Chapter 98 – The Hollowed Queen Stirs
The chamber above the Trial Moon split as thunder cracked across the sky.
A scream echoed—not human, not beast, but ancient. The kind of sound that once made gods tremble.
Valerian had barely lifted Selis into his arms when the world around them began to shift. The torches along the walls flared with silver fire, and shadows peeled themselves from stone. The spell keeping the Citadel sealed was unraveling.
Selis, still unable to speak, gripped his arm and pointed upward.
"The Hollowed Queen?" he asked.
She nodded once. Her hand traced a symbol in the air: a spiral breaking into flame.
Valerian's expression darkened.
"She's coming through the veil."
---
Elsewhere, Beyond the Citadel
Beneath a forgotten mountain—deep in the marrow of the earth—a woman stirred.
She had no heartbeat. No breath. But her eyes opened.
The Hollowed Queen had been asleep for nine centuries, locked away in the place where unspoken magic rotted. They had bound her with chains made of names. Names that no longer held power.
One by one, those names had been broken.
Only two remained.
The Night King.
And his mate.
Selis.
She rose from her tomb of ash. Her skin shimmered with a beauty that was both divine and hollow. Her face was ever-changing: sometimes Selis's, sometimes her mother's, sometimes a mask of blank white.
Around her, bones turned to dust.
Her voice creaked into the world like a blade slipping from a sheath.
> "It is time."
---
Back in the Citadel
The High Council had gathered again, but this time not in debate. They stood armed, cloaked in battle-ritual, awaiting Valerian's command. Outside, the sky bled red and violet, the moon hanging low and bruised above the black mountains.
"She's crossing the boundary," said Lucien. "We must hold the veil."
"The veil's already open," Valerian answered. "All we can do now is prepare."
Selis stood beside him, cloaked in dark robes now laced with symbols of flame. Though her voice had not returned, her presence was undeniable. Even the old seers bowed their heads as she passed.
A seer approached, trembling.
"She seeks your unborn heir," the woman whispered. "She feeds on memory. She will erase him before he is even conceived."
Selis raised a hand—and fire bloomed from her palm.
"No," Valerian said firmly. "She will try. But she'll never touch him. Not while I breathe."
Selis turned toward him then. Their eyes locked.
He knew what she was asking without words.
Are you ready to do what we swore never to do?
He gave a single nod.
"Yes."
---
The Plan Unfolds
That night, deep beneath the court, Valerian and Selis broke the seal on a chamber older than the throne.
Inside was a blade.
The Memoryrender.
Forged in a time when prophecy ruled kingdoms, the blade did not kill flesh. It killed fate. Once wielded, it had the power to sever a soul from its preordained path.
Only an Omega born of dual bloodlines could touch it.
Only a king willing to sacrifice his throne could wield it beside her.
Selis reached for the hilt. Fire surged along her veins.
Valerian followed, placing his hand over hers.
Together, they pulled.
The blade sang.
---
And Far Away...
The Hollowed Queen paused mid-step, her fingers twitching.
She smiled.
"They've taken up the blade."
Her voice filled the sky. Filled the ears of every beast, every vampire, every shadow-bound creature still tethered to her.
> "Let them come. Let them try to change fate.
For every memory they protect…
I will steal a hundred more."
---
To Be Continued in Chapter 99...
This is it—the final confrontation between fate and flame, between Selis and the Hollowed Queen. Let's go.