CHAPTER 32 – The Origin of Valion

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The fire did not come from the earth. It blazed from the sky, dancing through the cracks of the night, heating the air and scorching the ground without ever touching it. I stood unsteadily, my body still fragile from the soul-severing ritual, but the world granted no reprieve.

Aldric stood in front of me, his enchanted sword reignited, though the wound on his chest had yet to truly heal. Lysandra hid behind our backs, her eyes wide as she stared at the figure descending slowly from the rift in the sky.

Valion.

He did not resemble a man, nor a spirit. His eyes burned blood-red without pupils, his hair long and grey as a forgotten night. Behind him, a shadow—dense and black—formed wings like blades.

"Elara was not the beginning," he said. His voice… it wasn't an echo. It was a sound that pulsed in the mind, in the chest, in the bones. "She was merely a door. But I... I am the hand that opened it all."

Aldric stepped forward. "Are you... part of the blood curse?"

Valion laughed—soft, and chilling. "No. I am the curse."

I clutched Aldric's arm. "He's not human."

"No," Valion agreed. "I am the first pact. The forgotten. The denied. But now, you've shattered the chain that was never meant to be broken."

"The first... pact?" I echoed.

Valion nodded slowly, raising his hand. The ground quaked, and from the fissure emerged an ancient blood sigil—older than anything we'd seen. The markings were not of any human language.

"Long ago, before Elara. Even before Valeria and Astoria knew of one another, a queen made a pact with Time—for immortality, for blood, for power. Her name was buried by history. But I am her guardian. I am her price."

I clutched my clothes, heart racing. "And... Elara?"

"Elara is but a fractured reincarnation of that queen. A piece of her has lived on through the bloodline, waiting for the right moment... and that moment is tonight."

Aldric spat on the ground. "Lies. We destroyed the curse!"

Valion's smile was thin. "You destroyed the web. But the spider? You've only awakened it."

With a flick of his hand, the sky turned deep violet. The earth cracked. Trees curled in fear. Faces appeared in the air—not ghosts, but memories. Bleeding memories from a history never written.

"Lysandra!" I cried, pulling her small body behind me. "Don't look!"

But she already had. Tears streamed down her cheeks—not from fear, but recognition. "I... I know him..."

I turned, shocked. "What do you mean?"

Lysandra looked at me, her eyes trembling. "Valion... he's been in my dreams. For as long as I can remember. He called me by a name that wasn't mine."

Valion's gaze fixed on her. "Because she is the new door."

No! I glared at him. "You will not touch her!"

"You think you can fight eternity with will, Seraphine?" His voice was cold, piercing. "You don't even know how much of your soul I already own. You severed Elara—but your fragments? I bound them long ago."

My hands began to tremble. "Then... release her. Face me instead."

"Seraphine, don't!" Aldric grabbed my shoulder, shaking his head. "He's no ordinary foe. This is more than magic."

"But I won't let him lay a hand on Lysandra," I said softly, yet firmly.

Valion descended, touching the ground. He now stood mere meters away.

"Very well," he said. "If you wish to trade, I accept. But you must enter my domain."

"Where?" I asked.

He opened his palm, and a chasm tore open in the earth. Beneath it—a tunnel with no end, dark and throbbing like a living heart.

"To the origin of the curse. To the heart of blood. You enter... and if you return alive, Lysandra is free."

"And if I don't?"

Valion smiled.

"She becomes mine."

"You're insane!" Aldric shouted. "Seraphine won't—"

"I'll do it," I cut in.

"Seraphine, no!"

I turned to him, placing my hand gently on his cheek. "Aldric... listen. I know it's madness. But I also know... this is the only way. If we keep fighting the legacy of this curse, we'll never be free. I... we... will never find peace."

Aldric bit his lip, eyes reddening. "But you've just lost Elara. You haven't even recovered."

I gave a faint smile. "That's why I have to go now. Before these wounds heal and become shackles."

He inhaled sharply, then embraced me tightly.

"I'll wait for you. I'll stand right here. Until you return."

I kissed Lysandra's forehead. "Take care of her."

My steps into the chasm felt like passing through layers of the world. Light, sound, time—all vanished.

I entered the Blood Corridor.

My footsteps made no sound. Around me—shadows. Not human. Not spirit. Faded forms once part of the curse. I saw Elara. I saw Astor. I saw queens and kings long gone who once forged forbidden pacts.

All of them watched me. Silent. Judging.

At the end of the corridor stood a towering gate. Written in blood above it:

"Pay with self, not just blood."

I pushed the door open.

And inside... was a heart.

Not a metaphor. At the center of the cavernous room pulsed a giant heart—purple-red—entwined in thorns, magic, and screams.

Valion awaited on a throne of bone.

"Welcome to your origin, Seraphine Valeria. Or... shall I say, your older name—"

"I don't care who I was," I cut him off. "I'm here to end this."

He laughed. "Then go ahead. Pierce the heart. And see... who still lives within you."

I stepped forward.

Each movement seared through my bones.

The heart pulsed—and with every beat, it called out names inside me:

"Elara."

"Seraphine."

"Valeria."

"...Astaria."

My hand rose.

I prepared to strike the heart.

But just as my hand touched its surface—

A hand burst out of the heart, gripping mine tightly.

Its voice—soft, like a whisper of mist.

"Seraphine... don't. If you destroy me, you destroy yourself."

I looked.

It was... me. But older. More regal. Darker.

Astaria.

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She looked at me with piercing eyes. "I am the self you never had the chance to become. If you destroy me... you will never be whole again."

My body froze.

And Valion's laughter echoed through the blood-chamber.

"Now choose, Seraphine. The world... or yourself."

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