Chapter 16: The Journey Beyond Blackwood
304 Words
The black crescent moon remained in the sky for seven nights.
No matter where Nina went, it followed.
The villagers whispered about it. The vampires feared it. Even the oldest members of the Crimson Court refused to speak its name.
Malachai.
The first shadow.
The creator of the curse.
At dawn on the eighth day, Nina and Devin stood at the edge of Blackwood Forest.
Behind them waited the kingdom they had built.
Ahead waited something ancient.
Something neither of them understood.
"We could send an army," Devin said.
Nina shook her head.
"No."
She looked at the dark horizon.
"He wants me."
Devin's expression hardened.
"Then he will have to face both of us."
She smiled slightly.
"You know, for someone who spent a century avoiding love, you're very bad at letting me do things alone."
He took her hand.
"I spent a century alone."
"Never again."
Together, they stepped into the unknown.
Three days into their journey, they reached a place that did not appear on any map.
The Valley of Forgotten Names.
The trees were silver. The rivers reflected memories instead of faces. And carved into every stone were names of people who had disappeared from history.
Nina ran her fingers over one inscription.
"Evelyn."
Her heart stopped.
The stone shimmered.
A vision appeared.
Evelyn stood before a younger Devin.
She locked exactly as she did in the diary.
"You can't stay," Devin said in the memory.
"I know."
"Then why did you come?"
Evelyn smiled sadly.
"Because someone has to protect the future."
The vision changed.
A man with black eyes and a smile that held no warmth.
Malachai.
"I made you," he whispered to Devin.
The memory froze.
Nina looked at Devin.
"What does that mean?"
Devin stared at the ground.
"I never told you everything about my beginning."
- Writer
