crimson oath

the weapon they created

Rain hammered against the castle windows.

Thunder rolled across the mountains surrounding Blackthorn Castle.

War was coming.

Ethan stood in the training hall, unable to quiet the storm raging inside him.

The hunters were marching toward the castle.

The same hunters who had raised him.

The same people who had taught him to fight.

The same people who had become his family.

"They wouldn't do that," he muttered.

Across the room, Lucien leaned against a stone pillar.

"You keep saying that."

Ethan glared at him.

"Because it's true."

"Then why do you look unconvinced?"

Ethan looked away.

Because doubt had begun to settle in his chest.

He remembered the way the older hunters avoided certain questions.

The way they discouraged him from asking about his parents.

The way they always said:

"Hatred makes you strong."

At the time, he had believed them.

Now...

He wasn't sure.

"What exactly are you accusing them of?" Ethan asked quietly.

Lucien was silent for a moment.

Then he pushed away from the pillar.

"Come with me."

He led Ethan deeper into the castle.

Down winding staircases.

Past locked doors.

Until they reached a chamber beneath the library.

Lucien placed his hand against the wall.

Ancient symbols glowed.

The stone door slowly opened.

Ethan froze.

The room was filled with records.

Scrolls.

Documents.

Old hunter journals.

"This is impossible," Ethan whispered.

Lucien walked toward a wooden desk.

"I've spent years collecting information."

"About what?"

"You."

Ethan's heart skipped.

Lucien handed him a worn journal.

The leather cover was faded with age.

Ethan opened it.

His breath caught.

The handwriting was familiar.

"If anyone finds this journal, protect my children at all costs."

His mother's handwriting.

His hands began to shake.

"No..."

He turned the page.

"Ethan's power is awakening faster than we expected."

Another page.

"The Order insists they can train him."

Another.

"I fear they will turn my son into a weapon."

Tears blurred Ethan's vision.

"They knew..." he whispered.

Lucien watched him quietly.

"They always knew."

Ethan slammed the journal shut.

"No!"

His voice echoed through the chamber.

"They loved me!"

"They may have."

"Then why would they lie?"

Lucien hesitated.

"Because fear makes people do terrible things."

Ethan stumbled backward.

His breathing quickened.

His entire life had been built upon one truth.

Vampires killed.

Hunters protected.

Good and evil.

Black and white.

Simple.

Now everything had become gray.

"You said my father wasn't an ordinary hunter."

Lucien nodded.

"He belonged to the original Order."

"The original Order?"

"They weren't vampire hunters."

Ethan stared.

"What?"

"They were guardians."

Silence filled the room.

"They existed to maintain balance between humans and vampires."

Ethan shook his head.

"That's impossible."

"The Order changed over time."

Lucien's voice was heavy.

"Hatred replaced duty."

"They became extremists."

"They believed peace made humanity weak."

Ethan looked down at the journal.

"They wanted a war."

"They wanted victory."

Thunder shook the castle.

"And then they found you."

Ethan's throat tightened.

"What am I?"

Lucien's crimson eyes softened.

"You were born with the Bloodfire Gift."

"The what?"

"A power that appears once every few centuries."

He stepped closer.

"It allows its wielder to destroy vampires completely."

Ethan frowned.

"Hunters kill vampires every day."

"No."

Lucien's expression darkened.

"They kill bodies."

Ethan felt cold.

"What does that mean?"

"When vampires die..."

Lucien hesitated.

"Their souls endure."

"But Bloodfire destroys everything."

The chamber fell silent.

"It erases them."

Ethan stared at him.

"You mean..."

"You can end an entire species."

The words hung heavily between them.

A power capable of g******e.

A power hidden inside him.

"No."

Ethan backed away.

"I can't."

Lucien's voice softened.

"Your mother didn't want you to carry this burden."

"Then why didn't she stop it?"

"Because she died trying."

Tears slid down Ethan's cheeks before he realized it.

His mother had known.

She had tried to protect him.

And failed.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ethan asked brokenly.

Lucien looked away.

"Because you deserve the truth."

"No."

Ethan wiped his face angrily.

"That's not the reason."

Lucien fell silent.

"You could've killed me the night we met."

"You didn't."

"You saved Lily."

"You've protected me."

Ethan stepped closer.

"So tell me the truth."

Lucien's eyes met his.

For the first time...

The Crimson Prince looked vulnerable.

"Because I couldn't bear to watch them use you."

Ethan's breath caught.

Lucien laughed bitterly.

"I know what it's like to become someone's weapon."

Silence.

Then—

"You know," Ethan said softly.

"You never answered my question."

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

"What question?"

"Why everyone fears you."

The vampire's expression darkened.

"That's a story for another day."

"I want to know."

Thunder echoed outside.

Finally, Lucien spoke.

"Two hundred years ago..."

"I led an army."

Ethan froze.

"We ended a war."

Lucien's voice was empty.

"Thousands died."

"Humans."

"Vampires."

"Innocents."

"I became the villain history needed."

Ethan swallowed hard.

"Did you regret it?"

Lucien looked at him.

Every trace of arrogance was gone.

"Every single day."

Something shifted inside Ethan.

The monster before him wasn't pretending.

He carried guilt.

Loneliness.

Pain.

He had been hated for centuries.

Yet he had still chosen to save Lily.

To save Ethan.

"I don't know what to believe anymore," Ethan admitted.

Lucien smiled sadly.

"Neither do I."

A horn suddenly echoed through the castle.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Seraphina burst into the chamber.

"They've arrived."

Lucien straightened immediately.

"How many?"

"More than expected."

Her face had gone pale.

"And they're carrying blessed weapons."

Ethan's stomach dropped.

"The hunters..."

Seraphina looked at him.

"They brought enough soldiers to wipe out everyone inside this castle."

Lily appeared at the doorway behind her.

"Ethan..."

Fear shone in her eyes.

Outside, thunder gave way to another sound.

War drums.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Lucien looked toward the ceiling.

Then toward Ethan.

"This is your choice now."

Ethan stared at him.

"The people who raised you..."

"Or the people you've only just begun to understand."

The war horns echoed again.

Louder this time.

And somewhere beyond Blackthorn Castle's gates...

The hunters had come to claim the weapon they had spent years creating.