STONES OF THE UNIVERSE
822 Words
(Season 1)
CHAPTER 17
TENEBROUS
The study was silent except for the crackle of the fireplace.
The door creaked open.
Zach didn’t look up.
“You should be in your room, Ivory.”
A scoff.
“I’m here this late because you keep avoiding me.”
Ivory dropped into the chair beside him with a dramatic pout. But her eyes were red.
“Please tell me... how is he?”
Zach’s pen stopped moving.
“He’s fine. That’s all I can say for now.”
Silence.
Then a shaky breath.
“You all left. Years ago. Did you ever think of me?” Her voice cracked. “You didn’t even come back for me. Am I not important?”
All those years. Waiting.
The first years were the worst. Crying into her pillow, checking the gates every morning.
It was like they’d vanished from the planet.
And now they were back.
But they looked anywhere but at her.
“I never said you weren’t important, Ivory,” Zach said softly.
God, he hated seeing her cry.
“You don’t have to say it,” she whispered. “Your actions say everything.”
Zach pulled her into his arms. Stroked her hair like he did when she was 10.
“We love you. We’d burn Tenebrous down to protect you. But... there are things I can’t tell you yet. It’s for your own good.”
Ivory pulled back, studying his face.
“Is something wrong?”
“Everything is fine. You need sleep.” He was changing the subject.
She sighed. “Okay. But I have something to tell you. It’s about... Dekker.”
Zach froze.
The pen fell from his hand.
“Dekker?”
Even saying the name made the air go cold. Dekker was supposed to be dead. Erased.
And yet the name alone still made grown vampires tremble.
“Yes,” Ivory said nervously. “A few days before the attack here... I had a dream about him.”
Zach leaned forward. Ivory’s dreams didn’t lie. Ever.
“What else did you see?”
“It wasn’t clear. All fog. But I heard a name. AROKAT.”
Zach’s blood went ice cold.
Queen Arokat. The Veiled Queen of Rahovnic.
Gone silent for decades.
Beauty like poison. Voice like honey and knives.
She commanded shadows. Bound souls with a bite.
Banished for killing her own twin brother after their father crowned him king instead of her.
And she was in Ivory’s dream.
“I think something bad is coming, Zach,” Ivory whispered. “Two years ago I had a similar dream. No Dekker then. Just Arokat. And Tenebrous... on fire. Everything destroyed.”
Zach’s chest ached.
Because with Ivory’s gift came pain. Agony.
Every vision tore pieces off her.
“Can’t you stop the visions?”
For the first time since he came back, Zach looked... broken.
Ivory gave him a sad, sweet smile and took his hand.
“You already know the answer.”
She squeezed his fingers. “I’m fine. I just want to be with my brothers. That’s all.”
Zach pulled her into a crushing hug.
He knew the visions couldn’t be stopped.
And he was terrified one day the dream would take her, and she wouldn’t wake up.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
The long table was full. Elders. Generals. Advisors.
All talking over each other.
“The attack was in the East Wing. By the waters,” one councilman said. “They didn’t kill anyone. Didn’t steal anything. What was the point?”
“Exactly,” another added. “There’s nothing valuable there.”
Kai leaned back. “They weren’t there to kill. They were there to test us. To weaken us.”
“Or they were looking for something,” Kai continued.
Silence.
Then Zach, who hadn’t spoken once, finally did.
“The Infinity Stone.”
Every head turned.
“What are you saying?” The King frowned.
Zach stood. Calm. Deadly.
“Years ago, Queen Nyx was entrusted with the Infinity Stone. But it was too powerful. It started manipulating her mind.”
He paused. “So she cast it into the East waters to protect herself. No one knows where it is now. Only the bearer can retrieve it.”
Gasps.
“But why would they want it?”
“I don’t know yet,” Zach admitted.
His eyes darkened. “The Infinity Stone is power. Raw power. But it’s cursed. If the bearer uses it for themselves, it drives them mad. It consumes them.”
The room went dead silent.
Kai and Ryan exchanged a look.
_This wasn’t a random attack._
Zach didn’t say it out loud.
But the thought was already burning in his head.
Arokat. Dekker. The Infinity Stone. And Ivory’s visions.
All of it was connected.
And Tenebrous was standing right in the middle.
TBC
- Writer
