Chapter 102 Blood-Red Flowers
NYX
The field Mother loved existed in a pocket of the Shadowlands that time forgot.
Literally. I could feel it as we approached. A bubble outside normal temporal flow. Where moments stretched. Where blood-red flowers grew despite surrounding darkness.
"She came here?" Father's voice was hollow. He'd barely spoken since the funeral. Just carried the urn and followed. "When?"
"Before she met you. When she was running." I saw it through time's memory. Young Sera. Scared. Finding this place and finally breathing easy. "She said it was the one spot where nobody cared she was half-blood."
Father's face crumbled. Started to. He caught himself. Forced the grief down.
"Don't." I grabbed his arm. "Don't hide it. Not here."
"If I start grieving properly, I won't stop—"
"Then don't function. Fall apart. I'll catch you." I pulled him down among the red flowers. "You keep trying to be king. But you're allowed to just be a husband who lost his wife."
"I can't afford to break—"
"I need you to be real. To be Dad." I held his hand. "Let yourself feel it."
Silence. Long. Heavy.
Then he opened the urn. Stared at the ashes.
"She hated mornings. Did you know that?" His voice cracked. "Would wake up furious. Cursing the sun. Threatening anyone who spoke before coffee." A laugh. Broken. "I used to make it worse on purpose. Talk constantly. Ask questions. Just to watch her get more annoyed. Because her anger was beautiful. Fierce. Alive."
He poured some ashes into the flowers. "She made me better. Made me want to be better. Made me think maybe I wasn't some monster playacting at being human."
"You're not a monster."
"I was. For centuries. I ruled through fear. Through cruelty." He poured more ashes. "Then she came. And suddenly I just wanted to be someone worthy of her."
"You were worthy."
"I wasn't. But she made me believe I could be." He emptied the last of the urn. Ashes scattering among red petals.
"Now that she's gone, I don't know how to be that person without her; I don't know how to be anything other than who I used to be. Cold. Cruel."
I felt it through our bond. The void rushing in. Filling the spaces Sera left. Consuming him.
"You have me." My voice was fierce. "You have Isolde. You have people who believe in you."
"Do they? Or do they see a king one bad day from becoming a tyrant?"
"They see both. And they choose to believe anyway." I stood. Pulled him up. "Now come on. We scatter the ashes. We say goodbye. Then we hunt the creature that caused this."
We walked through the field. Letting wind carry Sera's ashes.
"She would have liked this." Father's voice was soft.
"She'd also tell you to stop being maudlin and start planning revenge."
Despite everything, he smiled. "Yeah. She would."
We reached the far edge. Where temporal bubble met normal reality.
And found someone waiting.
Morvenna stood among the flowers. Smiling.
"Beautiful ceremony. Touching. I almost felt bad for killing her." Her voice was poison. "Almost."
Void energy erupted from Father. Pure rage given form.
Morvenna didn't move. Just let it hit her.
And laughed.
"There it is. The monster I've been waiting to see." She moved closer. "You want to kill me? Try. Show me what happens when you stop holding back."
Father attacked. Fast. Brutal. No control. Just violence.
He had never looked like this to me. He claimed to be a monster, but I never saw him.
It was horrifying.
Morvenna blocked. Countered. Met his rage with her own. Two Shadowborn fighting without restraint.
The field shattered. Flowers disintegrating. Ground cracking.
"Father, stop!" I tried to reach him. "This is what she wants!"
He didn't hear. Lost in rage. Lost in grief.
"Yes!" Morvenna's eyes blazed. "More! Show me everything!"
She was feeding on it. Growing stronger.
I had to stop this.
Father had to be pulled back before he changed into something unchangeable.
Isolde. I require assistance.
Need to reach Father.
Through our bond, I felt her respond. Felt her consciousness join mine.
Together. We pull him back.
We dove into Father's mind. Into the rage consuming him.
Found him drowning. Consciousness fracturing. Void replacing everything human.
"No." I grabbed his awareness. "You don't get to quit. You're Kael Draeven. You're my father. You're the man Mother loved. And you're not losing yourself because she died to prevent exactly that."
He fought me. Tried to pull away. Wanted the void. Wanted anything except pain.
"I am aware of the pain. However, you are not allowed to pass away. You cannot allow her sacrifice to be in vain. I pulled harder. "Now come back."
Isolde joined the pull. Two consciousnesses dragging him back.
"Fight!" She commanded. "You've survived death. You can survive grief!"
Slowly, Father's consciousness stabilized. Stopped fracturing.
He pulled back from Morvenna. Stood shaking. Eyes flickering but present. Aware.
"Close." Morvenna looked disappointed. "You almost made it. Almost became pure void." She shrugged. "But the child pulled you back.
I'll kill her first the next time."The next time won't come. Despite the tremor, Father's voice remained steady. "I am aware of your actions. You're attempting to shove me. to transform me."Of course. What makes you believe that I planned everything?
The siblings. The attacks. Sera's death." She smiled. "I needed you broken. Ready to embrace true power."
Horror crashed down. "You killed Sera specifically to push me?"
"I killed Sera because she was keeping you grounded. Weak." Morvenna moved closer.
She's gone now. It's only a matter of time until you give up fighting. when you at last fulfill your destiny. She vanished. Leaving us in ruins. In a plan that had been running since the beginning.
"She orchestrated everything." Father's voice was dead. "My death. My resurrection. Sera meeting me. All of it was pushing me toward transformation."
"We don't know—"
"She admitted it. Sera died to break me." He looked at his hands. At the void crackling. "And it almost worked."
"But I pulled you back. And you're still you. Still fighting." I grabbed him. "Morvenna doesn't get to win. We fight her. We end her."
"How? She's ancient. Powerful—"
"We have what she doesn't. We have people who care." I looked at the scattered ashes. "We have Sera's legacy. We honor that by winning."
Father was silent. Fighting.
Then he straightened. "You're right. We end this. We hunt her. We trap her. To prevent her from returning, we destroy her." "How?" I've got an idea. Horrible. risky. He gave me a look. "But it might work." "How much is it?" Everything. He grinned bitterly. "We fulfill Morvenna's request. Give her the impression that I'm changing. Then, when she's at her weakest, we set the trap." That is crazy. You may genuinely change if you pretend to be someone you're not. I am aware.
He caressed the petals, saying, "But it's the only way to get close." "Sera gave her life to save me. I'll take a chance on changing to get revenge on her." It's suicide.Perhaps. However, it's the best strategy we have. He gave me a look. "Are you with me? If I slip, will you bring me back?"
I wanted to say no. sought a more secure strategy that wouldn't put them in danger of losing him.
However, he was correct. This was our opportunity.I agree with you. "Always." I grasped his hand. "Now let's go kill an ancient vampire queen and make Mother proud."
"Let's."
We left the field. Left Sera's ashes among blood-red flowers. Left peace behind.
Somewhere ahead, Morvenna was waiting. Confident. Certain.
She had no idea what was coming.
We'd lost everything. Been broken. Been destroyed.
But we were still standing. Still fighting. Still refusing to surrender.
And when we struck? When we finally made our move?
Morvenna would discover that power isn't the most deadly thing.
Those who have nothing left to lose are the ones.