Celestial_entity_

As humans, animals, and even the Earth itself begin to mutate and gain consciousness, a hidden conspiracy unravels, revealing Aurelia’s true origins and the dark forces manipulating the New Age. Alongside Lucian, a vampire with a mysterious lineage, and a cast of allies and enemies, Aurelia must navigate a world where nothing is as it seems. But as the planet awakens, so do the true villains—those who hide behind masks of virtue, their intentions far more sinister than anyone could imagine.

P.S The cover is not mine :)

The Vampire's Obsession

The air turned thick with the stench of spoiled meat and rotting earth, the very atmosphere curdling as the merged entity went perfectly still. Its dual-toned eyes—swirling pools of gold and void—fixed on the trembling horizon.

Kael didn't need to ask who. The ground beneath them began to weep. Black ichor bubbled up between cracks in the soil, hissing as it touched the air. Trees bent backward at impossible angles, their bark splitting to reveal pulsating veins of crimson beneath. The wind carried whispers that weren't words, but something older—the sound of teeth grinding against bone, of flesh parting under invisible knives.

Then the world breathed.

A mountain of writhing darkness rose in the distance, its form refusing to hold shape. One moment it was a tower of fused corpses, limbs twitching in unison. The next, a yawning void that dripped thick, tarlike tears. Its presence made Kael's eyes water, his stomach lurching as if his body itself rejected the wrongness of its existence.

Lucian's sword slipped from his fingers, embedding itself in the weeping earth with a wet thud. His crimson eyes reflected the horror unfolding before them—the realization dawning like a slow, sickening sunrise. "All this time..." His voice cracked. "We thought she was the enemy."

The merged entity raised its hands, light and shadow weaving together in an intricate dance. "The Original and I were never at war." Its voice resonated with the weight of centuries. "We were the lock... and he the key."

Kael's hand flew to his chest as the shard-echo burned white-hot beneath his skin. The pain brought clarity—visions flashing behind his eyes of the First War's true purpose. Not a battle for dominance, but a desperate gambit. The Original and Aurelia's eternal conflict had never been about victory.

It had been containment.

A distraction elaborate enough, violent enough, to keep Mortibhar's hunger focused on their struggle instead of the fragile world beyond.

The ground split with a sound like a dying scream. Jagged fissures raced toward them, each one vomiting forth things that squirmed and chittered—fragments of Mortibhar's essence given temporary form. Kael stumbled back as one latched onto his boot, its needle-like teeth sinking through leather to pierce flesh.

The merged entity moved faster than thought. A whip of liquid shadow snapped out, severing the creature in two. But where the pieces fell, they twitched and multiplied.

"Run." The command vibrated in Kael's bones. "When the moment comes, you must be ready."

Lucian grabbed his arm, hauling him backward as the earth convulsed. "What moment?" he shouted at the entity. "Ready for what?"

The being that was both Aurelia and the Original turned its face toward the approaching horror. Its voice, when it spoke, held a sorrow deeper than the void between stars.

"To say goodbye."

Then it stepped forward to meet the filth head-on—and the world exploded into light and shadow and screaming, screaming dark.

Chapter 94: The Filth