"Third point of view"
The boy did not scream.
Not when the walls cracked, not when blood pooled under the altar, not even when the God Without Form gripped him by the throat like a doll.
He simply watched, wide-eyed, unblinking. His hair was ink-dark, soaked in soot. His skin shimmered faintly — psion-blooded, no doubt.
Sebastian's blood.
Sebastian's heir.
And the creature holding him had no eyes — only a mouth that stretched too wide, too deep. It didn't speak.
It devoured the silence.
"Let. Him. Go."
Sebastian's voice shattered like thunder.
But the God Without Form only tilted its head. The boy's small limbs dangled from its grip — alive, but limp. Trapped in stasis. A living charm. A threat incarnate.
Seraphine fell to her knees.
"No," she whispered. "Not again. Not again."
The Heart above them pulsed once — then began to beat faster. The chained organ in the air reacted to the presence of the god-thing as if afraid.
The ground trembled.
"The seal won't hold," Lilith snarled. "This thing's feeding off the Heart's essence."
"We have to cut it off," Zira shouted. "Now!"
"Not without the boy!" Seraphine screamed, rising, her flames dancing wildly.
Sebastian launched forward — faster than thought. The very air ripped as he shattered space, appearing inches from the god. He struck.
A psionic blade, laced with memory, burst from his fist — forged from will, hate, and desperation.
The blade passed through the god's form.
Sebastian blinked.
Illusion.
The god's true body surged from the other side of the chamber.
"Sebastian!" Kaine screamed.
He spun just as a skeletal claw burst through the stone floor beneath him. It grazed his thigh — just enough for contact. Just enough to inject the curse.
He staggered back.
The god's voice came not in words — but images, injected into the mind like poison.
A kingdom of bone, a throne of screaming mouths, a child bound in gold and sealed in void, the king torn apart by his own blood.
The message was clear.
"Trade," Seraphine gasped, hands over her ears. "He wants to trade."
Zira growled, eyes glowing. "He can have my blades down his throat!"
"No," Lilith snapped. "He's offering a deal."
Sebastian's voice came through clenched teeth. "What does he want?"
Seraphine stood. Her fire had dimmed — now it coiled around her like a cloak of serpents. Her voice was dead.
"Me."
Silence fell like ash.
Sebastian turned to her slowly. "What?"
"The God Without Form has no shape. He borrows flesh. It wants to be mine." Her lips trembled. "He's traced the power that brought me back. My body is fresh — immortal, unstable, volatile. A perfect vessel."
"No." Sebastian's hands curled into fists. "I won't let you sacrifice yourself again."
She smiled bitterly. "Why not? That's the only thing I'm good at, isn't it? Dying for you."
He stepped forward, grabbed her arms.
"You're not going to die. Not again. Not for this thing. We'll find another way."
The God Without Form raised the boy higher.
The child opened his mouth.
"…Father."
One word.
It broke him.
Sebastian's breath caught.
Lilith's eyes widened. "He knows you…"
"They've shown him," Elyra said softly, horrified. "Everything. All the pain. All the blood. They've used your son against you."
The god began to fade — retreating slowly, dragging the boy into a rift of writhing shadows.
"No!" Seraphine roared.
She leapt forward.
Sebastian caught her. "Seraphine—!"
But it was too late.
The flames in her body surged. She screamed — and vanished in a burst of violet fire.
The rift slammed shut.
The god was gone.
So was the boy.
So was Seraphine.
Sebastian collapsed to his knees.
Not again.
Not again.
"She traded herself for your son," Elyra whispered. "She took the god's mark into herself to spare the boy."
Lilith touched the air where Seraphine vanished. "That's not death. That was binding. She let him inhabit her."
Zira scowled. "Then he's inside her now?"
"Yes," Kaine said grimly. "But that's the mistake he made. Seraphine's not like other vessels. She's wild. Unstable. If he tries to control her—"
"She'll burn him from the inside," Sebastian finished, eyes narrowing.
Elyra placed a hand on his shoulder. "What now?"
He stood slowly, gaze turning cold.
"She bought us time. But not safety."
He walked back to the throne, now split in half. At its base, the Heart of Ashkara pulsed faster — glowing black-red. Its chains trembled.
"The God Without Form has touched the Heart," he said. "It's no longer dormant. The Second Gate will open soon."
Lilith's expression turned grim. "We don't have enough time. The next ritual… it'll demand more."
Zira nodded. "A new offering. A new harem member."
Elyra frowned. "Who's left that's even compatible?"
Sebastian turned slowly, eyes glowing with psionic fire.
"There's one."
They stared at him.
He didn't smile.
"There's a girl in the Obsidian Mines," he said quietly. "Chained since birth. Her voice can break steel. She's half-divine. Half-monstrous."
Lilith stiffened. "The Siren of Sahlgrave?"
He nodded.
"She's the last harem bond capable of balancing Seraphine's void-taint. If we don't find her before the Heart cracks, the god will burst free. And this time…"
He looked up at the black sky outside the crumbling cathedral.
"…he won't just take my son."
Elyra whispered, "What will he take?"
Sebastian's eyes flared.
"Everything."
The seer's hollow eyes locked onto Sebastian's.
"You must find him," she rasped. "Before she does."
Sebastian's breath froze. The icy fingers around his spine clenched tighter. "Who?" he demanded. "Who is she?"
But the girl only smiled — too wide, too knowing — and her body dissolved into ash as the last flicker of psionic flame consumed her.
Silence. Thick. Choking.
Lilith took a step closer, voice tight. "What did she say to you?"
Sebastian didn't answer immediately. He was staring into the ash that had once been the seer. His mind raced. A son? No. Impossible.
Wasn't it?
Lilith reached for his arm. "Sebastian."
"She said…" he began, voice low, cracked, "…I have a son."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Zira cursed under her breath. Elyra gasped, her hand rising to her lips. Kaine's eyes narrowed, calculating.
"You never told us you had a child," Lilith said, her voice carefully neutral.
"I didn't know," Sebastian muttered. "I… never knew."
He turned away from the ash, pacing toward the shattered stained glass window overlooking the obsidian city. The twin moons hung low, casting a bloodred glow over Veylaris.
Sebastian clenched his jaw. "If she spoke true, and my son still lives…"
"Then someone's kept him hidden from you all this time," Kaine finished coldly. "Which means they knew what he was. What he is."
A silence passed between them — sharp, lethal.
Then Lilith stepped forward. "There's only one person powerful enough to bind the son of the Forbidden King… and insane enough to use him as leverage."
Sebastian turned. "Seraphine."
Lilith nodded. "She's no ordinary revenant. She was once the Mistress of the Veil. And she wanted your heir."
Zira's voice was dry. "So… your ex-lover is back from the dead and holding your secret child hostage to resurrect a primordial weapon?"
Elyra blinked. "That's horrifyingly accurate."
Kaine unsheathed her blade with a hiss. "Then we kill her before she gets the chance."
"No," Sebastian said, his voice cold and final. "We find the boy first. Wherever she's taken him, she'll guard him with wards of blood and void. He's more than bait. He's a key."
Lilith's eyes darkened. "To what?"
Sebastian stared into the horizon — beyond the black mountains, beyond the veil of the Forgotten Wilds.
"To the Heart of Ashkara," he said grimly. "And if Seraphine unlocks it before I do…"
"The world burns," Kaine finished.
Elyra hesitated. "Then where do we begin?"
Sebastian turned to his harem, his queens, his blades and shadows. "We return to the Temple of the First Flame. It's where I last saw her alive. If she was ever truly killed, her soul would've been sealed there."
Zira raised a brow. "You mean the cursed ruins surrounded by soul-thirsting wraiths?"
"Yes."
Kaine grinned. "Finally, something fun."
But as they turned to leave, a low growl rumbled from beneath the floor — deep and ancient. The obsidian walls pulsed. Cracks spidered across the throne.
Elyra backed away. "What is that?"
Lilith's eyes widened. "It's waking."
"The Heart?" Kaine asked.
Sebastian drew his blade, voice steady. "No. Not yet."
From beneath the throne, a crack split open — not stone, but space. A rift in reality. Black mist spilled out. Then a hand.
Long, clawed, charred.
Then two glowing white eyes, rimmed with shadowflame.
A demon lord. One of the Seven Unforgiven. Bound beneath the palace since the first reign of the Forbidden King.
And now it was free.
Its voice was the grinding of bones, the breaking of glass.
"YOU DARE SIT ON THE THRONE OF THE BROKEN GOD?"
Sebastian raised his sword, and his body ignited with psionic flame. "I don't sit. I rule."
The demon lunged.
Lilith cast a sigil in the air. Zira leapt onto a pillar, blades flashing. Kaine dropped into a combat stance. Elyra summoned a barrier of golden light.
And as the demon roared and the palace shook, Sebastian knew this was only the beginning.
His son was alive.
Seraphine had risen.
And the gods had finally opened their eyes.