Chapter 60 Chapter 60
Sable's POV
"Sable....."
The voice came from inside the heart.
Not around me or through the chamber but inside of me.
Like it had always known my name.
The sound of it made my body freeze. The Origin Heart beat harder and faster as silver-black veins of light ran across its surface like living rivers, pulsing in rhythm with my own heartbeat.
And standing beneath it—
the First Queen smiled.
Like she had been waiting for this moment.
Waiting for me.
For us.
For everything to lead here.
Leonidas stepped in front of me instantly.
A low growl rumbling in his chest. His body was still injured and still bleeding.
But that didn't stop him.
It never stopped him from protecting me as always.
The First Queen looked amused.
"The wolf again."
Leonidas's claws extended.
"Talk carefully."
Her silver eyes flickered toward him not from fear but from recognition.
And something else.
Something like sadness.
Like seeing history repeat itself.
The dragon stepped forward.
Its massive body tense.
"You should not be here."
The First Queen tilted her head.
"And yet I am."
The Shadow King's voice hardened.
"What are you?"
The First Queen smiled.
"That question again."
Her fingers brushed the Origin Heart.
The entire chamber trembled.
And the voice inside it whispered my name again.
"Sable..."
It sounded closer now and also more desperate.
My breath hitched.
Because I knew that voice and it was not from memory instead it felt like I knew him from blood.
The Creator.
Leonidas stiffened beside me.
"He's inside that?"
The First Queen looked at him.
"Part of him."
The dragon growled.
"The Origin Heart should not hold him."
Her expression sharpened.
"It always held him."
That made the entire room go still.
Kael blinked.
"Wait."
He rubbed his face.
"Are we saying the thing powering the throne is the Creator?"
The First Queen shook her head.
"No."
Her hand rested against the beating heart.
"This powers him."
Silence.
That somehow felt worse.
It meant that the Creator wasn't the source of the throne but the thing we didn't know about.
This was.
Something older.
Something alive.
The heart pulsed harder as I stepped forward.
It wanted me I could feel it.
The pull.
The connection.
It felt like invisible strings wrapping around my ribs and dragging me closer.
Leonidas grabbed my wrist.
"No."
I looked at him.
His silver eyes burned.
"You're not touching that.
The First Queen laughed softly.
"He cannot stop destiny."
Leonidas's jaw tightened.
"I can kill it."
Her smile widened.
"Try."
Kael muttered behind us.
"Why does everyone ancient speak like that?"
Zander sighed.
"Because apparently drama survives centuries."
The First Queen's gaze shifted back to me.
"You came for answers."
I swallowed.
"Yes."
She stepped aside from the heart.
"Then ask."
Simple.
It sounded too simple and also too easy.
And that made me distrust it immediately.
I looked at the heart.
At the chains binding it and finally at the thing moving inside and asked.
"The Creator is inside there?"
The First Queen nodded.
"A fragment."
"Why?"
Her eyes darkened.
"Because death could not hold him."
The dragon stiffened.
"Impossible."
She looked at him.
"Not for him."
The heart pulsed violently.
And suddenly—
a face appeared inside it.
Pressed against the surface like it was trapped beneath the water.
A man's face.
Beautiful.
Broken.
Ancient.
The Creator.
His silver eyes opened and locked onto mine.
My chest tightened so violently I almost dropped.
This was not fear but something else like recognition.
Blood.
Soul.
Something that was deeper than.
His mouth moved.
"Sable."
Leonidas stepped forward while snarling.
The First Queen raised a hand.
"He cannot leave."
Her voice was calm.
"For now."
For now?
I hated those words.
The Creator pressed harder against the heart.
Like he could almost break through.
The chains glowed barely holding him together.
I looked at the First Queen.
"You sealed him here."
She nodded.
"After I died."
The words made me freeze.
After.
Died.
I frowned.
"You said losing you changed him."
Her silver eyes held mine.
"It did."
Her fingers touched the heart.
"But death is not the end for beings like us."
That explained too much.
And not enough.
Leonidas's voice cut through.
"What do you want from her?"
The First Queen looked at him.
"Nothing."
Lie.
I could feel it.
She wanted something.
Needed something.
The heart beat harder.
And then—
the Creator screamed in pain.
Real pain.
The sound shook the chamber while my power reacted almost instantly.
Silver-black light covering my arms.
The throne above answered.
The whole mountain trembled.
The dragon stepped back.
"The connection is deepening."
The Shadow King looked at me.
"What does that mean?"
The dragon answered.
"The throne is binding to her fully."
Not good.
The First Queen looked pleased.
"Finally."
I glared at her.
"What does that mean?"
Her silver eyes softened.
"It means the throne has accepted its true Queen."
I frowned.
"I thought it already had."
She smiled sadly.
"No."
The heart pulsed.
"Before now, it accepted your blood."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Now it accepts your soul."
That felt heavier.
More permanent.
And far more dangerous.
Leonidas looked at me with concern, fear and finally with love.
And gods—
that last one still shook me.
Because I felt it too.
Fully and completely with no hesitation or doubt.
The Creator's hand slammed against the inside of the heart. And cracks appeared.
The whole room froze.
The dragon roared.
"No!"
The chains tightened.
The cracks sealed barely.
The First Queen frowned.
"That should not happen."
The Shadow King's voice hardened.
"What changed?"
Her eyes moved to me.
And my stomach dropped.
Me.
Of course.
Everything always came back to me.
The dragon understood first.
"The twin throne."
The First Queen nodded.
"It altered the balance."
Kael groaned.
"So saving the world broke the prison."
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Zander crossed his arms.
"That seems like a design flaw."
The First Queen ignored him.
The heart pulsed again.
Harder.
And the Creator spoke.
His voice clearer now.
"Sable......"
His voice was softer.
Broken.
And gods—
there was pain in it.
Real pain.
I hated that I felt it.
Hated that part of me wanted to listen.
Leonidas stepped in front of me again.
"You don't talk to him."
The Creator's eyes shifted to Leonidas.
And darkened with recognition, hatred and most of all jealousy.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The First Queen noticed too.
And her face changed.
Like she remembered something painful.
The Creator's voice deepened.
"The wolf."
Leonidas bared his teeth.
"That's me."
The Creator laughed weakly.
It was still trapped but still dangerous.
"You always choose wolves."
The First Queen's face went cold.
And suddenly—
I understood.
Leonidas wasn't the first.
The First Queen had loved a wolf too.
Not the Creator.
A wolf.
That was the betrayal.
The war.
The beginning.
Everything.
The realization hit me hard.
The Creator's obsession.
His hatred.
His destruction.
It wasn't just grief.
It was betrayal.
The First Queen looked at me.
And confirmed it.
"He was never meant to wear the throne."
My breath stopped.
"What?"
The dragon's eyes widened.
Even he didn't know.
The First Queen touched the heart.
"The throne was built for wolves."
Leonidas froze.
Kael blinked.
"What?"
The First Queen smiled sadly.
"For balance."
She looked at Leonidas.
"Strength and devotion."
Then me.
"Power and choice."
The Creator's voice turned bitter.
"And she chose him."
Her wolf.
Not him.
That's how it started.
Love.
Again.
It was always love.
Gods, I hated that.
Because love kept breaking the world.
The heart cracked again.
Bigger.
The Creator pushed harder.
The chains strained.
The dragon roared.
"He's breaking through!"
The First Queen stepped back.
And for the first time, I saw fear on her face.
Real fear.
"He shouldn't be this strong."
The Shadow King looked at her sharply.
"What aren’t you telling us?"
Her silence answered enough.
The heart wasn't weakening by accident.
Something was feeding him.
And then, I suddenly felt it.
Beyond the Veil.
The Devourer.
Pushing through. Its hunger pressing against reality.
Feeding on the cracks.
Feeding him.
The Creator wasn't escaping alone instead he was being pulled out.
Being used.
A bridge.
I looked at the First Queen.
"He's bait."
Her eyes met mine.
And I knew I was right.
The Creator looked up.
And smiled.
It was not a cruel one like before, but a relieved one, because he knew too.
He wasn't the monster now.
He was the door.
And the Devourer wanted through.
The dragon stepped forward.
"The heart must be sealed."
The First Queen nodded.
"Yes."
Leonidas looked at me.
"No."
He knew.
He understood instantly.
Because sealing it meant binding with it.
Me.
Again.
Always me.
The First Queen’s voice softened.
"It has to be you."
I laughed bitterly.
Of course.
Why wouldn't it be?
Caius stepped beside me.
"There has to be another way."
The dragon shook his head.
"There isn't."
Kael cursed.
Malrik's face hardened.
Zander looked furious.
Not because he cared but because he hated helplessness.
Same as me.
Leonidas grabbed my shoulders. His voice low but sharp.
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"If I don't....."
"You find another way."
"There isn't one."
His eyes burned.
"Then make one."
Gods.
That hurt because I also wanted to.
Wanted to stay.
Wanted him.
Wanted us.
But the heart cracked wider.
And the Creator’s hand broke through revealing actual flesh and actual blood.
The chamber shook violently.
No time.
The First Queen looked at me.
"Choose."
Always choice.
Always.
I stepped toward the heart.
Leonidas grabbed me.
And kissed me hard, desperate, angry and terrified. His forehead rested against mine.
"If you disappear—"
His voice broke and that shattered me inside.
Because Leonidas never broke.
I touched his face.
"I'll come back."
His eyes closed.
Like he was memorizing me.
Then, he let go which am sure it was the hardest thing he had ever done.
I walked to the heart.
The First Queen moved beside me.
"I'll guide you."
I looked at her.
"Why help me?"
Her smile was small.
"Because I failed."
The honesty stunned me.
And I believed her.
For the first time—
I believed her.
The Creator pushed through further,his arm was free now.
Silver–black blood dripping it. The Devourer's hunger pouring through the cracks.
The heart was becoming a doorway.
There was no more time.
I placed my hand on it.
And everything exploded.
Memories.
Lives.
Queens before me.
Wolves beside them.
Wars.
Love.
Betrayal.
Sacrifice.
The throne was never power.
It was promise.
A bond between Queen and Alpha. Built to resist the hunger before creation.
Built to hold the Devourer back.
Built together.
Not by gods.
By lovers.
The First Queen and her wolf.
Not the Creator.
That truth broke everything.
The Creator had stolen it.
Corrupted it. Claimed it.
My eyes snapped open.
The heart obeyed me as the chains changed.
Silver–black becoming pure silver.
Pure bond. Pure law.
The Creator screamed.
"No!"
He knew.
The throne was returning to its true design.
And it rejected him.
The chains wrapped around his body dragging him back in but he fought hard.
The Devourer pushed harder.
The heart cracked.
The mountain shook.
I poured everything into it.
My power.
My soul.
My bond.
And then—
Leonidas stepped beside me.
His hand over mine.
"What are you doing?!"
His eyes locked onto mine.
"Not letting you do it alone."
The bond exploded.
Our powers fused together.
The heart stabilized.
The chains strengthened.
The Creator was dragged back—
screaming.
The Devourer roared beyond the Veil.
I could feel it was furious, hungry and denied.
The heart was finally sealed.
The cracks vanished.
There was total silence and stillness.
Everything was done.
For now.
But when I turned—
the First Queen was fading.
Her body breaking into silver light.
She smiled at me.
Soft and peaceful.
"Do better than we did."
And then, she was gone for real this time.
The heart beat once.
Twice.
And then a whisper sounded that was not from the Creator or from the Queen.
Something else.
Something beneath it.
A child's voice that was ancient and sleeping.
And it said—
Mother?