Chapter 101 What Death Cannot Take
KAEL
The bond went dark and I shattered.
Not metaphorically. Actually shattered. The blood bond connecting me to Sera was fundamental. Remove it and everything collapsed.
I felt myself fracturing. Consciousness splitting. Void rushing in.
Father! Nyx's voice. Distant. Desperate. Don't let go!
Couldn't. The bond was everything. The anchor holding me to sanity.
Without it, I was just void. Just hunger.
"No." A new voice. Isolde appeared beside me in the mental chaos. "You don't get to quit. Not while your daughter needs you."
"Sera's dead."
"Yes. And you will mourn. Will grieve." She grabbed my consciousness. Held it together. "But first you survive. First you keep Nyx alive."
"I can't—"
"Then we make a new one. Temporary." She reached into her essence. Pulled out power. "I anchor you. Same way you anchor the collective. We share the burden."
"That would bind you to me. Permanently."
"I've been by myself for three thousand years." She pushed her mind on mine.
Wove through the fractured spaces. "Besides. Sera would kill me if I let you fall apart."
The bond formed. Different from Sera's. Colder. But present. Holding me together.
I gasped. Found myself back in my body. Nyx crying beside me. Sera's corpse three feet away.
"Father?" Nyx's voice was broken.
"Here. Still here." I sat up. Every movement was agony. "Your mother—"
"I know." Her cheeks was wet with tears. I'm only four days old and have already lost everything.
"I felt it."
The palace groaned. Cassian's charges activating. The building collapsing.
"We need to move." Theron's voice. Rough. "This place comes down in minutes."
"I'm not leaving her."
"Then we carry her." Rowan appeared. Wounded. Exhausted. "We honor her. But somewhere that isn't about to crush us."
He was right. I hated it.
I lifted Sera's body. Still warm. Still her. Just empty.
We ran. All of us. Every survivor. Fleeing the palace.
Behind us, the building collapsed. Three thousand years of history destroyed. Dust. Rubble. Gone.
We gathered in the courtyard. Hundreds of vampires. Dozens of humans. Staring at the ruins.
"Well." Cassian's voice cut through. "Anyone have a plan?"
I should have answered. Should have stepped up.
But I just stood there holding my dead wife and feeling nothing.
"I do." Nyx's voice. Small but steady. "We rebuild. We mourn. We honor Mother by finishing what she started." She looked at Cassian. "You united the houses. Can you keep that going?"
"For how long?"
"Until Father can function. Until we've dealt with Morvenna." Four days old. Exhausted. Grieving. Still trying to hold everything together. "Can you do that?"
Cassian studied her. Then nodded. "I can. For her." He looked at Sera's body. "She was brave. Better than any of us deserved."
Agreement rippled through the crowd. Everyone united in grief.
"Good." Nyx turned to me. "Father. Time magic. I can walk back. Prevent her death."
"No."
"But I can—"
"No." I met her eyes.
"I won't let you hurt yourself trying to save your mom." My voice broke.
"She chose this. Chose to die so we could live. We honor that by accepting it."
"I don't want—"She's not here anymore. And it would cost you to bring her back.
Would risk everything she died to protect.
I pulled her in close. "Some things can't be mended. Can only be survived."
She sobbed against me. Four days old. Ancient. Broken.
"I don't know how to live without her." "Me neither. But we'll figure it out. Together." I embraced her. "That's what she would want."
Hours passed. We set up camp. Treated the wounded. Counted the dead.
I sat with Sera's body. Couldn't let go.
"Your Majesty." Marcus appeared.
We've made a pyre. "Whenever you're ready." I'm not ready yet.I know.
But she deserves better." His voice was gentle. "Let us honor her properly."
He was right.
I carried Sera to the pyre. Laid her on wood. Arranged her hair. Closed her eyes. Tried to memorize every detail.
"She loved you." Nyx stood beside me. "Even when you were terrible. She saw something worth saving."
"I know."
"Did you love her?"
"More than anything. More than the throne. More than my own life." My voice broke. "She was everything."
"She knew." Nyx took my hand. "She died knowing you'd continue.
Knowing we would make it.
I wanted to believe that.
But I had felt her die through the bond.
Felt her fear. Her regret.
She'd died scared. Alone.
And I couldn't mend it. Goodbye, Sera. My voice was hard to hear. "Thanks."
For everything. For choosing me. For saving me. For giving me Nyx." Tears finally came. "I love you. I'll always love you."
I lit the fire. Watched flames consume her. Watched smoke carry her away.
Around me, hundreds bowed their heads. Even Cassian was silent.
The pyre stayed lit all night. I kept watch the whole time.
The sun came up. There were only ashes left.
I gathered them carefully. Placed them in a crystal urn Marcus provided.
"What now?" Theron asked.
"Now we rebuild. We hunt Morvenna. We finish this." My voice was dead. "And we make sure Sera's death wasn't for nothing."
"And the throne?"
"Cassian rules until I can function." I handed him the crown. "I'm taking time. To mourn. To heal."
"Your Majesty—"
"It's not abdication. It's delegation."
I looked him in the eye. "Unless you think you can do better?"
He examined the urn.
At the grief raw on my face.
"No. You're still king." He bowed. "I'll keep it warm."
"Thank you."
I walked away. Nyx followed. Isolde shadowed us. My new strange family forged from loss.
In the ruins, we discovered a peaceful area. Sat. Feeling sad.This is what she would have detested.Nyx spoke softly. "I would have advised you to quit pouting. to battle."I am aware.So why aren't you?" "Because without her, I don't know how to fight." I examined the urn.
"She was my anchor. Without her, I'm just darkness."
"No." Isolde spoke. You're her legacy.
The man she lost her life defending. "She grabbed my chin." She didn't pass away so you could give up.
She died so you could live. Could raise your daughter."
"How do I do that without her?"
"The same way I survived three thousand years without my daughter. The same way Nyx survived timeline collapse." Her voice was fierce. "You survive by choosing to. By honoring her through action."
"I don't think I can."There is no other option for you. It's you, king. It's your father. She grinned. Too bad. "And you're going to finish what Sera started."
Disputes were on my mind.
Wanted to collapse into grief.
But she was right. Sera would hate seeing me like this. Would demand I stand up. Fight. Live.
"Fine." I stood. Legs shaking. "We finish this. We find Morvenna. We end her." I looked at Nyx. "But first we rest. Recover. No more rushing."
"How long?"
"A week. Maybe two. Long enough to heal." I looked at Cassian across the camp.
"Long enough for him to prove he can lead." Now what if he is unable to do so?I will reclaim the throne after that.Holding the urn close, I spoke. Now I just need to find a spot to scatter these ashes.
Somewhere she loved."
Nyx took my hand. "I know a place. Mother showed me once.
A meadow of crimson blossoms amid the Shadowlands.So, that's our destination. I will be there tomorrow. My gaze landed on my kid.
At this impossibly powerful, impossibly young person who'd lost so much. "And Nyx?"
"Yes?"
Yours truly. In order to comprehend the reason we are unable to, I drew her near. Compared to my strength, you're far greater. I bet your mum is really pleased.
Tears streamed down her face. Her absence is felt. She was only with us for a brief four days, yet I already miss her dearly.
How is that fair?"
"It's not. Nothing about this is fair." I held her. Let her cry. Let us both grieve. "But we survive anyway. Because that's what she'd want."
We sat together. Father and daughter. Both broken. Both grieving.
In the wake of losing the one they cared about most, they were each attempting to find a way to keep breathing.
Dawn broke across the sky above us.
Pink and gold and beautiful.
Sera would have loved it.
So I watched for both of us. And promised myself that when I hunted Morvenna. When I finally ended the creature who'd orchestrated all this pain. I'd make sure Sera's death was the last one.
After that? Only monsters would die.
Starting with the First Darkness herself.