The morning sky was a flawless pale blue, as though the world was attempting to smile after a long night. Sunlight fell gently upon the earth's corners, where dew still danced on the surface of stones and half-dried leaves.
Yet such perfect stillness, accompanied only by the melody of birdsong and the breeze of changing time, was no setting fit to be paired with Elric's scream.
Elric's body jolted awake, breath caught in his throat, his face drenched in cold sweat, eyes wide as if witnessing a shadow no adult could comprehend. Elric writhed, as though trying to break free from both physical agony and a torment buried deep within.
Thalia, who had almost brought her lips to her morning teacup, jolted at the piercing sound of Elric's anguish. Thalia's gaze followed Alaric as he walked away from their room. Yet that trace of concern was not enough to move her body.
"Elric."
Alaric's calm voice entered the pain-drenched air, his eyes settling on the boy's anguished face. Alaric stepped forward slowly, like a shadow just released from the night's wall, approaching without a sound.
"Mama."
Elric could feel the cold touch of Alaric's hand on his forehead, as tears streamed down his cheeks like a shallow flood across his skin.
"Tea seems more appealing than you."
With a gentle flick to Elric's forehead, Alaric sent a shard of magic flowing through him, lulling the boy back to sleep beneath the sun's embrace. A knock came at the door, and Alaric's voice answered, allowing it to creak open.
A servant entered the room, carrying an empty glass. He bowed his head after setting it down and turned to leave, but an arrow shot through the open window pierced his heart, bathed in morning sunlight.
Footsteps approached, and a hand retrieved the arrow. Alaric's eyes examined it, the shaft made of wood and silver, a deliberate combination.
"Has someone violated the rules?"
The words slipped from Alaric's lips as his gaze locked on a man hiding behind a tree, watching. Alaric ignored the servant's body, which slowly crumbled into dust. Just as the man pulled his bowstring taut, the arrow in Alaric's hand launched, striking the man's neck.
The hunter's body thrashed like a poisoned animal, the silver arrow laced with a red elixir of Alaric's own blood that now fought against the human's.
"Preserve his blood for Elric."
Alaric ordered his two servants, "Take the rest once the glass is full."
"Yes, Master."
They bowed respectfully before stepping toward the hunter still writhing beneath the trees. Alaric sat down in the chair beside Elric's bed, eyes fixed on the child's small form.
Alaric waited for Elric to wake, ignoring the servant who entered carrying a glass now brimming with human blood.
"Master."
Luke's voice came from behind the closed bedroom door. When it opened, Luke did not step inside, halting at the sight of Alaric's expression. The hallway light trickled in. No emotion was exchanged, but Luke understood the unspoken message.
"Clean what's soiled, silence the greedy."
A faint smirk tugged at Luke's lips almost impolite in its satisfaction. Without looking, Alaric sensed the subtle shift in Luke's posture in response.
Daylight dimmed, surrendering to the soft, melancholic embrace of dusk, warm with orange light. Then night arrived uninvited, bearing its scent and silence sharp enough to crack bone. The change of time and tone still failed to wake Elric from the comfort of rebellion, perhaps he had not yet been granted permission to open his eyes.
The hunter's blood streamed from the rim of the crystal glass like a waterfall plunging from a height, seeping into Elric's still-sleeping mouth, feeding a thirst even slumber could not soothe.
"Be still."
Alaric's whisper held a pressure that brooked no defiance. Alaric stared intently at Elric, whose body still trembled in the grip of lingering nightmares, even after drinking the blood of the hunter. Blood now tainted with Alaric's own, striving to override Elric's.
In that moment, the hunter's blood began to fade, its dominance faltering, though Thalia's blood within Elric had aided the resistance. Still, Thalia's blood remained trapped, clotted between the binding of Alaric's and Elric's.
Elric stirred, as though pulled from the depths of sleep by an unease creeping like shadows behind midnight curtains. Elric's breath was ragged, and cold sweat soaked the curve of his small neck.
"Father, I want..."
The small body shifted beneath tangled blankets, eyes half-lidded, one hand reaching. Alaric lifted him, holding Elric until the boy's tiny fangs could find the curve of his neck.
No scream, only the hiss of a breath held in.
The blood flowed, warm as Elric drank, his body instinctively understanding the value of each drop. Alaric did not resist even he only closed his eyes, one hand gently caressing Elric's hair, letting the child continue.
Thirst forged a new tether, even as Thalia's blood receded, its dominance yielding.
"Stop, Elric."
Elric ceased, releasing his bite and gazing at his father. Alaric's thumb wiped away the red smear at the corner of the boy's lips.
Beneath the night sky, the moon shone bright before dimming as thunder growled, a herald of rain to wash over every inch of the earth. The sound of rainfall and the scent of wet soil became the night's hand, tugging the strings of the world's creatures.
There would be no return.
It was a fitting truth for the moment Elric slipped from his father's embrace and walked away. Alaric remained seated in his chamber, unmoving.
"I want..."
Elric's footsteps were faint, trailing down a long corridor lit only by dim glow from tall windows. The rhythm of falling rain accompanied his quiet journey, along with soft breaths and the ticking of a stone-wall clock that struck now and then, uncaring of who stayed or left.
"Mama."
Elric called for Thalia, pushing open the door to his parents' bedroom. Thalia flinched when his voice rang out, echoing with a crack of thunder from the night sky.
"Elric?"
The small figure moved like thick mist, his hand gripping her shoulder with unnatural strength. Then, without gentleness and without anger, Elric sank his fangs into her and his eyes glowing red with void, filled now by something else as her blood began to flow.
Thalia screamed, pain and sorrow erupting within the storm's embrace. Thalia struggled, unwilling to accept what was happening, but her movements only tore her wounds wider.
Elric had almost killed Thalia, his own mother.