What Crawls Must Feed

Selene

She didn't sleep.

Sleep was for mortals—those not haunted by ancient selves, by divine wrath clawing beneath their skin. She sat on the rooftop of the eastern tower, the cold wind tugging at her robes, watching the red scar pulse across the night sky like a second heartbeat.

Kael joined her after a time, wordless, carrying a flask of firewine and a silence that comforted more than any lie could.

"You saw everything," she murmured.

"I did."

"And?"

Kael took a long drink, wiped his mouth. "I don't know whether I want to follow you… or fear you."

Selene smiled—tired, sad. "Good. That means you're sane."

---

Far South – The Shattered Marsh

The Hallowed Wretch stirred.

Not born.

Not made.

Unleashed.

It rose from the salt-thick mire, dragging chains of divine silver, its body stitched from broken oaths and cursed priest-blood. Its mouth was sewn shut. Its eyes glowed like dying stars.

It had no name.

Only purpose.

Hunt the Queen of Curses.

Break her body.

Return her soul to the gods.

It sniffed the wind, found the scent of Valeria reawakened.

And began to crawl north.

Where she waited.

Where it would feed.

---

Selene

She dreamed, just before dawn.

In the dream, she stood at the edge of a cliff of bones, the ocean below made of ash. A voice spoke behind her—not Valeria's. Not Kael's.

Older. Hungrier.

"You've woken the world too soon, little queen."

She turned. Nothing was there.

Just endless eyes in the dark.

"Your vengeance is not complete. We still starve."

She woke gasping.

Sweating.

The walls of her room were bleeding symbols.

Kael burst in, sword drawn. "What happened?"

Selene touched the bleeding rune near her headboard. It pulsed like a heartbeat beneath her palm.

"They're sending things," she said. "To test me."

Kael stared. "What kind of things?"

"The kind even the gods sealed away."

---

The Queen's War Chamber

The Queen of the Hollow Crown stood over a map soaked in blood. Her generals knelt before her—one missing a jaw, the other with smoke for eyes.

"The Wretch will find her," the Queen said. "But not alone."

She sliced her palm and let the blood drip onto the map.

It hissed.

Burned.

And summoned a shadow—the Bound Saint, a traitor god flayed for her loyalty to Valeria a thousand years ago.

The Saint bowed low, her mouth stitched with fire.

"I will finish what your throne could not," the Queen whispered.

And the war began.

---

Final Scene – Kael & Selene

Kael stood beside her in the war hall.

Selene, now armored in the ancient leather of the Curse Queen's guard, traced her finger across the old map.

Three places pulsed with dark energy.

"The Wretch is moving fast."

Kael nodded. "We can't outrun it."

"No," she said. "But we can meet it."

She tapped the northern ruin. A battlefield where gods once fell.

"The Grave of Stars."

Kael raised a brow. "You really want your first act back as Queen to be bait?"

Selene looked up, eyes glowing.

"No. My first act will be reminding the world who I am."