THE EMPTY TOMBS
1458 Words
"Your Highness..."
The servant's voice trembled.
Nobody in the room moved.
Nobody breathed.
The servant swallowed hard.
"The royal tombs have been opened."
Silence.
A horrible silence.
For a second, I thought I had heard him wrong.
The royal tombs?
Lucien's face went completely expressionless.
Which somehow looked worse than fear.
"What did you say?" he asked quietly.
The servant lowered his head.
"The guards reported disturbances beneath the eastern wing. They investigated the royal crypts and discovered..." His voice cracked. "The tombs are empty."
My stomach dropped.
Empty?
Every single person in the room looked horrified.
Even the older nobles standing near the walls had turned pale.
One of them nearly dropped his glass.
Lucien took a slow breath.
"Everyone leave."
Nobody argued.
Within seconds the room emptied.
Only Lucien and I remained.
The doors shut behind the last servant.
I folded my arms.
"You're going to explain now."
His jaw tightened.
"Aria."
"No."
I stepped closer.
"No more secrets."
The crest on my wrist pulsed.
A dull heat beneath my skin.
His gaze immediately dropped to it.
Then away.
As if he regretted looking.
My anger only grew.
"You know exactly what's happening."
"Not everything."
"But something."
He didn't answer.
Which was answer enough.
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
The palace windows rattled.
The storm from my vision.
The same storm.
The one surrounding the black throne.
The memory sent a chill through me.
"The king in my vision," I said.
Lucien froze.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
"You know him."
"No."
"You're lying."
His eyes flashed.
"Be careful."
I laughed bitterly.
"Careful?"
The room seemed colder.
"I signed your contract."
I raised my wrist.
"This thing appeared on my skin."
I pointed toward the floor.
"Something is waking beneath your palace."
I stepped closer.
"And every time I get near the truth, you tell me to stay out of it."
His gaze hardened.
"Because the truth can kill you."
The words echoed.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Then a distant scream echoed through the palace.
I spun toward the door.
Another scream followed.
Closer this time.
Lucien cursed.
The sound surprised me.
Then he vanished.
One second he stood before me.
The next he was gone.
Only a blur remained.
I rushed after him.
The corridor outside was chaos.
Servants were running.
Guards were shouting.
Somewhere ahead, people were screaming.
My heart pounded.
The crest burned hotter.
As if guiding me.
As if it knew exactly where to go.
I followed the sensation.
Down one corridor.
Then another.
Until I reached a massive stone staircase.
Leading underground.
I stopped.
The heat in my wrist became unbearable.
The crest glowed faintly beneath my skin.
Black lines twisting like living shadows.
Something was down there.
Something waiting.
"Aria."
Lucien appeared behind me.
His voice was sharp.
Dangerous.
"Go back."
I shook my head.
"No."
The staircase seemed to pull at me.
Like an invisible thread wrapped around my chest.
Lucien stepped in front of me.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
His silence answered.
Again.
Always silence.
Always secrets.
Before either of us could speak again, a guard came running.
His armor was covered in blood.
Not his own.
"The lower tunnels have been breached."
Lucien went still.
"What escaped?"
The guard looked terrified.
"Nobody knows."
My pulse quickened.
The guard continued.
"We found bodies."
Bodies.
Cold dread spread through me.
"How many?"
"Seven."
The corridor fell silent.
Seven guards.
Dead.
Whatever escaped had done it quickly.
Lucien turned toward the staircase.
His expression darkened.
"Seal the upper levels."
The guard hesitated.
"My prince..."
"What?"
The guard swallowed.
"One of the survivors kept repeating the same thing."
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"What thing?"
The man's face turned pale.
"He said something called his name."
Nobody spoke.
The guard continued.
"He said the creature knew who he was."
My skin crawled.
Because suddenly I remembered the monster from my vision.
The way it had looked at me.
The way it had spoken.
Not with a growl.
Not with rage.
Recognition.
As if it already knew me.
The memory made me shiver.
Lucien noticed.
His expression tightened.
"Return to your post."
The guard hurried away.
Then Lucien looked at me.
"Go to your room."
I laughed.
Again.
"You really think that's happening?"
His eyes flashed.
I expected anger.
Instead I saw something worse.
Worry.
Real worry.
For me.
For a brief moment it caught me off guard.
Then the staircase shook.
The entire palace trembled.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
A deep sound echoed upward.
Not a roar.
Not exactly.
More like...
Laughter.
Ancient laughter.
The blood drained from Lucien's face.
I had never seen him afraid before.
Now I understood why.
Whatever was beneath us terrified even him.
And that terrified me.
The sound came again.
Deeper.
Closer.
The crest on my wrist blazed.
Pain shot through my arm.
I gasped.
The world tilted.
Suddenly I wasn't standing in the corridor anymore.
I was somewhere else.
A battlefield.
Dark skies.
Black mountains.
Thousands of bodies covering the ground.
Humans.
Vampires.
Creatures I couldn't name.
All dead.
At the center stood the black throne.
The same throne.
The one from my vision.
The king sat upon it.
Watching me.
Waiting.
His golden eyes glowed.
The crown of bones rested upon his head.
And this time...
He smiled.
My blood turned cold.
"You are late."
The words echoed inside my skull.
I couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
The battlefield stretched endlessly around us.
Then I noticed something.
Someone stood beside the throne.
A woman.
Tall.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Her face was hidden beneath shadows.
Yet somehow she felt familiar.
Painfully familiar.
The king followed my gaze.
"Do you recognize her?"
I tried to answer.
Couldn't.
His smile widened.
"You will."
Fear crawled through me.
Then the woman lifted her head.
And I saw her eyes.
Silver.
Exactly like mine.
The vision shattered.
I stumbled backward.
Reality slammed into me.
The palace corridor returned.
Lucien caught me before I hit the ground.
"Aria."
His voice sounded distant.
I couldn't stop shaking.
The woman.
Those eyes.
My eyes.
"What did you see?"
I looked up at him.
For once I almost told him.
Almost.
Then I remembered every lie.
Every secret.
Every question he refused to answer.
So I shook my head.
"Nothing."
He didn't believe me.
I could see it.
But before he could press further, another guard appeared.
This one looked even more terrified.
"My prince."
Lucien turned.
"What now?"
The guard swallowed.
"They found a door."
A strange silence followed.
Lucien's expression changed immediately.
"What door?"
The guard glanced around nervously.
"The door beneath the crypts."
The crypts.
The empty tombs.
The guard continued.
"It wasn't there before."
A chill ran through me.
Not there before?
"What do you mean?" I asked.
The guard looked at me.
"We've searched those tunnels for centuries."
His voice trembled.
"That door has never existed."
Nobody spoke.
The storm outside exploded with thunder.
The palace shook again.
The guard's face turned pale.
"And there's something written on it."
Lucien's expression darkened.
"What?"
The man hesitated.
As if afraid to repeat it.
Then he whispered the words.
"The king returns."
The corridor fell silent.
My heart stopped.
Lucien didn't speak.
Neither did I.
The guard swallowed.
"There's more."
I stared at him.
"What?"
The man looked directly at me.
Terror filled his eyes.
"The writing changed."
Every muscle in my body tightened.
"Changed to what?"
His answer shattered whatever calm remained.
The guard's voice broke.
"It now says..."
He swallowed.
"'Bring Aria Vale to the door.'"
Before the guard could continue, another violent tremor shook the palace.
The walls groaned.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Somewhere far below, a deep rumbling echoed through the stone.
Not one sound.
Many.
As if hundreds of voices were whispering at once.
The crest on my wrist burned hotter.
I bit back a cry.
Lucien immediately noticed.
His eyes dropped to my arm.
"Aria."
I stepped back.
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
The pain spread through my entire arm.
Dark lines briefly appeared beneath my skin before fading again.
The guard stared.
"My prince..."
Lucien's expression darkened.
"What?"
"The same symbol."
My stomach dropped.
"What symbol?"
The guard pointed at my wrist.
"The symbol on the door."
Silence.
The corridor suddenly felt colder.
I looked at Lucien.
For the first time since meeting him, he seemed genuinely shaken.
Not cautious.
Not irritated.
Shaken.
As if something he had feared for years was finally happening.
Another distant roar echoed beneath the palace.
The sound rolled through the stone like thunder.
Then everything became quiet again.
Too quiet.
The kind of silence that came before disaster.
And somewhere deep below us, something began knocking.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Waiting.
- Writer
