Chapter 8 : the last bell
397 Words
When Aria awoke, morning light was streaming through broken windows. The storm had cleared. The air smelled of rain and smoke.
Dr. Fen sat nearby, covered in dust but alive. The palace around them was crumbling, the marble floors split by vines of light.
“It’s over,” he whispered. “You did it.”
Aria stood shakily. The throne room was now open to the forest beyond, the walls dissolving into mist. She could see sunlight for the first time in days.
But then, faintly, a sound—distant, hollow.
BONG.
Her blood ran cold. The final bell.
She turned slowly. On the ground behind her, where the prince had fallen, the dagger still lay—its blade cracked but glowing faintly.
Dr. Fen frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Aria knelt, staring at the blade. “The curse demanded one soul for each night,” she murmured. “The prince freed the king’s spirit, but the palace still needs payment.”
She looked at Fen, her expression breaking. “It has to end with me.”
He shook his head. “No. You’ve done enough.”
“If I stay, it’ll keep hunting,” she said softly. “But if I give it what it wants—maybe it’ll finally rest.”
Fen’s voice trembled. “Aria—”
She smiled faintly, tears shining in her eyes. “Tell the world the truth. Tell them the Vale bloodline paid its debt.”
Before he could stop her, she took the dagger and pressed it to her palm. As her blood touched the blade, the ground beneath them began to glow, the entire palace trembling one last time.
A voice—her father’s—whispered in the air. “You’ve freed us.”
Light consumed the hall.
When the rumbling stopped, Dr. Fen opened his eyes. The palace was gone.
He stood in an open field, sunlight warming his face. No walls, no ghosts—just silence. In his hand, a single parchment appeared, sealed with the royal crest.
He unfolded it. Inside were only a few words, written in Aria’s hand:
“The hunted palace has fallen. Truth has been freed. Remember us kindly.”
Tears welled in his eyes as the letter dissolved into ash, carried away by the wind.
From somewhere deep in the forest, a final bell tolled—and then faded forever.
- Writer
