Chapter 13 #2
“We don’t know for sure. But it followed Mother when she tried to escape to safety.”
Aldric followed his gaze.
It dawned on him.
The sisters.
Seraphae.
Mareth stepped closer.
“We’re buying time. That’s all we’re doing. We’re taking shifts with each iteration… but soon it will start killing us off.” A brief pause. “We’ve taken casualties. Slowly, we are starting to lose hope.”
Aldric looked toward Seraphae.
“If it’s that bad… I need to talk to her.”
Mareth looked at him.
He didn’t move.
Then—
as if those pale, golden eyes were looking straight through him—
Mareth gave a single, slow nod.
As Aldric moved past him, he rested a hand on Aldric’s shoulder.
Firm.
Grounding.
“I’m glad you sorted your shit out.”
Aldric nodded quietly.
Then he walked toward her.
She never took her eyes off him.
Her lips trembled slightly.
As he approached, she spoke first.
“Please… don’t.”
“Rae—”
“Please… don’t apologize. I know why it happened now. I was blind to how much you were hurting. I tried to help in the only way I knew how… but it wasn’t enough.”
“My love… please. I can’t undo what I did. But I’m not that man anymore.”
A long silence.
“I know.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I know you’re different.” She looked away. “But that doesn’t change what happened. There is still a part of you capable of becoming that man again. I don’t know if I can trust you. And I’m so sorry I didn’t do more while you were still here.”
“Rae, I never blamed you for—”
She gently shook her head, her lips trembling.
“I want you to be happy.” A tear escaped despite her best efforts.“Even if…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. “I love you. With all my heart. But I don’t want to be afraid of the man I love.” Her voice cracked. “I want to feel safe with you.”
Silence settled between them.
Aldric swallowed.
“What do I have to do to—?”
She closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.” A long breath. “I just… I need time. I need to see that this isn’t who you are.” She looked at him again. “I can’t survive being hurt like that again.”
Aldric lowered his head.
“I… I don’t expect us to go back to how things were in your lair,” he said softly. “But if there’s even the smallest chance… I’ll take it.”
She remained perfectly still.
Beautiful in her armor.
Hands folded before her.
Regal.
Trying so desperately not to fall apart.
He took a slow step backward.
Then another.
And another.
Until he reached the edge.
“And I’m not walking away from you.”
His voice was steady now.
“I’ll be back.”
As he leaned back—
He saw her expression change.
Golden eyes wide.
Fear.
Hope.
Yearning.
Love.
And then—
He was falling.
Screams erupted above him.
Wind tore past his ears.
He smiled to himself.
This creature had to be killed.
He would not lose his girl again.
There had to be a way.
Helmet in one hand, he pulled it over his head.
Dreyrath in the other.
He turned mid-air—
And saw it.
The feathers.
They shimmered.
Different—
They carried the same oil-dark sheen as Dreyrath.
The same shifting colors.
No doubt resilient to its bite.
Aldric steadied his breathing as he fell toward it.
The creature noticed him.
Its head tilted.
Black eyes locked onto him.
Then—
It opened its mouth.
Rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Endless.
He stopped counting after the seventh row.
Darkness swallowed him.
Pressure.
From all sides.
And the smell.
Foul.
Rotten.
Suffocating.
Teeth pressed in from all sides, grinding, testing, trying to crush him. The force tightened around his ribs, his shoulders, his legs.
But the armor did not yield.
Not even a little.
He couldn’t move.
Pinned.
Crushed.
Yet—
The warmth of Dreyrath was still there.
Alive in his grip.
He closed his eyes.
Focused.
Everything around him shifted.
The world turned into a bluish nightmare.
Veins.
Membranes.
Spider-webbed strands of glowing blue flesh pulsed around him, holding the creature together from the inside.
His breathing grew heavier.
He didn’t have much time.
He tried to move.
Barely.
Then—
Dreyrath began to sear.
The blade burned through the flesh around him, carving small openings, the metal drinking in the strange blue blood.
Aldric’s mind sharpened.
How do I kill it for good?
A small voice answered.
Kill it? No.
Aldric stilled.
He didn’t know where the voice came from.
Or whose it was.
Then it spoke again.
Almost… curious.
You can banish it.
The pressure tightened around his midsection.
His armor creaked.
How?
The voice responded calmly.
Its heart will guide you.
Silence.
Aldric swallowed.
Where is it?
And then—
He felt it.
Above him.
A pull.
Faint.
But unmistakable.
He breathed into Dreyrath.
The blade reacted on its own.
As if realizing that he could not move.
It slipped from his palm—
And began to move on its own.
Searing.
Cutting.
Carving a path upward.
Creating an opening.
Aldric followed.
Climbing.
Crawling.
Up.
And up.
The beast began to sway.
Something was wrong.
Then he saw it.
Blue.
Brilliant.
Like frozen sapphire.
Beating.
A heart.
Massive.
He drove his clawed hand into the flesh wall, anchoring himself.
His other hand opened.
Dreyrath flew back into his grip.
He smiled.
The blade glowed.
White.
Pure.
He plunged it forward.
The creature shuddered.
Then screamed.
The sound echoed through its entire body.
Aldric didn’t stop.
He carved.
Cutting deeper.
The heart was the size of his torso.
Massive.
Powerful.
Finally—
It came free.
He ripped it loose.
The entire body slackened instantly.
He grabbed the heart.
Released Dreyrath.
The blade responded immediately.
Carving a path outward.
Tearing open the creature’s torso.
Then—
Light.
Air.
He burst free.
Alive.
He did not waste time.
He lifted the heart.
Immediately—
He saw it.
A thin trail of blue.
Faint.
Shimmering.
Leading away from him.
Into the city.
Aldric began walking.
The heart pulsed in his grip.
Hot.
Heavy.
Like a vise tightening around his hands.
Voices echoed around him.
He saw movement.
Demons.
But he barely registered them.
His focus narrowed.
The world around him blurred.
Sound dulled.
Movement smeared into shadows.
It felt as if he had stepped into another realm. Unseen, untouchable. Everyone’s attention remained fixed on the creature. No one noticed him walking through the courtyard, blood-soaked and carrying its heart.
One thought cut through his mind—
If I fail… the next iteration will adapt.
It might defend itself from within.
He tightened his grip.
And followed the trail.
Dreyrath hung loosely at his side.
His vision blurred further.
Voices.
Close.
He thought he heard his name.
He kept walking.
Guided.
Pulled forward.
Then—
He reached a small courtyard.
And there—
A slit.
Thin.
Thread-like.
Shimmering.
A tear.
Barely visible.
Reality trembling around it.
Aldric stepped forward.
Raised the heart.
Something pushed him to do this.
He placed it against the tear.
And—
plunged Dreyrath through both.
A scream.
It tore through the city.
Through stone.
Through sky.
Blue light fractured.
Shattered.
And then—
Aldric felt it.
Dreyrath slipped from his grip.
But it did not fall.
It hovered.
Suspended.
Still.
The hair on his neck rose.
Something was off.
The air felt… thinner.
Muted.
As if the world itself had stepped back.
He felt it.
Something touched him.
A hand.
Delicate.
Soft.
Light surrounded him.
Warm.
Gentle.
And a voice.
Feminine.
Sultry.
“Ael’vara s?n Celyndor… Vaelyn s?n myr’eth. Thalen dor’iel.”
For a moment, Aldric felt weightless.
Peaceful.
Pulled forward.
But then—
Another sensation.
Hands.
Grabbing him.
Pulling him back.
Firm.
Determined.
Green eyes.
Not the piercing kind.
These were softer.
Green as leaves in early spring.
Delicate.
Yet intense.
Elathiel.
Her lips were moving.
Chanting an incantation.
The pull intensified.
Light fractured around them.
The warmth began to fade.
The voice slipped away.
The tear collapsed into itself.
The heart went still.
Aldric dropped to his knees.
Dreyrath clattered onto the stone.
For a few heartbeats, there was stillness.
Aldric breathed.
Slowly.
“What just happened?”
Elathiel stood above him.
Armor clad.
An old set.
Scorched in places.
Faint etchings still visible along the plates.
Functional.
Flexible.
“They almost managed to take you.”
Aldric looked at her.
At the wings.
At the armor.
At her demeanor.
There was something in her gaze.
Something he hadn’t seen before.
Determination.
And beneath it—
Strain.
“Take me? Where? Who was that? Whose voice did I hear?”
Elathiel opened her mouth—
Commotion.
“Found him!” someone shouted.
Voices echoed across the courtyard.
Elathiel spoke as if to herself.
“I didn’t know they could reach Nerathys.” Her eyes flicked briefly toward the fading tear. “A new bloodline killer will need to be bred. That should buy us some time.”
Aldric studied her.
And saw something else.
Fear.
He was about to speak—
Then he saw her.
Seraphae.
Running toward him.
Her heels clicked sharply against the stone.
“My love!” she screamed.
He lifted a trembling hand and removed the helmet.
Air filled his lungs.
Then—
He felt it.
Softness.
Her scent.
Warmth.
Familiar.
Golden eyes.
Soft hands cupping his cheeks.
“My love… are you— look at me, please.”
He focused.
Saw her.
Fear.
Love.
Her eyes red.
Glassy.
Tears streaking her cheeks.
He took a deeper breath.
Slowly pushed himself upright.
She rose with him.
And the moment she realized he was steady—
She punched his chest.
“What were you thinking, you stupid knight? You could have gotten yourself killed!”
“Seraphae… I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not. And don’t even get me started—”
She kissed him.
Then punched his chest again.
“And it’s Rae.”
She kissed him once more.
Talking seemed secondary now.
Her hands moved restlessly.
Touching his shoulders.
His arms.
His chest.
As if confirming he was real.
Alive.
He pulled her closer.
Kissed her deeply.
“Rae… I still want this. I still want us.”
She looked at him.
Soft.
She cupped his cheeks in both hands.
“I want that too… I want to be there for you.”
Aldric fell quiet.
She kissed his nose.
“Next time you won’t get the chance to jump off the wall like that.”
A chuckle escaped his lips.
He felt himself begin to relax.
He smiled.