Chapter 15: The First Shadow
327 Words
Queen Seraphina appeared before them that night.
But unlike before, she did not look peaceful.
She looked afraid.
"Malachai was the first."
"The first vampire?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"The first monster."
The room grew colder.
"He existed before our kind. He gave immortality to those willing to surrender their humanity."
"Lucien was one of his creations."
Nina looked at the locket.
"Why would Eveyln hide this?"
Seraphina looked at her sadly.
"Because she discovered a way to destroy him."
Devin stepped closer.
"What way?"
The Queen looked toward Izzy.
"The Moonborn."
Nina felt chill.
"Me?"
"The Blood Moon power was never meant only to unite vampires and humans."
"It was created to end the darkness that created them."
That night, Nina couldn't sleep.
She stood beneath the old oak tree where she and Devin had first met.
So much had changed.
She was no longer human.
She was no longer simply a vampire.
She was something between worlds.
But now she wondered.
Was she created to love Devin?
Or was she created to fight a war that had started centuries before she was born?
"You always come here when you're afraid."
She turned.
Devin stood behind her.
"I thought you were asleep."
"I know you."
He walked closer.
"After all these years, you still cary every burden alone."
She looked away.
"What if this is why fate brought me to you?"
"To defeat something?"
"To save everyone?"
Devin gently lifted her chin.
"Nina'"
"You are not a weapon."
"You are not a prophecy."
"You are the women I fell in love with."
Her eyes softened.
"And if the world needs saving?"
He smiled faintly.
"Then we'll save it together."
Above them, the moon turned dark.
Not covered by clouds.
Changed.
A black crescent appeared across its surface.
And from somewhere far beyond Blackwood...
A voice whispered:
"The Moonborn has awakened."
"Now I will claim what belongs to me."
The war for the moon had begun.
- Writer
