🩸 Crimson Moon Oath
A Fantasy Romance by Chizzy
Chapter Fourteen – The Path of Blood and Moonlight
The forest north of Elarion was older than the kingdoms that had risen and fallen around it.
Even the wind here whispered differently—lower, deeper, as if it carried the memory of forgotten gods.
Avaline walked between the trees, her cloak brushing the wild ferns that glowed faintly under the moonlight. Every sound felt alive. The roots pulsed faintly when she stepped over them, responding to the quiet hum of her power.
Kael and Lycian followed close behind, silent but alert. Kael moved like shadow, his senses sharpened by centuries of stillness. Lycian, by contrast, was fire—every breath, every glance alive with restless energy.
The tension between them hadn't faded since the battle. It hung thick and unspoken in the air, woven between every glance they exchanged.
But what unsettled Avaline more was the strange feeling building inside her chest. The power that once fought within her—moonlight and blood—now pulsed together like a heartbeat.
It wasn't painful anymore. It was… intimate.
Almost alive.
They reached a clearing where the mist curled like smoke, and the ruins of an old shrine stood half-buried in ivy.
"This is it?" Avaline asked quietly.
Kael nodded. "One of the outer sanctums. The temple lies beyond the Veil."
"The Veil?"
Lycian crouched, brushing his hand against the soil. "A barrier between realms. Only those bound by blood and oath can pass."
Avaline frowned. "Then how do we open it?"
Kael's gaze met hers. "With sacrifice."
Her heart dropped. "No. Not again."
"This isn't like before," he said gently. "It doesn't demand a life, only a truth."
"What kind of truth?"
"The kind that breaks you to say aloud."
Silence settled between them. The trees shivered in the wind.
Kael stepped forward first, placing his hand against the cracked stone of the shrine. "My truth?" he said softly. "I was born to protect a kingdom that doesn't exist anymore. I've killed for peace, I've died for loyalty—and yet the only thing I've ever wanted was something I was forbidden to have."
He looked at Avaline. His eyes burned like embers. "You."
The wind howled. A faint shimmer rippled through the air, as if the forest itself had listened.
Lycian swallowed hard, then moved to stand beside him. "My truth," he said, his voice rough, "is that I've hated vampires all my life. They burned my pack, hunted my kind. But now…" His gaze flicked to Kael and then to Avaline. "Now I fight beside one. And I'd die for the girl who carries their blood."
The ground trembled faintly. The light around the shrine began to pulse.
Avaline's throat tightened. She felt the weight of their words settle inside her—warm, heavy, terrifying.
"My truth," she whispered, "is that I never wanted to belong to any of this. I didn't want power or prophecy. I only wanted to be free."
Her eyes filled with tears. "But now… I don't know what freedom means anymore. Because when I think of freedom, I think of you both."
The Veil stirred. The air shimmered with silver and crimson, parting like mist before them.
Kael's voice was quiet. "It accepted us."
They stepped through.
On the other side lay the ruins of the true temple—a massive circular structure carved into the mountainside. Statues of wolves and winged guardians lined the walls, their eyes glowing faintly. In the center stood an altar of black stone, veined with red.
Avaline approached slowly. "This is where Selara made her oath."
Kael nodded. "And where it must end."
But before they could reach the altar, a sound like cracking thunder filled the chamber. The air turned cold.
From the shadows behind the statues, figures began to emerge—cloaked in tattered robes, faces hidden beneath pale masks.
Lycian growled. "Not again."
Kael drew his blade. "They followed us through the Veil."
Avaline raised her hands, summoning her power—but the moment she did, something inside her twisted. The energy didn't surge outward; it pulled inward, dragging her down to her knees.
Kael rushed to her. "Avaline!"
Her breath came in sharp bursts. Her eyes flared, light spilling from them like molten glass. "The curse—it's fighting back!"
Lycian tore through one of the shadows, snarling. "Then fight harder!"
She screamed, the sound echoing through the temple as the two forces inside her clashed once more. Moonlight and blood. Love and loss. The power that had begun to merge now rebelled, too wild to contain.
Kael grabbed her shoulders, his voice desperate. "Avaline, listen to me! You're not the curse—you're its ending!"
Her gaze found his. The words struck something deep within her, something ancient and fierce.
The world seemed to tilt. Her scream turned into a whisper, and the power exploded outward—not as destruction, but as light.
The shadows burned away, dissolving into dust. The temple walls glowed with veins of crimson and silver, alive again for the first time in centuries.
When it was over, she collapsed against Kael's chest, trembling.
Lycian knelt beside them, breathing hard. "You did it."
Avaline shook her head weakly. "No… it's not over. That was just the gate. The oath's heart is still buried deeper."
Kael brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Then we'll go deeper."
She looked up at him, her voice barely a whisper. "And if I lose myself down there?"
Lycian met her gaze. "Then we'll bring you back."
Kael nodded. "Together."
Avaline smiled faintly, exhausted but resolute. "Then let's finish what the queen began."
As they descended into the lower halls of the temple, the glow of the moonstone torches cast long shadows behind them—three figures walking side by side, bound by love, power, and an oath older than destiny itself.
And far above them, the Crimson Moon trembled… as if for the first time, it feared what was coming.
To be continued...