Chapter 64 Chapter 64
Sable's POV
"You don't have much time left."
The First Child's words stayed in my head long after the chamber fell silent.
Not much time.
Not much time before the Devourer broke through.
Not much time before the Veil collapsed.
Not much time before Leonidas and I were forced to make a choice that would either save the world or destroy us.
The Origin Heart pulsed heavily behind us, its silver–black glow casting shadows across the crystal chamber. The cracks that was spreading across its surface had sealed for now, but I could still feel the instability beneath it.
Like a wound pretending to be healed.
Leonidas stood beside me, tense and furious as I could feel it through the mate bond.
The fear that was not for himself but rather for me.
Always for me.
The First Child watched us quietly from the center of the chamber, her silver–black eyes unreadable.
The dragon lowered its massive head toward her.
"If the throne binds them permanently, the world survives?"
The child nodded once.
"For a time."
Kael groaned loudly.
"There it is again. Why is nothing permanent in this world?"
"Because all things end," the child answered simply.
Kael pointed at her immediately.
"I hate when ancient beings get philosophical."
Zander rubbed his temples.
"I hate all of this."
The Shadow King ignored them both. His gaze stayed fixed on the First Child.
"There has to be another solution."
The child looked at him calmly.
'There were other solutions."
A pause.
"They failed."
Cold silence followed those words.
The Creator laughed softly from inside the Heart.
"You finally understand."
The chains tightened around him again. But his laughter continued faintly through the chamber as the sound made my skin crawl.
Leonidas stepped closer to me. His hand brushed mine gently warm and steady.
But his voice was tight.
"We are not doing it."
I looked at him carefully.
"You don't know that yet."
"I do."
His silver eyes burned into mine.
"I won't let them take your life."
The bond between us pulsed painfully. Because part of me understood exactly what he meant.
It was not death but worse losing ourselves.
Becoming trapped inside the throne forever.
Watching centuries pass.
Watching everyone disappear.
Alone.
Together.
But not truly living.
The First Child tilted her head slightly.
"You fear eternity."
Leonidas looked at her coldly.
"I fear losing her."
Something flickered across the child's face.
A strange sadness.
"You sound like him."
The Creator went silent inside the Heart.
The atmosphere in the chamber shifted immediately to a heavy, sharp and dangerous one.
The child noticed too as her expression darkened slightly.
"He still listens when wolves speak about love."
The Creator's voice emerged again, quieter now.
"Be silent."
The First Child smiled faintly at his words.
Interesting.
The dragon stepped between them before either ancient being could continue.
"We are wasting time."
Its massive silver eyes turned toward us.
"The Veil weakens with every moment."
Almost as if the world wanted to prove him right the mountain shook violently at that moment while a deep roar echoed somewhere far above us but closer than before.
The Devourer.
The sound alone made the crystal walls vibrate.
Kael's face lost all humor instantly.
"That thing is getting nearer."
The Shadow King nodded grimly.
"The realms are thinning."
Caius finally stepped forward again after remaining quiet for so long.
His dark eyes settled on me carefully.
"You're exhausted."
I frowned slightly.
Only then did I notice how heavy my body felt.
Like my power had been draining steadily without me realizing it.
The twin throne bond.
The Origin Heart.
The First Child.
Everything around me seemed connected now.
And all of it pulled at my strength.
The child noticed my expression immediately.
"The throne is feeding."
I looked at her sharply.
"Feeding on what?"
"You."
Leonidas snarled instantly.
"No."
The child looked confused by his anger.
"The throne requires its Queen."
My chest tightened.
"That's why I feel weak?"
She nodded slowly.
"You awakened it fully."
The dragon's expression darkened.
"The throne has not fully awakened in thousands of years."
Kael looked horrified.
"So the world–ending magical throne is hungry now?"
"Yes," the child replied calmly.
"Wonderful."
Zander muttered something in vampire under his breath that probably wasn't polite.
The Heart pulsed again.
And suddenly, the crystal chamber dimmed.
The child looked upward sharply.
"He's pushing again."
A violent crack split across one side of the chamber wall.
Darkness leaked through it slowly like smoke.
Nothingness.
The moment it appeared, every instinct inside me screamed.
Run.
Leonidas immediately moved in front of me while the dragon spread its wings protectively around me.
The Shadow King summoned dark flames around his hands.
Even the First Child looked serious now.
The darkness behind the crack moved slowly.
Watching.
Hungry because I could feel it.
And then suddenly an eye opened inside it.
Massive.
Silver–black power just like mine but this one was ancient beyond understanding.
The Devourer had finally found us.
My breath caught painfully in my throat as I could see the eye stared directly at me like I was it's target.
Not the dragon.
Not the First Child.
Me.
The pressure that followed it's movement was unbearable.
The entire mountain groaned violently.
Kael dropped to one knee instantly. Zander cursed sharply. Blood trickled from the Shadow King's nose.
Even the dragon struggled to remain upright.
Only the First Child remained standing calmly.
And Leonidas.
My wolf.
My mate.
He stayed in front of me despite the crushing pressure trying to force everyone down.
The eye narrowed slightly like it was watching something interesting.
The bond between me and Leonidas flared up brightly.
And suddenly, the Devourer smiled but it was not with lips rather with feeling like hunger making me wonder why all ancient feel hunger.
The First Child's voice turned cold.
"Do not look at him."
Too late.
The moment our eyes met, something slammed into my mind.
Endless darkness.
Dead worlds floating through emptiness.
Stars being swallowed whole.
Screaming civilizations disappearing into black oceans.
And at the center of it all was loneliness crushing down.
Infinite loneliness.
My knees almost buckled under the force of it.
The Devourer wasn't just hungry but it was also alone and that was where the feeling of loneliness came from. So painfully alone that it consumed everything trying to fill the emptiness.
The realization horrified me.
"Sable!"
Leonidas's voice dragged me back violently.
I gasped sharply.
The eye was still there.
Watching me.
The First Child stepped directly between us.
And for the first time, her voice carried true authority not sounding like that of a child at all.
"You cannot have her."
The darkness trembled.
The eye blinked slowly, then the entire chamber shook as a deafening roar exploded through the crack.
Kael covered his ears with a curse.
The crystal walls shattered in several places.
The Origin Heart pulsed violently behind us.
The Creator laughed again.
"He remembers her."
The First Child's expression darkened instantly.
"Silence."
The chains wrapped tighter around the Heart.
But the Creator kept laughing.
The eye outside the crack remained fixed on me.
Watching and studying me.
And then suddenly, a voice echoed through the chamber.
Not loud or monstrous but soft, ancient and beautiful.
"Sister."
The entire chamber froze.
The First Child went completely still.
The Devourer's eye never left me.
But that voice, that word—
had been meant for her.
The First Child's expression slowly changed to that of pain.
Raw, ancient pain.
The darkness behind the crack shifted again.
And another eye opened beside the first but this was smaller and silver color not black.
The child whispered softly—
"No...."
The dragon looked horrified.
"That's impossible."
The Shadow King stepped backward slowly.
"What are we looking at?"
The First Child stared at the second eye with shaking hands.
And suddenly, she looked like a child again.
Small.
Fragile.
Heartbroken.
"That's not the Devourer,"
she whispered.
My stomach dropped.
Then what was it?
The second eye blinked slowly. And the soft voice echoed again.
"You left me alone."
The First Child's entire body trembled violently.
The Origin Heart began beating faster and harder.
Like it recognized the voice too.
The Creator suddenly stopped laughing.
Even he sounded unsettled now.
"That thing survived?"
Thing.
Not person.
Thing.
The second eye focused slowly on the First Child.
And the darkness around the crack began changing.
Silver light spread through it like veins.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Alive.
The dragon stepped backward.
"That's impossible....."
The First Child looked at me suddenly.
Her silver–black eyes wide.
Terrified.
"We need to leave."
Leonidas didn't hesitate.
"Move."
The chamber shook violently again as the crack widened across the wall.
The silver eye grew larger.
Closer.
And suddenly, a hand reached through the crack.
Not clawed.
Human.
Pale silver skin glowing softly against the darkness.
The First Child stared at it in horror.
Then whispered the one thing none of us were prepared to hear.
"My brother found us."