Chapter-30 The Last Thing I Said to Cassie

Lucian turned toward the far end of the cave, his eyes narrowed into the darkness.

A figure emerged, each step utterly silent... yet his presence pulled at the him like a tornador.

Cloaked in tattered vestments inscribed with fading runes, the man's face was pale as bone, a twisted grin spreading over rotten, yellowed teeth. One eye socket trailed black tears. The other glimmered with madness.

His teeth clicked together as his rasped voice strangely articulate for someone so ruined.

"You did well, vampire. You've slain my beasts… undone my ritual positions. Impressive. But pointless."

Lucian's gaze didn't waver. "Good. Then I won't have to look far to get rid of the fake priest leeching blood from these wolves."

"fake priest?" the priest shrieked, rage flashing across his face. "I gave everything to the Church of Damaris. And what did they offer me? Torture. Obedience. The same chants, the same blind worship. I gave them devotion... they gave me a cage."

"My help showed growth for the church but they took everything from me... my took it from me for their own use. all the blood was from useless being that had nothing left."

"You used them like fodder. Burned a city. Took innocent lives. All for some twisted blood rite to steal wolf power... you smell filthy."

They both knew that wasn't the way lycanthropes were created. Not truly. But there were other ways... dangerous rituals that warped nature, especially when done under the Blood Eclipse. Ways that gave humans power far beyond what they were meant to wield.

The priest had once been a cleric under the damairs chruch. Until the ritual that broke him.

"I freed them," he said, lifting his arms as black ash spiraled around him. "From a world that never wanted them. Just like I'll free you... from your illusion of righteousness."

suddenly, the air cracked like glass shattering?

From the ground, chains erupted, black as pitch and pulsing with cursed light. One snapped toward Lucian. He twisted, slashing it with his dagger... but the blade shattered on impact.

More chains lashed out, coiling around his limbs, his chest. They weren't just tearing at his flesh… but something deeper. his soul power making run wild flying into the air.

I can't fall here. Not to some crazed priest who lost his mind to the moon… This weakness... it's always been there. But it's what helped me survive. I made it this far… This is my last stop. No more running.

The priest grinned wide, thinking certain it was over. That he controlled the field.

Lucian bit hard into his tongue, drawing blood.. his own.

Vampires rarely drank their own blood. Some were repulsed by it. Others... knew what it could awaken.

And, one way he was doing right now was a bad way for power… He usual won't do it, he haven't in years.

at that moment. His pupils dilated, glowing crimson... A pressure began to build in his chest.

A pulse of vampiric power exploded from within him, blasting the chains apart in a shockwave of crimson force. The cave shook, even the stone cracked beneath his feet.

Lucian shot forward, his power surging, the broken hilt of his dagger like a spike aimed at the priest's throat...

before his attack could land. But then the priest whispered one word.

"Moon."

And in that instant, a sudden light burst from the cave's entrance... the half moon shining bright and terrible.

Lucian's body tensed up and he leapted away.

The Priest's body contorted grotesquely… His flesh twisted, his bones snapped and reformed, fur burst from his skin. His face became elongated into a bestial snout. Within seconds, a monstrous werewolf loomed before Lucian, muscles rippling with power.

lucian didn't flinch. he knew the truth. Among werewolves, towering bodies were the norm. Two hundred centimeters? That was barely above average.

The premiset voice soudned as a low growl, layered in distorted echoes. "i willing to blesse you take in… my true form."

The priest glowing eyes slid toward the shadows where Dren dead body layed. "He underestimated your kind… And you'll make the same mistake."

Lucian smirked, a cold flash light in his eyesw. "No. I'll end it."

The Fake Priest lunged.

They collided in a concussive blast of dark magic and raw fury. Claws met steel, bone against blade. Sparks erupted as Lucian's dagger deflected the swipe of claws longer than most knives.

Lucian ducked low twisted and slammed a vicious kick into the priest side, sending it hurtling into the cave wall. But the priest rebounded instantly, snatching Lucian mid-air and slamming him back into the stone with bone-rattling force.

Lucian retaliated, driving his blade toward the priest throat... but it barely left a scratch.

He saw it then. some runes, that glowed faintly across the priest hide, dulling his strikes and pushing recoil through his arms. Each blow was costing him more than the priest.

He broke free, leapt back, panting, fire lightning behind his eyes.

The Fake Priest laughed, deep and guttural. "This body is blessed by lunar incantation. Your little fang-toy can't even scratch it."

Lucian's jaw clenched. His dagger trembled in his grip. His body screamed. He could feel it... his blood, now tainted and burning, was nearly spent.

Dammit. I'm not built for drawn-out fights like this. And that ritual skin... it's warded against normal weapons.

But Lucian was never one to enter battle unprepared.

Lucian whispered under his breath. "Let's see you tank this."

He dug into the inside of his coat, fingers brushing over a weapon he had taken not borrowed... from Asher before he left ebonhaven. A contingency… for wolves.

From his coat, he drew a long, curved dagger... its blade forged from black silver, the edges glimmering with an eerie green pulse. Veins of light slithered across the metal like living things. The hilt was wrapped in blessed bark, carved with Old Tongue glyphs.

"Wolfbane!"

The moment the blade left its sheath, the priest's expression shifted… from confidence to unease. His heart hammering like it wants out of his chest.

"Made just for your kind." Lucian smirked coldly. "He may have survived the wolf king the twin fangs claws. But you won't survive this."

He sudden vanished in a blur, reappearing at the priest's side. The wolfsbane blade sank deep into the distracted priest fur into flesh. The glowing runes across their body flickered, then sputtered out.

The priest howled, smoke hissing from the wound.

Lucian didn't stop. Another slash. Then another. Each strike sizzled, burning deep… spreading like venom through the priest's limbs, his body started to convulsed ans melt.

"NO… YOU DARE!"

The priest's head tilted back… Suddenly unleashed a piercing roar, that reverberated with an ancient magic.

Outside, the half-moon pulsed… its glow intensifying, almost formed a full moon.

Moon Lunar Roar.

The priest roar struck Lucian like a bell inside his skull, he almost dropped to one knee, blood trickling from his ears, muscles frozen, his body was locked.

Who gave him this type of magic. It couldn't be the appha king him. Last time i asked him for anything he made sure to put a spell on it. I know he very secretive of his possessions.

The priest slowly stepped closer, his claws raised. "Even vampires can't resist the moon's paralyzation," he sneered. "You'll break apart before you even scream."

Lucian's lips twisted… not in fear.

"I'm not your… every vampire."

Gritting his teeth, he clenched the wolfsbane blade tighter. Inch by inch, through the pain, he rose.

The priest blinked rapidly. "You… how?! You should be frozen!"

Lucian didn't answer. His eyes closed briefly.

Most vampires faint instanly under Moon Lunar Roar. But not him, he even had previously experienced it under the alpha.

His eyes snapped opened, he launched forward in a burst of speed, his blade reflecting the moonlight. The priest lashed out with both arms… too slow. Lucian ducked, twisted beneath the blow, sprang off the their chest

And drove his dagger straight into their heart.

Werewolves didn't die from heart wounds alone. But this time, the runes shattered. The wolfbane magic attack, poison spread through the priest body.

The priest screamed… Blood poured from his mouth, choking on it as he stumbled backward, wide-eyed, choking.

The wolfbane attacked his heart about to instantly kill him. However…

Lucian twisted his blade. "For every innocent you dragged into your rituals."

In that moment, in one clean motion, he ripped the blade across the priest's neck… decapitating him.

The priest collapsed. His gaze lowered.

No breath. No energy. Just a corpse in the moonlight.

He really did make the same mistake… trusting the moon's blessing as if it made him invincible, as all wolves strength are phases by the moon. But the full truth, full extent of the moon's influence… remained a mystery, to all.

Lucian stood over their, his chest rising up and down, blood matting his hair, the wolfsbane blade still pulsing faintly in his hand.

He didn't linger.

On his way back to the city, he encountered more of the Dren wolves. He had promised to erase them. He kept his word.

Some fled, their home and master gone. They ran… Lucian made sure they didn't get far.

Even as he walked toward the Zion compound, his heart thundered. He had pushed his limits… burned his blood to awaken power that wasn't meant to be used so freely.

Back in the compund, he delivered the news. They welcomed him as a hero. A feast was prepared. He barely touched the food. Just enough to be polite.

...

The Next Morning

He was led quietly to the backyard.

To her gravestone.

Cassie.

Sorry. I should've belived more in what we had. I just couldn't get them of my mind. If I had really returned, maybe thing couldn't have been different.

"If I'm the reason your dead. I'm sorry, I know I'm being selfish. But I hope someday you forgive me."

Lucian lips curled into a slight smile. He crouched down, placing his own necklace attaching them together. Time felt stand still, as his heart fluttered.

"I never said much, and I doubt I showed it well... but know this… I cherished our time. You changed something in me... helped me see parts of myself I never could. Not all of me... but enough to matter."

"You carried so much pain… trapped by that curse, bound to a place you never asked for. And still, you smiled. Still, you cared… for your family, for others. Even when your heart wanted something else, you chose them."

"I saw that… even if I couldn't say the words then. You were stronger than any of us. And I was lucky damn lucky… to be loved by you, even for a moment."

He stood motionless in silence. At the corner of his eye, he spotted a small boy… no older than five watching from a distance.

Cassie's younger brother.

Lucian said nothing, his fist clenched tightly, he looked away, he felt a heavy pressure in his chest.