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Chapter 139: The First Betrayal
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2025-07-02 05:09:30The scream that shattered the temple was not human.
It echoed through bone and blood. It bent the air and cracked the altar’s foundation. Selene staggered back, her hand still touching the medallion—the eclipse-shaped relic that had risen from the sealed stone. Her vision blurred, the world tilting beneath her feet. And then— Everything vanished. Selene’s Vision She was standing in another time. The temple was whole—its spires stretching into a blue sky, its walls clean and gold-lined. Moonflowers bloomed along the columns. She was in the past. In the center of the temple stood a woman in gleaming silver armor. Naelira. Younger, but unmistakable. Her hair was braided down her back, her hand resting on her swollen stomach. Beside her stood a man with raven-black eyes and red markings on his arms—Darian. And behind them… stood Theron. He was not yet corrupted. His eyes held light, his posture rigid, protective. He stood near Naelira like a silent sentinel. Naelira spoke, her voice rich with hope and defiance. “This child will unite them. Shadow and light. The gate will seal—and our people will never need to choose sides again.” Theron placed a hand over her stomach. “I would die for this child.” Darian’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “And yet you would let a prophecy write her fate?” “You were the one who believed in this once,” Naelira said, her gaze narrowing. “What changed?” Darian stepped forward. “What changed is that I saw what happens when balance is broken. If this child is born, the gate will demand payment—blood payment.” “You speak as if the gate is a god,” Naelira said sharply. “It’s not. It’s a prison.” Darian turned away, his voice quiet. “Then you should not have built a key.” Suddenly, the memory fractured. Time bent. Selene tried to cry out, but her voice was trapped in the dream. In the Present – Temple of the Fallen Star Elias caught Selene’s body as she collapsed. Her hand still clutched the medallion, now glowing with an eerie red pulse. “She’s locked in,” Lyra said urgently. “The relic pulled her under.” “Can you get her out?” Elias asked. Before she could answer, the sky outside turned black. A long howl pierced the air—low, guttural, unnatural. Lyra spun around. “They found us.” From the edge of the ruins came dark figures, moving in jerky, stuttering bursts. Shadowborn. And at the center of them, cloaked in crimson mist, stood Theron—his eyes now entirely black, veins crawling up his face like vines. Elias lowered Selene gently and drew his blade. “You take the left. I’ll take the right. No one gets to her.” Lyra cracked her knuckles and grinned grimly. “Been waiting for this.” Inside Selene’s Mind – The Rest of the Vision Naelira knelt on the temple floor, screaming in pain. Her child was coming too early. Blood pooled around her. Darian stood above her, chanting, his hand glowing with dark runes. “You said you believed in us!” she cried. “I believed in the vision,” he whispered. “Not in you.” Theron lunged to protect her—but something stopped him. Chains of shadow wrapped around his limbs—Darian’s doing. “You betrayed us,” Theron gasped. “You sold her to the gate.” “No,” Darian said. “I gave her what fate demanded. A sacrifice. And now I’ll do it again.” Back in the Present – Battle Begins Theron raised both arms—and the shadows surged forward. Elias moved like wildfire, slicing through the first wave. Lyra danced among the attackers, her blades glowing faintly with the enchantment of moonlight and blood. Still, more poured in. Selene remained on the ground, eyes flickering behind closed lids, her fingers twitching. Lyra backed up toward her, blood on her cheek. “If she doesn’t wake up soon—” Elias grunted, slashing through another shadowborn. “We won’t hold much longer.” Then, just as the medallion pulsed red-hot— Selene’s eyes flew open. But they weren’t glowing silver anymore. They burned like an eclipse—light and shadow entwined. “I remember everything,” she said softly. “Naelira didn’t fail. She was murdered.” She rose slowly, hair billowing in a phantom wind. “And I’m finishing what she started.
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