Chapter 10: Chains of Blood

The air inside the Sanctum was deathly still.

Aiden staggered back from the altar, his hands trembling. The visions still clung to the edges of his mind, like smoke he couldn't clear. Every breath he took felt heavier, as if the knowledge he'd just gained was crushing the very air around him.

Talia stepped forward, her voice cautious. "You saw it, didn't you?"

Aiden nodded slowly, still dazed. "My parents… they're not my real parents. They were protecting me from something... someone."

Cassian exchanged a glance with Jax, a silent conversation passing between them. Jax's usual smirk was gone now, replaced by something far more serious.

"You're not just anyone," Jax said, folding his arms. "You're a Bloodborne."

The word hit Aiden like a blow.

"Bloodborne?" he echoed, struggling to find meaning in the name.

Talia's expression softened, but there was an undeniable sadness in her eyes. "The Bloodborne were the original rulers of this world—beings of immense power, tied to the ancient forces. They vanished centuries ago… or so we thought."

"You're saying... I'm one of them?" Aiden's voice cracked.

"Not just one of them," Cassian said grimly. "You're the last heir."

The weight of their words pressed down on him. All the strange moments in his life—the inexplicable strength, the visions, the instincts he didn't understand—they made horrifying sense now.

"I don't want this," Aiden whispered.

Jax gave a harsh laugh. "Doesn't matter what you want. It's in your blood. It's who you are."

Talia touched his arm gently. "And there are others who will do anything to claim that blood... or destroy it."

Aiden pulled away, pacing the obsidian floor, his mind racing. "Then why hide me? Why not train me? Prepare me?"

"Because," Cassian said, stepping closer, "the Bloodborne legacy is cursed. Those who sought to awaken it in the past unleashed horrors that almost ended the world. Your parents feared you would become a weapon… or worse, a tyrant."

Aiden stopped, his fists clenching. "I'm not a monster."

"No," Talia said firmly. "You're not. But power like yours draws monsters."

The torches flickered violently, as if responding to the tension. From somewhere deep within the Sanctum, a low rumble vibrated through the stones.

Jax tensed immediately. "They're coming."

"Who?" Aiden demanded.

"The Broken Covenant," Cassian said grimly. "Those who hunt the Bloodborne. They must have sensed the ritual."

Aiden's heart raced. His enemies were already closing in—and he barely understood his own strength.

Talia grabbed his hand. "We have to move. Now."

"But the answers—" Aiden began.

"You'll get them," she said, pulling him toward the far side of the chamber where another set of ancient doors stood waiting. "But first, we survive."

Behind them, the Sanctum trembled, ancient stone groaning under unseen pressure. The broken remnants of the past were waking, and Aiden realized that whatever had been set in motion, there was no stopping it now.

He was a Bloodborne.

And the world was coming for him.

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