elias’s jaw clenched. “So what now? Is this a reunion or a warning?”

Her mother’s eyes found his. “Both. Because while you’ve been hunting your enemies, Serena… they’ve been preparing for your return. And they know you’re here.”

The fortress began to shake.

Stone trembled beneath their feet.

From the upper towers, a deafening screech echoed—monstrous and raw.

Serena looked up, her hands glowing.

“Then let them come,” she said. “We finish this.”