THE GATE OF COUNCIL
1202 Words
Cold.
That was the first thing Octavia felt.
Cold stone beneath her hands.
Cold air against her skin.
And the faint sound of water dripping somewhere in the darkness.
She slowly opened her eyes.
For several seconds, she couldn't understand where she was.
Then she looked ahead.
Her heart stopped.
A massive black gate stood before her.
Carved into its center was a symbol she knew better than she knew her own reflection.
A crescent moon wrapped around a rose.
Octavia's lips parted.
"No..."
She pushed herself slowly to her feet.
Her breathing became unsteady.
She had seen this gate before.
Not once.
Not twice.
In her dreams.
The same gate.
The same forest.
The same strange darkness.
The same place where the mysterious man had always appeared whenever something tried to hurt her.
She looked down at the necklace around her neck.
The sapphire-blue stone glowed faintly beneath the moonlight.
Her fingers trembled around it.
"This can't be real."
A heavy sound echoed.
Grrrrrr...
The enormous gates slowly opened.
Octavia stepped backward.
Beyond them stood an ancient fortress hidden deep within the mountains.
Torches burned along the stone walls.
Tall towers disappeared into the mist.
And standing everywhere...
Were creatures.
Vampires.
Witches.
Werewolves.
Some wore ancient robes.
Others wore elegant black clothing.
Some looked young.
Others carried the weight of centuries in their eyes.
They all turned toward her.
The entire courtyard went silent.
---
Octavia walked slowly through the gates.
Every step made her heart beat harder.
A vampire standing beside a stone pillar stared at her.
"That's her."
Another whispered,
"The human."
"She was brought here alive?"
"Look at her..."
Even the werewolves watched her carefully.
Octavia lowered her eyes.
She had never felt so many eyes upon her.
Then a voice spoke from the top of the ancient staircase.
"Bring her forward."
Two vampires stepped toward her.
One reached for her arm.
The moment his fingers came close—
WHOOSH!
A brilliant blue light burst from the necklace.
The vampire was thrown backward.
Everyone froze.
Octavia grabbed the pendant.
"What..."
The sapphire stone continued glowing against her chest.
An elderly witch slowly stepped forward.
Her expression changed.
"That necklace..."
She stared at it.
"Impossible."
A vampire beside her whispered,
"That's Nightfall protection."
The witch's eyes narrowed.
"Then the prince gave it to her."
No one spoke.
The realization spread through the courtyard.
Lincoln had not merely fallen in love with a human.
He had protected her with something belonging to the royal bloodline.
---
Octavia was taken into the Council chamber.
The enormous doors opened.
Inside was a circular hall carved entirely from dark stone.
At the center stood a long black table.
Around it sat the members of the supernatural Council.
The oldest vampires sat closest to the center.
Ancient witches stood behind them.
Several werewolves remained near the walls.
Octavia stood alone before them.
But she wasn't shaking anymore.
She was frightened.
Confused.
Heartbroken.
But something inside her told her not to surrender.
An elderly vampire leaned forward.
"So this is the girl."
Another studied her.
"She doesn't look dangerous."
A witch answered quietly,
"That's what makes her dangerous."
Octavia frowned.
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
She looked from one face to another.
"Why did you bring me here?"
The oldest witch slowly stood.
"Because your existence threatens a law older than any kingdom."
"What law?"
The witch looked toward the necklace.
"The law that keeps humans and vampires apart."
Octavia's heart sank.
She remembered Lincoln.
His smile.
His hands around hers.
His voice.
You're safe with me.
The witch continued.
"For centuries, the supernatural races have feared what would happen if a human and a royal vampire produced a child."
Octavia's hand moved instinctively toward her stomach.
"I haven't done anything with him, I'm not pregnant."
"No."
The witch shook her head.
"But the possibility is enough."
A vampire stood.
"The child would inherit royal vampire blood..."
The witch finished the sentence.
"...and the purity of a human soul."
Silence.
"Such a child could become immortal."
The chamber erupted in whispers.
Octavia stared at them.
"Immortal?"
The witch nodded.
"And potentially stronger than any creature currently living."
Octavia shook her head.
"You don't even know that."
"We know enough."
One of the vampires stepped forward.
"You must die before that possibility becomes reality."
Octavia's eyes filled with tears.
She whispered,
"Lincoln..."
---
Far away...
At Nightfall Palace...
Lincoln stood in the middle of his chambers.
Blood covered his clothes.
His hands were trembling.
He had searched the forest.
Every path.
Every clearing.
Every hidden trail.
Nothing.
She was gone.
Arina stood near the doorway, crying silently.
Aurora was beside her, pale and terrified.
"Lincoln..."
He didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed upon the necklace's matching symbol engraved into an ancient silver object he held in his palm.
His breathing slowed.
Then he closed his eyes.
The world disappeared.
---
Darkness.
Mist.
A distant sound.
A heartbeat.
Then—
A gate.
Lincoln's eyes opened inside what felt like a dream.
He saw the enormous black gate.
The crescent moon.
The rose.
Then the vision shifted.
A stone chamber.
A circle of ancient beings.
And standing in the center...
Octavia.
His breath caught.
"Octavia."
She suddenly looked around.
She couldn't see him.
But somehow...
She heard something.
A whisper.
Her eyes widened.
"Lincoln?"
His vision flickered.
He saw tears running down her face.
He tried to reach her.
His hand passed through the vision.
"Octavia!"
The image disappeared.
Lincoln's eyes snapped open.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then he whispered,
"The Council."
King Alexza stood.
"Are you certain?"
Lincoln looked toward his father.
His expression had changed completely.
"They have her."
The room went silent.
Hazel's face became pale.
Arina covered her mouth.
Aurora stepped forward.
"Can you see where?"
Lincoln looked down at the necklace's symbol.
"Not clearly."
"But I saw the gate."
His voice became colder.
"The gate from the old forest."
King Alexza's expression hardened.
"The Council's gate."
Lincoln nodded.
Then he looked toward the palace doors.
"I am going there."
His father stepped forward.
"Lincoln."
He stopped.
Alexza's voice was quiet.
"If you enter the Council's territory alone..."
Lincoln turned.
"I'm not leaving her there."
Nobody could argue with the look in his eyes.
He wasn't speaking as a prince.
He wasn't speaking as a vampire.
He was speaking as a man who had just realized the woman he loved was facing death.
---
Back inside the Council chamber...
Octavia stood beneath the cold torchlight.
The witch raised her hand.
The necklace immediately began glowing.
A blue protective light surrounded Octavia.
The entire Council stared.
One ancient vampire whispered,
"It is protecting her by itself."
The witch's expression darkened.
"No..."
She looked toward the glowing sapphire.
"She isn't merely protected by the Nightfall family."
Her voice dropped to a fearful whisper.
"The protection has chosen her."
Octavia looked down at the necklace.
And somewhere deep inside her heart...
She suddenly felt something.
Like someone's presence.
Like a familiar pair of eyes watching her from very far away.
She touched the sapphire.
"Lincoln..."
The stone glowed brighter.
And for the first time...
The Council understood.
The bond between them was already stronger than they had feared.
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