Chapter 46
Chapter 46: The War Beneath Her Skin
(Continuing from Chapter 45. The Crimson Vow has been made. Selene carries not just a child, but a force ancient and awakening. And the world has started to tremble.)
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The nights grew colder after the vow.
Not just in temperature — but in truth. As though the shadows themselves recoiled from what was coming. The stars above turned away, their lights dimmed by something rising, not from the heavens — but from within.
Selene's body was changing.
Not visibly, not yet. But she could feel it in her blood.
It slithered under her skin. A whisper at the back of her thoughts. A pull in her bones. Something was growing that did not ask for space—it took it.
She stood barefoot in the moonlit courtyard, hands splayed on the marble rail, eyes closed.
The night whispered.
"You're not just a vessel," a voice hissed.
It was her voice—but older. Wiser. Terrifying.
"You're becoming."
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Inside the throne room, Valerian held his sword in one hand and a scroll in the other. His council had fractured since the vow. Many had fled. A few had worshiped. And some—like Lord Kael—had betrayed.
He slammed the scroll down on the table.
"Morgala is building an army. In the South. Creatures born of ash and void. She's not waiting for prophecy—she's going to rewrite it."
Ezren looked grim.
"She already has. The vow changed the child's nature. It is no longer simply a symbol. It is the fulcrum."
Valerian's eyes glowed red with fury.
"Then she's coming for Selene."
---
That night...
Selene dreamed of blood.
But not in fear.
In longing.
She stood in a field of silver grass, barefoot, wearing a gown of stars. In her arms was the child. Not unborn. Not weak. But whole—and cloaked in shadow. Its eyes were galaxies. It spoke without words.
"Morgala fears me."
Selene trembled.
"What... are you?"
The child lifted a hand, brushing her cheek.
"I am the war you didn't choose. The god they buried. The flame no darkness could drown."
Selene woke with a scream, clutching her stomach, glowing again—this time with fire instead of light.
Valerian was there in a second.
"Selene—!"
She looked up, her mouth trembling, her voice hoarse.
"It's not a child anymore."
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The Hidden Chambers – Palace of Dust
Kael stood before Morgala, her claws gently brushing across his throat.
"You've failed to bring me the girl."
Kael swallowed.
"I tried. But the vow… it protected them."
Morgala laughed—dry and cold.
"No vow can bind a god undone."
She turned toward the obsidian map of the realms, her fingers tracing a spot just north of the capital.
"They're going to run. She'll need isolation. Safety. A place to carry it to term. And when they do... we will be there."
Kael frowned. "You still think she'll survive the birth?"
Morgala's grin was sharp.
"She must. Her blood is the final key. The Omega's sacrifice... opens the gate."
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Elsewhere — the Archives
Ezren poured through ancient tomes, eyes wild, lips muttering.
He found it.
The Triad of Becoming.
A curse older than the Crimson Vow. A prophecy never completed.
> "When the Omega is marked by flame and womb,
And the Night King seals her soul in blood,
The child born shall split the realms —
One with wrath, and one with wonder."
Ezren's hand trembled.
"She's not just giving birth," he whispered. "She's tearing the world."
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Midnight. In their chamber.
Valerian pressed his forehead to Selene's, his hand over her stomach, their breaths mingling.
"I would burn the stars to keep you safe."
Selene's voice broke.
"I don't know if I'm meant to survive this."
Valerian's jaw tightened. "Then I'll rewrite fate myself."
She smiled.
"Careful. That's how gods are made."
---
But outside, across the mountains, in the land of no dawn, Morgala lifted her staff — carved from bone, humming with void.
And the first horn of war sounded.
The Night Realm was no longer safe.
And Selene was no longer carrying a child.
She was carrying a beginning.
And beginnings always demanded blood.
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To be continued in Chapter 47...
💛 The stakes are rising — fast. Selene's transformation is accelerating, the child is awakening, and Morgala's army is closing in. The gods are watching. The war is near.