Chapter 123 The Heir

Chapter 123 The Heir
The impact of the explosion still echoed through the forest when Conrad pulled me away from the door.
Guards shouted around the clearing as shattered trees crumbled into the dark mist. Liquid shadows continued to crawl across the ground before slowly evaporating into the icy air.
But I could barely hear anything.
Because those eyes…
Were still in my mind.
Enormous.
Ancient.
Hungry.
And completely focused on my baby.
“Maya!”
Conrad held my face tightly enough to bring me back.
His golden eyes scanned my body quickly, searching for injuries.
“Are you hurt?”
It took me a few seconds to answer.
“N-no.”
But my voice came out shaky.
Distant.
The baby moved violently again.
A wave of warmth coursed through my stomach as the shadows near my feet trembled in response.
Kael approached quickly, still panting from the explosion.
“The runes have stabilized again,” he said, looking at the door. “But barely.”
Conrad immediately placed himself between me and the structure.
As if he could stop anything from reaching me just by standing there.
“What was that?” one of the guards asked behind us, clearly shaken.
No one answered.
Because we all knew.
Or at least we were beginning to understand.
That was the true horror hidden within the rift.
Not the heir.
Not the shadows.
But something much older.
Much hungrier.
Kael watched the door silently now.
Thoughtful.
Then his eyes slowly returned to me.
“The heir.”
My heart tightened.
The way he spoke those words…
as if he were finally connecting everything.
“What about him?” Conrad asked immediately, already tense again.
Kael hesitated.
“The balance of the cleft is tied to the baby.”
A heavy silence fell between us.
My stomach churned instantly.
“No.” Conrad replied too quickly.
Almost aggressively.
Kael ran a hand over his tired face.
“Conrad…”
“No.” He shook his head again. “We’re not going to involve this child in this.”
But I could see it.
The fear in his eyes.
Because, deep down…
he believed it too.
The heiress’s words still echoed clearly in my mind.
“The heir…”
As if the baby were too important to the cleft itself.
I slowly placed my hand on my belly.
The baby immediately calmed under my touch.
And then I felt it.
An emotion that wasn't mine.
Recognition.
As if that monstrous presence on the other side had sensed something familiar in him.
My blood ran cold.
“Conrad…” my voice came out almost in a whisper.
He turned to me immediately.
“I think he’s known about the baby for a long time.”
The wind swept across the clearing at that very instant.
Cold.
Violent.
The runes on the door began to glow again.
And then a new phrase slowly appeared among the golden symbols of the structure.
Kael paled as he translated.
“The second key has been accepted.”
The ground trembled beneath our feet.
And, in the distance…
a new roar echoed from the depths of the chasm.
The roar seemed to pierce reality itself.
The dark trees trembled violently around the clearing as the mist receded in waves, as if even the forest feared what lay hidden within the crevice.
My heart raced.
Instinctively, I placed both hands on my stomach.
The baby responded immediately.
A wave of heat coursed through my body so strongly that I needed to lean on Conrad to avoid falling.
The golden runes scattered across the doorway began to slowly rotate.
Changing.
Reorganizing.
Kael approached the structure again, completely ignoring the danger.
“Kael—” Conrad began.
“Wait.”
His eyes scanned the symbols rapidly.
Then his expression changed.
Confusion.
Then horror.
“What is it?” I asked.
Kael took a few seconds to answer.
As if trying to process what he had just understood.
“The second key…” He slowly raised his eyes to me. “It wasn’t activated now.”
Silence fell instantly.
My chest tightened.
“Then when was it?”
Kael swallowed hard.
“When you accepted the truth about the heir.”
The air seemed to leave my lungs.
Conrad stiffened beside me.
“The keys respond to her choices,” Kael continued. “Not to the doors. Nor to the places.”
My heart raced even faster.
The first key.
Accepting my magic.
The second…
Accepting the heir’s sacrifice.
The shadows surrounding the structure pulsed violently.
As if reacting to comprehension.
Then the monstrous voice returned.
Stronger than ever.
“TWO.”
I immediately put my hand to my head.
Pain shot through my skull.
“Maya!” Conrad caught me before I fell.
But I could still hear.
The voices.
Hundreds of them now.
Mixed together.
Desperate.
“The third…”
“The seal…”
“She can’t take it…”
Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
Because along with the voices…
came emotions.
The heiress.
I could feel her fear.
The exhaustion.
The crushing loneliness of remaining for centuries holding that prison alone.
And worse.
I could feel that she was losing.
Conrad held my face carefully.
“Maya, look at me.”
I tried to focus on him.
On his touch.
On his voice.
Because that was the only thing that still kept me anchored to reality.
“What are they saying?” he asked softly.
I breathed heavily.
“The rift is becoming unstable.” My throat burned as I spoke. “It can no longer control what’s inside.”
Kael stood still.
“So the balance is truly breaking.”
Another knock echoed from the depths of the door.
Louder.
Closer.
The ground cracked again beneath our feet.
And then something changed.
The shadows that seeped from the structure began to slowly rise up the black roots.
Taking shape.
The guards immediately recoiled in panic.
Because now it was possible to see.
Creatures.
Enormous silhouettes moving within the darkness of the door.
Waiting. Watching.
Hungry.
Conrad immediately pulled me behind him, his golden eyes gleaming fiercely.
Alpha instinct.
Absolute protection.
But fear still crept across his expression.
Because he finally understood.
This wasn't just a war.
It was an ancient prison about to collapse.
And the baby…
the baby was directly linked to its balance.
Then the runes on the door glowed one last time.
Strong.
Blinding.
And a new phrase slowly emerged from the black stone.
This time…
everyone could read it.
“The third key awakens with the birth of the heir.”