BENEATH THE ASHENHOLD

The moment their hands parted, the shadows recoiled, slithering back into the cracks of the ancient stone. Seraphine felt the magic settle into her bones, the weight of the blood oath a quiet, unyielding presence.

This was real now.

She had bound herself to Caius.

The thought sent a bitter taste to her tongue, but she had little choice.

"Tell me everything you know." Her voice was steady, but beneath it, her mind reeled.

Caius studied her as if assessing how much truth she could handle. Then, he turned, leading her down a narrow corridor carved into the rock. "The Inquisition is not what it seems," he said, voice smooth yet edged with something sharper. "They were never merely a religious order hunting witches and sorcerers. They were searching for something—preparing for something."

"The Harbinger."

A nod. "And they believed your family knew how to stop it."

Seraphine's fingers tightened around her ring. Her father had never spoken of the old magic. Her mother had kept her secrets well.

But if the Inquisition had been after their bloodline…

She swallowed. "Then why kill them? Why not use them?"

"They needed knowledge, not resistance." Caius's gaze flickered toward her. "But I suspect your mother was not as easy to break as they expected."

Seraphine's stomach twisted. She had spent years believing her mother was dead. That she had been executed in secret like so many others. But now—

"If she's alive, I need to find her."

Caius smirked. "Then you best keep up, little sorceress."

He moved ahead without another word, forcing her to follow.

---

The Path of the Damned

The tunnels beneath Ashenhold stretched endlessly, a labyrinth of forgotten ruins and buried secrets. The deeper they went, the colder the air became, thick with a strange energy that made Seraphine's skin prickle.

"These ruins," she murmured. "They're older than the Empire."

Caius nodded. "Older than even the gods men pray to now."

Her gaze swept over the crumbling carvings, faded with time. Symbols she did not recognize lined the walls, etched with precision far beyond mortal hands.

She paused before one, her fingers hovering over the stone.

A serpent, its body coiled around a dying star.

Caius noticed her hesitation. "You recognize it."

Seraphine exhaled. "I've seen it before. In my father's study."

She turned to him. "What does it mean?"

For the first time, Caius hesitated.

Then, he said, "It is the mark of the first covenant."

Her brows furrowed. "The first what?"

"A pact made long before men walked this land. A bargain struck in desperation—to lock away something that was never meant to be unleashed." He glanced down at her wrist. "Your family bears that mark for a reason, Seraphine. And so do I."

She stilled. "You?"

He smirked, though there was little humor in it. "My bloodline is not without its curses."

A thousand questions swirled in her mind, but before she could voice them, the air shifted.

A presence.

Not seen, but felt.

Seraphine turned sharply, heart hammering. The shadows in the corridor had thickened, curling unnaturally along the edges of the stone.

"We're not alone," she whispered.

Caius didn't look alarmed. "No," he murmured. "We never were."

The torches flickered.

And then, from the darkness, came a voice.

Low. Hollow. Ancient.

"The serpent returns to the den."

Seraphine's breath caught.

A figure emerged from the gloom, tall and wreathed in black robes that seemed to move of their own accord. His face was obscured by a hood, but beneath it, two silver eyes gleamed like distant stars.

Caius did not react. "You're late."

The figure tilted his head. "And you are reckless."

Seraphine felt a chill race down her spine. This was no ordinary man. The energy that radiated from him was different from Caius's shadows, different from any magic she had ever known.

Caius gestured toward her. "She's the one you've been waiting for."

The figure's gaze shifted to her, and for a moment, she felt as though she were being seen in a way she never had before—like something inside her was being measured, weighed.

The silence stretched.

Then, he spoke again.

"The blood has awakened."

Seraphine's pulse thrummed. "Who are you?"

The figure took a slow step forward. "A keeper of old truths. A watcher of what sleeps beneath." His voice lowered. "A guardian of the first seal."

She felt the weight of those words settle over her like a second shroud.

The first seal.

Her mind raced. If the Harbinger was truly stirring, if the Inquisition had been hunting her family for knowledge—

Then there were still seals left intact.

Still time to stop it.

Caius met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "Now do you see, Seraphine?"

She exhaled. "I see that you've dragged me into something far larger than revenge."

A slow smile ghosted across his lips. "Good."

Because now there was no turning back.

Not when the truth was right before her.

Not when the first seal had already begun to crack.

And certainly not when her blood held the key to stopping the end of the world.