Chapter 84

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Chapter 84 – The Council of Shadows

The black doors of the Night King's court swung open with a resounding groan.

Selene stood beside Valerian on the steps of the obsidian dais, dressed in a flowing cloak of midnight silk. It had once belonged to the first Queen of the Night—Valerian had draped it over her shoulders himself, like a crown made of shadows. Her hair was loose, silver streaks running through the strands like lightning caught in moonlight. And the mark on her collarbone? It burned visibly now, pulsing like a second heartbeat in her chest.

"They're watching," Valerian murmured beside her, his voice as low as dusk itself.

From the other end of the vast chamber, twelve cloaked figures stood aligned in two curved rows—The Council of Shadows. They were the keepers of old law, the ones who governed vampire royalty from behind veils of silence and oaths written in blood. No one defied them without losing their throne—or their head.

One of them stepped forward. "Valerian, King of the Night," the figure rasped, voice ageless and female. "You have committed treason against the bloodline."

"Treason?" Selene spat. "For what? Not dying quietly like they wanted?"

The figure's hood tilted. "For mating with the omega marked by the Curse of Wyrmgrave. For awakening the Prophecy of Fire and Shadow. You know the cost of such a union."

Valerian stepped in front of Selene, his voice cold and clear. "I know the prophecy better than any of you. And I also know that the curse was never hers to bear alone. It belongs to us all."

A murmur rippled through the council.

"She is the omega in the vision," another figure hissed. "The girl born under the dying star. She will bring ruin—"

"She will bring change," Valerian roared, the walls shaking with his voice. "And change is what this realm needs."

Selene stepped forward now. "I never asked for this fate. But I'm done running from it. If you came here to take my life, then try." Her hands flared with magic—deep violet and silver light crackling along her fingers. "I'm not just some cursed girl in your stories. I am the future your nightmares warned you about."

The lead shadow took a slow step forward. "Then the trial begins."

Without warning, the entire chamber erupted in magic. Chains of bloodlight slithered from the ceiling like snakes, wrapping toward Selene. But she lifted her hand and shattered them with a single pulse of her aura.

Valerian's fangs dropped, and his voice deepened with old rage. "You want war? You'll have it."

One of the council members drew a crimson dagger, its blade made from the bone of a fallen king. They lunged at Selene—too fast for human eyes. But Selene wasn't human anymore.

She spun, her cloak sweeping with a gust of energy. The blade sliced the air but missed her throat by inches. Her palm connected with the attacker's chest, and the mark on her collarbone flared—blinding.

The council member screamed as magic consumed them, dissolving their form into dust.

The room fell into chaos. More daggers flew. Spells cracked through the air. Valerian was a force of vengeance, moving like a storm—ripping through council warriors with talons of shadow and wings of rage. But Selene? She moved with purpose. With precision. With prophecy in every strike.

When the dust settled, only three council members remained standing. Two of them had fallen to their knees, coughing blood. The last stood tall, staring at Selene.

"You… you are not what we expected," they murmured.

Selene's chest heaved as she lowered her hands, blood dripping from her lip.

"I'm not here to be your puppet," she said. "And if fate made me your end, then you should have never written my name in prophecy."

Valerian stepped beside her again, silver eyes wild with pride. "The throne is hers now. You will kneel."

The council hesitated—then, one by one, the remaining three dropped to their knees.

Selene's eyes burned with something ancient. Something new. "Then let the war begin."

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💛 Chapter 85, Guys ? We're heading into the battle arc now. The world will bleed before it bends to fate—and Selene is no longer just a girl with a mark. She's a storm wrapped in prophecy.