Chapter 45

Chapter 45: The Crimson Vow

(Directly continuing from Chapter 44 — A goddess has spoken, the child is stirring, and Valerian prepares to make a vow that cannot be undone. The fate of love, blood, and the world now teeters on a blade's edge.)

---

The moon never rose that night.

Not fully.

It hung there — half-shadowed, half-drenched in blood. A bad omen in every realm. And for Selene, it felt like a judgment passed before a trial could even begin.

She stood on the palace balcony, cold winds fluttering through her nightgown, her hand again resting on her still-flat stomach. But now, there was movement. A flutter. A coil of warmth. Then a pulse of power.

She gasped.

Valerian was behind her instantly, arms wrapping around her waist.

"You felt it too," he whispered.

Selene didn't answer with words.

She reached behind her, grabbed his hand, and pressed it against her belly.

And then—they both felt it.

A second heartbeat.

But not mortal.

Not even immortal.

It was... primordial.

Older than either of them. Older than prophecy. Older than the moon itself.

Valerian's face shifted. Fear warred with awe.

"What are we bringing into this world, Selene?"

Her voice shook.

"I don't know. But I think it chose us."

---

Elsewhere in the shadow realm...

Morgala stood before an obsidian altar, the bones of an unborn god arranged in a circle. The sky above her screamed — a soundless, colorless rupture.

"They've accepted it," she hissed.

"The King and the Omega," murmured the Shadowborn priest beside her. "They've made the vow."

Morgala's eyes flared white.

"Then let the bindings break."

She drove her blade into the heart of the altar, and the sky bled.

---

Back in the palace...

Selene collapsed.

Valerian caught her, barely.

Her body arched, convulsed — but she didn't cry out. Not in pain. In power. Her veins lit with silver. Her eyes flashed violet, then pitch black, then back again.

Ezren came running, robes flapping.

"It's begun," he whispered. "The binding. The child is no longer only inside her. It's becoming part of her. Body. Blood. Soul."

Valerian stood still, Selene cradled in his arms.

His voice was steel.

"Tell me how to protect them."

Ezren hesitated.

"Only one way. You must perform the Crimson Vow."

Valerian flinched.

"That vow hasn't been made in 3,000 years."

"Because no love has ever been worth it," Ezren said. "Until now."

---

The ritual chamber...

Selene lay on the obsidian altar of the Night Kings. Naked. Vulnerable. Glowing from within.

Valerian knelt beside her, dressed in the ceremonial black robes trimmed in crimson thread — thread soaked in the blood of fallen kings.

Ezren drew the blade.

"Do you understand the cost?" he asked.

Valerian nodded.

"My life. My soul. My throne. I give it all."

Ezren cut Valerian's palm. Blood poured into a basin shaped like a dragon's mouth.

Then he did the same to Selene — gently, reverently.

When their blood mixed, the basin hissed, smoked... and then sang.

A melody only the gods knew.

Ezren began to chant.

"By blood and vow, by fate and fire, by what was written and what must be burned—let this bond be forged beyond prophecy."

Selene opened her eyes, glowing now, utterly changed.

"Valerian," she whispered. "You don't have to do this."

He leaned down, kissed her lips, and said, "I would do it again. In every life."

The blood flared — gold now, not red.

The vow was made.

---

Somewhere far beyond the veil...

Nyelith, the goddess, stood before a council of other divine beings. Her voice was solemn.

"They've made the Crimson Vow."

The gods stirred. Trembled.

Then the oldest of them all, a being made of stars and bone, whispered:

"Then war is inevitable."

---

Back on earth...

Selene sat up, slowly, power crackling in the air around her.

Valerian offered his hand.

She took it.

And as they walked out of the chamber, cloaked in the light of the vow, every creature — mortal and immortal — felt the shift.

Something had changed.

Fate had bent.

And destiny was no longer written in stone.

It was written in blood.

---

To be continued in Chapter 46...

💛 The gods are preparing their weapons. Morgala has torn the veil. The Crimson Vow has bound Selene and Valerian beyond life and death. And the child? Oh, the child is no longer a passenger. It's waking.