Chapter 145: The blood of Xylvarna
…As the crushing darkness pressed down on her, Anastasia could feel herself fading, slipping further and further away into the cold, poisonous dark.
Then, a voice echoed through the pitch-black abyss. It did not come from the shadows, but from deep within her own mind—ancient, resonant, and thrumming with absolute power.
“Do not close your eyes, my little girl." Anastasia gasped. Using the absolute last ounce of her strength, she forced her heavy eyelids open, expecting to see the suffocating walls of the shadow-rift.
Instead, the freezing mud, the smell of rot, and the agonizing burn of the Fae venom instantly vanished.
Anastasia blinked against a sudden, brilliant wave of golden sunlight. She wasn't lying in the pit anymore.
She was standing in the center of a breathtaking, light-drenched forest-like garden. Massive, ancient trees with leaves of spun silver and emerald towered into a cloudless, vibrant sky. The air was filled with the scent of blooming jasmine and rich, warm earth. In the distance, between the massive trunks, elegant figures moved gracefully — elves with luminous skin and ancient, sorrowful eyes, watching her with quiet reverence.
“Am I dead?" Anastasia whispered, looking down at her hands. The mud and blood were completely gone. Her skin was flawless.
“No, my sweet child," a gentle, commanding voice spoke from behind her. “You are simply waking up."
Anastasia turned. Standing beneath the canopy of the grandest tree was a woman in her middle age, unimaginably beautiful to someone of her age. Her features mirrored Anastasia's own—her silky black long hair, the curve of her brow, the shape of her eyes. She wore a flowing, gossamer gown that seemed woven from the sunlight itself.
Anastasia's breath caught in her throat. Her blood instantly recognized the woman. She had never seen her before, not even in her dreams, but somehow she knew… she knew she was her great-great-grandmother.
Lilith.
“Mother Lilith," Anastasia breathed, taking a hesitant step forward. “I don't understand. I was dying. Princess Aeliana threw me into the dark… I don't even understand. My body was… I knew I was dying…” She took deep breaths. "Did I die? Am I really dead… where am I?"
Lilith's lips curved faintly, a profound mixture of sorrow and fierce pride shining in her eyes. She did not reach out to comfort a dying girl. Instead, she stood tall, addressing her like an equal. “Your time has come, little one. You have reached the absolute brink of death for the ancient blood of Xylvarna to awaken within you.”
"The brink of death?” Anastasia repeated, her brow furrowing. "But my sickness… I have been dying for almost one year."
“You were never sick, Anastasia," Lilith said softly, her gaze holding hers steady. “It was the time of your awakening. Your body had to break. The mortal shell you wore was too fragile to hold the magic of our bloodline. What the humans called an illness was merely your physical body struggling to contain a power it did not know how to release. The magic in your blood was trapped by two things.”
Anastasia's eyes widened unconsciously.
"One,” Lilith continued. "Your covenant with Nyla had to be complete.”
"Nyla? Who was that? And I didn't make a covenant with anyone?"
Lilith smiled slowly, amused by her denial. “She was your servant in your first life. You made a covenant with her, and she was Prince Gideoniel's mate, in this life. “
Anastasia's brows furrowed to the extent of aching. "Lucius? Lucius was… Nyla, and my servant?"
“Yes. Back then, in Umbralord. You are Lena. The reincarnation of Lord Liam's mate.”
“What?" She shook her head profusely. She sucked in a sharp breath. “That is not possible. I mean…” She saw Lilith's expression change. And she knew… she was telling her not because she wanted to, but because she had to.”
Lilith smiled again. "The second seal was the illness. Now it is gone."
Anastasia shook her head slowly, not believing her words. "You can't be sure of that. Grandma told me that. She even made herbs, it only gets worse."
Of course,” Lilith said, walking toward her slowly. "There was nothing they could do. No one could have done anything even if they wanted to. Morgana only panicked.” She smiled softly. "That child. She was scared because it had never gotten that bad for anyone in our family before. The last catalyst you needed was provided by the princess.”
Anastasia's jaw tightened at the mention of Aeliana. “She wanted to kill me."
Lilith began to slowly walk around Anastasia, her eyes glowing with a faint emerald light. "Princess Aeliana thought she was sending you to your grave. She thought the fall and the poison would finish what she believed was a weak human. But she was foolish. Ironically, what Aeliana did worked entirely in your favour.”
Anastasia's eyes widened as the realization washed over her. “The poison… it pushed my body past its limit?”
"Exactly,” Lilith nodded, her smile widening into something fiercely triumphant. "It shattered the mortal shell. Aeliana provided the very catalyst you needed to break the seal on your magic. She handed you the key to your own cage.”
Anastasia looked out at the ancient trees, feeling a sudden overwhelming sense of clarity. The weakness, the agonizing month of fragility, the terrifying fall into the abyss—it wasn't a tragedy. It had been a cocoon all along.
“But what do I do now?” Anastasia asked, looking back at Lilith.
Lilith's expression grew grave, the light around them dimming slightly. “The fight ahead of you is far greater than you or your people have yet realized. The shadows you face now are only the beginning. There are older, darker things stirring in the world, waiting for the seal to break.”