Chapter 20
SERIS
The warriors shifted. Not aggressive, but alert. Waiting for their leader's command.
I couldn’t find the strength to answer her question. I couldn’t find the air in my lungs to carry my name.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Daemon responded in my stead.
“Seris.”
Kaelen studied me for a brief moment before she asked more questions.
"How did you bypass the wards?" Kaelen's question cut through the silence. "These caves are sealed against magic. Nothing enters without permission."
"We didn't enter." Daemon's voice remained steady. "Lyralei sent us here. Just before, " He stopped. Started again. "She used the last of her strength to evacuate survivors from Vaelthorne. This is where we landed."
Kaelen's expression hardened. "You're asking me to believe the Keeper sent you directly into our sanctuary? Without warning? Without protocol?"
"I'm telling you what happened."
"Not good enough." Kaelen's hand moved to her weapon. "We've lost too many to lies and false flags. I need proof."
My mouth opened before my brain caught up. "She didn't have time for protocol. The king's soldiers were slaughtering everyone."
The air changed as the Fae tensed. I could feel their anger as the damp air became increasingly heavy.
"Lyralei stood in the center of the village while arrows fell like rain.
" The words spilled out of Daemon, each one carving deeper.
"She opened portals for everyone she could save.
Children first. Then the elderly. Then anyone close enough to reach.
We were the last group." My voice cracked.
"I watched her fall as she held the portal open. "
Silence pressed down like stone.
Kaelen studied me with those wolf-sharp eyes. "What's your full name? Seris what? What is your mother’s name?"
I understood what she needed. What would unlock this door, or seal it shut forever.
"Seris Aeryn. Daughter of Lyanna."
Recognition didn't flash, it detonated. Kaelen's entire demeanor transformed. The cold assessment melted into something raw and complicated.
"Lower your weapons." Her command rang through the cavern.
The warriors obeyed instantly.
Kaelen approached me with careful steps, as if I might disappear. She stopped an arm's length away and searched my face.
"You really do have her eyes." Softer now. Almost gentle. "Silver and sharp and completely incapable of backing down from a fight. Though, right now, they have dimmed."
"You knew my mother?"
"I fought beside her for fifteen years." Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Before she made her choice."
Questions piled up behind my teeth, but Kaelen turned away before I could ask them.
"Get them inside. Clean water, hot food, medical attention for the injured." She glanced at Zephyr, who swayed despite Kane's support. "Full hospitality protocols."
Two warriors moved forward, not threatening, but escorting. Leading us deeper into the cavern system.
I followed because there was nowhere else to go.
The tunnel opened into a network of chambers carved from living rock. Everywhere I looked, I saw Fae preparing for war.
Not the peaceful, joy-filled community of Vaelthorne. These were soldiers, battle-scarred and hard-eyed, with weapons strapped to every available surface and armor showing signs of repeated repair.
They moved with purpose. Sharpening blades. Mixing compounds I didn't recognize. Reviewing maps pinned to makeshift boards. Speaking in low, urgent voices about supply lines and strategic positions.
The atmosphere tasted of controlled fury.
We passed through a main gathering space where perhaps a hundred warriors ate around scattered fires. Conversations died as we entered. Heads turned. Gazes followed.
Daemon's hand found the small of my back, grounding, protective.
"They're looking at you," he murmured.
"I noticed."
"Not with hostility."
He was right. The stares carried weight, but not threat. Something closer to… hope?
That terrified me more than hatred ever could.
Kaelen led us to a chamber near the back, larger than the others and clearly repurposed as a command headquarters. Maps covered every surface. Weapons lined the walls. A table dominated the center, buried under strategic documents and correspondence.
"Sit." Kaelen gestured toward chairs arranged in a loose circle. "We have much to discuss."
I sank into the nearest seat. My legs barely held me anymore.
Daemon remained standing beside me. Kael and Kane positioned themselves near the entrance. Zephyr collapsed gratefully into a chair, his face gray beneath the torchlight.
Kaelen crossed her arms and studied us with that penetrating stare. "You said Vaelthorne fell. Tell me everything."
Daemon recounted the attack, the explosion, the overwhelming numbers, the systematic slaughter. His voice stayed clinical, detached. But his shadows writhed with barely contained rage.
Kaelen listened without interruption. When he finished, she was silent for a long moment.
"Five hundred soldiers," she finally said. "Minimum. Probably closer to seven hundred, given the casualties you described." She moved to the map table and traced a route with one finger. "Which means Aeron stripped three border garrisons to mount that assault."
"You're not surprised." I couldn't keep the accusation from my voice.
"I'm furious." Kaelen's finger pressed hard enough to crease the map. "But no, not surprised. Aeron's been hunting Vaelthorne for a long time. Of course he'd commit everything to destroying the last sanctuary." Her gaze lifted. "What surprises me is that you escaped at all."
"Lyralei." The name hurt to say.
"Then she died as she lived. Protecting what mattered most." Kaelen's expression shifted, grief and respect warring beneath iron control. "There were always two Keepers of the Veil. Did Lyralei explain that?"
I nodded.
"Then you know your mother was one. Lyralei, the other.
" Kaelen pulled a chair around and sat facing me directly.
"Their roles weren't identical. Lyralei kept the memories, history, knowledge, tradition.
She protected and preserved Vaelthorne. But Lyanna.
.." Her voice softened. "Lyanna kept the future.
She was the strategist. The fighter. The one who planned ten moves ahead and never forgot the cost of each decision. "
My throat tightened.
"These caves served as a hidden front during the War of the Unmaking.
" Kaelen gestured around the chamber. "When the Devourer first breached the Veil, the fighting wasn't confined to battlefields.
There were shadow campaigns. Resistance movements.
Places where warriors gathered to strike and fade before the enemy could respond. "
She stood and moved to the wall, where a massive map showed the kingdom in intricate detail. Red marks clustered around the capital. Blue marks scattered across the territories.
"After the purges, survivors fled here. Your mother led them.
" Kaelen traced a finger along defensive positions.
"For five years, we fought a guerrilla campaign. Hit and run. Sabotage. Rescue operations extracting Fae before the hunters found them. We’re the last military force of the Fae that remains. Lyanna was our leader until she left."
"What happened?" Daemon asked quietly.
"Lyanna got pregnant." Kaelen's hand dropped. "And she made a choice. She believed the prophecy. Believed her child would be the one to finally end this. So she forced herself to be away from her comrades for long periods of time. Casualties began to mount during her absences."
The weight of those words crushed down.
"She abandoned you." I didn't mean it as an accusation, but it came out sharp.
"No. She saved you. Not only because you are the child of the prophecy, but also because she loved you.
" Kaelen's correction held no anger. "Every day you survived was a day closer to this moment.
That's what mattered to her. More than camaraderie. More than the resistance. More than her own life. When your mother passed, Lyralei instructed us to wait. To stay ready. She believed in Lyanna’s plan.
She believed that one day, you would arrive. "
I wanted to argue. To reject the burden of being someone's singular purpose.
"Aeron attacked Vaelthorne with overwhelming force," Kaelen continued, redirecting. "But he only destroyed a fraction of our strength. Thanks to Lyralei's sacrifice, the civilians should be well hidden. There is one more safe haven deep in the mountains. Saelmyr. It’s hidden in the northern part of this continent. Not a ray of sunshine reaches the place. It’s safe, but not suitable for life unlike Vaelthorne.”
A sigh of relief escaped me involuntarily. The joy of Vaelthorne survived. Lyralei gave her life to ensure that.
“The peaceful settlement and our ancestral home may have been destroyed, but the warriors?" She smiled without humor. "We're still here."
"How many?" Daemon leaned forward.
"Five hundred soldiers." Kaelen's smile sharpened. "Battle-hardened and absolutely done waiting."
The number stole my breath.
"They've been waiting for me?" The question came out broken.
"Your mother told us you'd come when the time was right.
That you'd need an army." Kaelen moved back to the table and pulled out a rolled document, spreading it flat.
"She spent years preparing these plans. Every contingency.
Every strategic option. She knew exactly what we'd face when you finally arrived. "
I stood on shaking legs and approached the table.
The plans were... extensive. Terrifyingly detailed. Routes marked in different colored ink. Timetables. Supply calculations. Casualty projections. Alternative strategies branching from every decision point.
"She planned an assault on the capital." Daemon's voice carried something between awe and dread.
"Not just an assault. Infiltration. Occupation. Regime change." Kaelen pointed to different sections. "We strike at dawn during the shifts change. We give everything we have to attack the walls of the capital, but that isn't our real objective."
"The throne room." I found the marking without meaning to. "That's the real objective."
"Yes." Kaelen's finger tapped the center of the capital. "Everything else is misdirection. The true goal is getting you inside the throne room with minimal resistance."
"Why?"
"Because that's where the Devourer is bound. Where the curse originated. Where everything began and will end." Kaelen straightened. "Your mother believed you'd need to confront it directly. Use the Veil to either strengthen the binding or..."
"Or what?"
"Banish it entirely."
A lump began to form in my throat. Daemon took a step closer to the table.
"Is this where we are right now?" He placed his index and middle fingers on a marker.
"Yes."
"Between this location and the capital, there are six garrisons. Each garrison with two hundred to three hundred soldiers. How do you plan on reaching the capital without losing most of your forces?"
"With the use of Veil magic. I'm sure you know by now that you have the power to manipulate distance. Open portals. The plan requires Veil magic to bring us to the gates of our enemies. The plan begins and ends with Seris."
The chamber spun.
"I can't." The admission ripped out. "I can barely control my power. I pale in comparison to Lyralei and couldn't even save Vaelthorne. You want me to face something that nearly unmade reality itself?"
"I want you to do what your mother spent the last of her days preparing you for." Kaelen's voice remained steady. "But more than that, I want you to understand that you're not alone. Five hundred warriors stand ready to fight beside you. To die for you, if necessary."
"I don't want anyone dying for me!"
"Then live." Kaelen stepped closer. "Live, fight, and win. Because that's the only way their sacrifice means anything."
Daemon's hand found my shoulder. "Seris, "
"Vaelthorne fell." I turned toward Kaelen, letting every ounce of despair show. "Lyralei is dead. Everyone I cared about got slaughtered while I ran away. And you want me to lead an army? I can't even lead myself."
Kaelen studied me for a long moment. Then she moved to a chest in the corner and pulled out a leather journal. Worn. Well used. Familiar handwriting covering every page.
"Your mother left this for you." She held it out. "Read it. Then decide."
I took the journal with trembling hands.
"We move in three days or as soon as you’re ready." Kaelen's voice shifted back to a command tone. "Whether you're ready or not. Because Aeron knows Vaelthorne fell and Lyralei is dead, a new purge will plague these lands. Every hour we wait, more people die."
She moved toward the exit, pausing at the threshold.
"Your mother believed in you, Seris. So did Lyralei. So do I." Her gaze held mine. "The question is whether you believe in yourself."
Then she was gone.
I stood clutching the journal while the world narrowed to its weight in my hands.
"Seris." Daemon's voice pulled me back. "You don't have to, "
"Yes, I do." The words came out flat. "That's the point, isn't it? Everything led here. Every choice. Every sacrifice. My mother died preparing for this. Lyralei died protecting me so I could reach this moment." I looked up at him. "And I'm supposed to somehow be enough to make all of it matter."
"You are enough."
"You don't know that."
"I do." He caught my face between his hands.
"Because I've watched you survive things that should have destroyed you.
I've seen you choose compassion when vengeance would've been easier.
I've felt your power reshape reality itself.
" His thumb brushed my cheek. "You're terrified.
Good. That means you understand the stakes.
But don't let fear convince you you're weak. Fear just means you're still human."
I leaned into his touch, drawing strength I didn't possess.
"Three days," I whispered.
"Three days to prepare. To train. To plan." Daemon's forehead touched mine. "And whatever happens, you won't face it alone."
The journal felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
Somewhere in the caves beyond, five hundred warriors prepared for war, believing in a prophecy. Trusting a plan. Waiting for someone who had no idea if she could deliver what they needed.
I opened the journal to the first page.
My mother's handwriting greeted me like a ghost.
My dearest Seris,
If you're reading this, I'm gone. And you're exactly where you need to be.