Chapter Twenty-Three: The Blood of the First King
The courtyard had fallen silent.
Caelum's words remained suspended in the cold night air.
"Unless you surrender the seal willingly, the Keepers will destroy the Night Spire."
Elowen stared at him.
She had faced the Empire.
She had stood before the Hunger.
She had watched an ancient seal crack.
Yet somehow, this frightened her more.
Not because Caelum threatened the Court.
Because he seemed to know something about her.
Something even she didn't know.
"What do you mean by surrender?" Elowen asked.
Caelum's mismatched eyes narrowed.
"You already know."
"No," she replied. "I don't."
A faint tremor passed through the ground.
Malachor immediately stepped beside her.
"Enough riddles."
Caelum looked at him.
"You truly don't remember?"
Malachor's expression hardened.
"Remember what?"
Caelum's gaze moved between the two of them.
Then he looked toward the Night Spire.
"The beginning."
The words sent a strange chill through Elowen.
"What beginning?"
Caelum reached down and touched the crystal spear embedded in the ground.
The silver weapon began to glow.
Three circles appeared across its surface.
Elowen's breath caught.
She knew that symbol.
The same one from the ancient journal.
The same symbol that had appeared on her palm.
The same symbol she had seen in her dreams.
Caelum noticed her reaction.
"You have seen it."
Elowen nodded slowly.
"In a book."
"No."
Caelum shook his head.
"You have seen it somewhere much older."
"Where?"
He pointed at her.
"Inside yourself."
The courtyard erupted into whispers.
Seraphine stepped forward.
"Explain yourself."
Caelum ignored her.
He continued staring at Elowen.
"Do you ever dream of a black moon?"
Elowen froze.
Malachor noticed.
"Elowen?"
She swallowed.
"Yes."
"Do you dream of a forest covered in snow?"
Her eyes widened.
"Yes."
"Do you see a man with crimson eyes?"
Elowen slowly looked at Malachor.
"Yes."
Malachor said nothing.
Caelum's expression became grim.
"Then the memories have already begun."
"What memories?"
Caelum took a breath.
"The memories of your first life."
Elowen felt the world tilt.
"My first life?"
"You were not born once."
Silence.
"You were born twice."
The Hunger stirred beneath the Spire.
A deep pulse traveled through the earth.
Elowen placed a hand against her chest.
"What am I?"
Caelum's voice became quieter.
"That is the question your ancestors spent centuries trying to prevent you from asking."
Malachor stepped forward.
"Tell her."
Caelum looked at him.
"You should tell her."
"I don't remember."
"You will."
The ground trembled again.
Suddenly, Elowen's vision blurred.
The courtyard disappeared.
She was somewhere else.
A massive temple stood beneath a blackened sky.
Golden flames burned along its walls.
Thousands of people knelt.
At the center of the temple stood a woman wearing a crown of silver.
She held a newborn child.
Elowen.
But the woman wasn't her mother.
At least—
Not in the way Elowen understood the word.
Behind the woman stood a younger Malachor.
He wasn't wearing the crown of the Vampire King.
He wasn't even a vampire.
He was human.
Alive.
His eyes were still crimson.
The woman handed him the child.
Malachor took her carefully.
The baby's eyes opened.
They were Elowen's eyes.
Then the vision changed.
The temple was burning.
The woman screamed.
Malachor turned toward the flames.
And something enormous moved behind them.
The Hunger.
Not contained.
Not imprisoned.
Free.
The vision shattered.
Elowen gasped.
Malachor caught her before she fell.
"Elowen!"
She stared at him.
"You were there."
His face went pale.
"What did you see?"
"You were holding me."
Malachor became completely still.
"I was holding a baby."
"You."
He looked away.
"No."
"You knew me."
"I don't remember."
"You called me by name."
Malachor looked back at her.
"I didn't."
"You did."
Caelum closed his eyes.
"The memories are connecting."
Seraphine looked horrified.
"Who was that woman?"
Caelum answered:
"The last Keeper of the First Dawn."
Elowen stared at him.
"My mother?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Caelum's answer came slowly.
"Your creator."
Elowen's breath caught.
"You said I was born."
"You were."
"Then why call her my creator?"
Caelum looked toward the Night Spire.
"Because she didn't create your body."
He looked back at Elowen.
"She created what was inside it."
The Hunger suddenly spoke.
Not in Elowen's mind.
Not from beneath the Spire.
Its voice came from everywhere.
"Enough."
Every candle in the courtyard went dark.
The Keepers immediately raised their crystal weapons.
Malachor pulled Elowen behind him.
Caelum did not move.
The Hunger spoke again.
"They are telling you only half the truth."
Elowen stared into the darkness.
"Then tell me the rest."
Silence.
Then—
"You are not my vessel."
A pulse of energy shook the mountain.
"You are my blood."
Elowen's heart stopped.
Caelum's face changed.
"No..."
Malachor turned toward the darkness.
"What did you say?"
The Hunger continued.
"When they destroyed my body, they could not destroy my essence."
"So they divided it."
Elowen's hands trembled.
"Divided it?"
"One part became the seal."
The ground shook.
"One part became the darkness beneath the world."
Another pulse.
"And one part became you."
No one spoke.
Elowen stared at her hands.
"So I'm part of you."
The Hunger answered:
"You are the part they feared most."
Caelum suddenly raised his crystal spear.
"Do not listen to it!"
Elowen turned toward him.
"Why?"
"Because it lies."
The Hunger laughed.
Not cruelly.
Almost sadly.
"Ask him about your father."
Caelum froze.
Elowen looked at him.
"My father?"
Caelum said nothing.
She turned toward Malachor.
"Who was my father?"
Malachor's face had become unreadable.
Elowen stepped toward him.
"Tell me."
He remained silent.
"Malachor."
His eyes met hers.
And something ancient broke behind them.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I am not."
"You were in my memory."
"I don't remember the temple."
"You held me."
"I don't remember."
Elowen's voice trembled.
"Then why did you recognize me when I arrived?"
Malachor had no answer.
Caelum finally spoke.
"Because he knew you before the memory was erased."
Elowen turned.
"How?"
Caelum looked directly at Malachor.
"Because he was your father."
The world stopped.
Seraphine stared at Malachor in disbelief.
The Court guards lowered their weapons.
Even the Keepers looked shaken.
Elowen couldn't move.
"My father?"
Malachor closed his eyes.
A forgotten memory returned.
A woman standing before him.
A baby in his arms.
The woman crying.
A crown on the floor.
And a promise.
"Protect her."
His eyes opened.
"I remember."
Elowen's breath caught.
Malachor looked at her.
"You were my daughter."
Silence.
"But that was centuries ago."
Elowen shook her head.
"That's impossible."
"It should be."
Caelum stepped forward.
"It was forbidden."
"Why?" Elowen asked.
Caelum's answer was devastating.
"Because your mother was a Keeper."
"And your father..."
He looked at Malachor.
"...was the first Vampire King."
Elowen stared at Malachor.
The man she had feared.
The king she had trusted.
The ruler who had stood beside her through every trial.
Her father.
But there was one final question.
"If you were my father..."
She looked toward the Hunger.
"Then what am I?"
The Hunger answered before anyone else could.
"The Third Throne."
The seal beneath the Night Spire exploded with light.
The three circles appeared across the sky.
One gold.
One black.
One silver.
The Empire's symbol.
The Vampire King's symbol.
And the forgotten symbol of the Keepers.
All three turned toward Elowen.
Caelum dropped to one knee.
The Keepers followed.
Then, one by one, the vampires of the Court lowered themselves.
Even Seraphine bowed her head.
Malachor remained standing.
He looked at Elowen not as a king looking upon a princess.
Not as a vampire looking upon a human.
But as a father looking upon the daughter he had believed lost forever.
Elowen stared at the three symbols above her.
The Hunger whispered one final sentence.
"Now you remember."
And somewhere deep inside Elowen's soul—
Something ancient opened its eyes.