Chapter 5 Iron and Ice
1155 Words
Seraphina’s POV
“Give her to me.”
The voice rolled through the broken hold like thunder trapped underwater.
It wasn’t loud, but it pressed into my bones.
Luna tightened her grip on my hand.
Her small fingers trembled.
The bond screamed danger.
“No,” Dante said immediately.
He stepped in front of us without thinking.
Dominic moved with him.
Two walls of muscle and fury.
My chest ached with pride and fear.
The ship groaned again.
Wood split somewhere below.
Salt water sprayed up through cracks in the floor.
Viktor staggered back, laughing under his breath.
“You hear that?” he said.
“That’s history waking up.”
“Shut up,” Dominic snapped.
His wings flared wide.
Gold light flashed across the hold.
“Whatever you planned ends now.”
His voice shook with rage.
Luna looked past all of us.
Her gaze locked on the darkness below.
“It’s cold,” she whispered.
“Cold like being alone too long.”
Her words made my throat tighten.
The floor dropped another inch.
The ship tilted hard to the left.
Crew members screamed above deck.
Someone was praying.
Someone else was crying.
Dante reached back and squeezed my hand once.
A silent promise.
“We don’t give her up,” he said.
Not to Viktor.
Not to gods.
Not to fate.
The darkness moved again.
Not rushing.
Not attacking.
Waiting.
Like it knew time was on its side.
Viktor wiped blood from his mouth.
“You don’t understand what you’ve made,” he said.
His voice carried awe now.
“The child is the bridge.”
“The door.”
Luna tilted her head.
“I don’t want to be a door,” she said.
Her voice was small but firm.
“I want my family.”
The bond surged warm in response.
The darkness shifted closer.
Frost crept along the edges of the runes.
Ice formed where sea spray touched wood.
The temperature dropped fast.
My breath fogged.
Dante cursed quietly.
“This thing freezes worlds,” he said.
He felt it.
So did Dominic.
Ancient power recognized ancient hunger.
The voice came again.
“Little light,” it said.
“You were not meant to live.”
Luna flinched.
I pulled her into my chest.
“Don’t listen,” I said softly.
My voice shook but held.
“You belong with us.”
“With me.”
Dominic growled deep and low.
“If you touch her,” he said.
“I will tear you apart.”
His threat wasn’t empty.
The darkness laughed.
“You are food,” the voice replied.
“Warmth before silence.”
The ice spread faster.
The ship’s walls cracked loudly.
The sea rushed closer.
Viktor stepped forward again.
His eyes were wild now.
“Listen to it,” he urged.
“It offers eternity.”
“You’re afraid because you’re small.”
Dante turned on him fast.
“You used us,” he said.
“You used her.”
Viktor didn’t deny it.
He smiled wider.
“I freed the first,” Viktor said.
“And now the parent comes.”
His hands shook with excitement.
“This is how gods are born.”
“Through children.”
That was it.
Something in me snapped clean.
I moved before thinking.
I slapped him hard across the face.
The sound echoed sharp.
“Don’t talk about her,” I said.
My voice was low and deadly.
“Ever again.”
Viktor stumbled back, stunned.
Then he laughed.
The darkness surged.
The floor finally gave way.
A massive shape rose slowly from below.
Not fully seen.
Not fully solid.
Cold poured into the room.
Ice raced up the chains.
The runes flickered violently.
Luna cried out softly.
The bond flared bright.
“Enough,” Dante said.
He stepped into the center of the circle.
Dominic followed instantly.
I hesitated for only a second.
Then stepped in too.
The power answered us.
Not wild.
Not burning.
Focused.
Ready.
Luna stood between us.
Light gathered around her naturally.
Starlight.
Warm and steady.
The darkness recoiled slightly.
“You can’t take her,” Luna said.
Her voice rang clearer now.
“You don’t get to choose for me.”
The darkness paused.
I'm interested.
“You are made of me,” the voice replied.
“Without me, you fade.”
Luna shook her head.
“No,” she said.
“I’m made of them.”
The bond exploded outward.
Not violent.
Protective.
A shield formed instinctively.
Ice cracked against it.
Viktor screamed.
“What are you doing?” he yelled.
“You’re wasting it.”
Dominic grabbed him by the collar.
“Shut up,” he growled.
The darkness pushed again.
Harder this time.
The ship screamed in protest.
Masts snapped above deck.
Water flooded in fast.
Dante looked at me.
Real fear in his eyes.
“If it breaks through,” he said.
“We may not survive.”
I nodded.
“Then we don’t let it,” I replied.
Simple.
True.
Final.
The bond agreed.
Luna closed her eyes.
The light around her deepened.
Stars spun slowly in her gaze.
She lifted her small hands.
The darkness froze.
“Why are you angry?” she asked.
Her voice carried sadness.
The ship went silent.
Even the sea was still.
The darkness hesitated.
“Because I was forgotten,” it said.
“Buried.”
“Feared.”
Its voice cracked slightly.
I felt it.
“You’re hurting everyone,” Luna said.
“That’s not fixing it.”
The darkness rippled.
Conflicted.
Unstable.
Viktor tried to break free.
Dominic slammed him to the floor.
Hard.
“Stay down,” he warned.
Viktor laughed through blood.
“It will choose,” Viktor said.
“And it won’t be you.”
The darkness shifted again.
Closer now.
The shield shook.
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“We don’t run,” he said.
“Not again.”
Dominic nodded once.
“Not without her.”
The ice cracked loudly.
The shield fractured at the edges.
Luna gasped.
I felt her fear spike sharp.
My heart broke.
“Hold on,” I whispered to her.
“We’re here.”
Dante’s hand covered hers.
Dominic’s hand covered mine.
The bond burned bright.
The darkness pushed through the c***k.
Cold fingers brushed the air.
The ship screamed again.
Water rushed higher.
Time was gone.
The voice lowered.
Soft now.
“Come with me,” it said to Luna.
“I will make you endless.”
Luna looked up at me.
“Mom?” she asked quietly.
My chest tightened painfully.
I swallowed hard.
“You choose,” I told her.
“We’ll stand with you.”
She looked at Dante.
Then Dominic.
Then back to the darkness.
Her light flickered.
Decision forming.
“I choose them,” Luna said.
The darkness roared.
The shield shattered.
And the sea rushed in as the ship began to sink.
- Writer
