EPISODE 6:The Northern Fortress
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EPISODE SEVEN — THE NORTHERN FORTRESS
The chapel was shaking.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
The ancient altar groaned as though something beneath it had awakened from a sleep older than the kingdom itself.
Lucia clutched Azrael's hand.
“What is happening?”
Azrael stared at the cracked floor.
“The seal.”
Malachi stood several paces away, his soldiers forgotten.
For the first time, the confidence had disappeared from his face.
“The seal was never supposed to break,” he whispered.
Lucia looked at him.
“You knew?”
Malachi said nothing.
Azrael's expression hardened.
“You knew exactly what was beneath this chapel.”
“I knew enough.”
“You brought her here.”
“I didn't know the pendant would open it.”
Lucia looked between them.
“Someone please tell me what is happening.”
A violent tremor split the floor.
Azrael pulled her toward the doorway.
“We have to leave.”
“But my mother—”
“Lucia, now.”
They ran.
Behind them, the altar cracked down the middle.
A column of black smoke rose from beneath it.
Within the smoke, Lucia saw a woman's face.
Her mother's face.
“Lucia…”
She stopped.
“Mama?”
Azrael grabbed her arm.
“Don't look back.”
But Lucia did.
The face disappeared.
And beneath the ruined altar lay a staircase leading downward.
Malachi stared into the darkness.
Then he smiled faintly.
“The fortress.”
Azrael turned.
“What?”
Malachi's eyes gleamed.
“That thing beneath the chapel isn't the prison.”
He pointed toward the northern mountains.
“The fortress is.”
Before Azrael could respond, the chapel doors exploded inward.
Black feathers filled the air.
Vespera's voice whispered through the darkness.
“Run if you wish, little bride.”
Lucia froze.
“I will find you.”
The black feathers became flames.
Azrael grabbed Lucia and pulled her into the forest.
They ran north.
---
They travelled for two days.
The mountains grew taller.
The trees thinner.
The air colder.
Lucia barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her mother's face beneath the chapel.
And every time she woke, she found Azrael watching the darkness.
On the third morning, they reached the fortress.
It stood on a mountain overlooking the northern edge of Eldoria.
It was enormous.
Ancient.
Half ruined.
Yet somehow beautiful.
Azrael pushed open the iron gates.
“This was my home.”
Lucia stared at him.
“You lived here?”
“When I was a boy.”
He walked through the courtyard.
A dead fountain stood in the centre.
Beyond it was a stone statue of a young prince.
Lucia approached.
The face was unmistakable.
It was Azrael.
“You were happy here.”
He looked at the statue.
“Once.”
“What happened?”
He looked toward the mountains.
“Vespera happened.”
Inside the fortress, they discovered a library untouched by time.
Books covered the walls.
Maps lay scattered across tables.
Azrael went directly to a locked cabinet.
He broke the lock.
Inside were old royal records.
Lucia watched him turn page after page.
Then he stopped.
His face changed.
“What?”
He handed her a document.
It bore her mother's handwriting.
Lucia's hands trembled.
She read.
Azrael was not the first.
Her heart stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Azrael took the document.
He read the next page.
His eyes widened.
“The curse existed before Vespera.”
Lucia whispered:
“Then she didn't create it?”
“She found it.”
They searched through the records.
Piece by piece, the truth emerged.
Long before Vespera became queen, an ancient force had lived beneath Eldoria.
A force called the Hollow.
It fed on fear, hatred, grief and betrayal.
The royal family had sealed it beneath the northern fortress.
But Vespera had discovered the seal.
And she wanted its power.
Azrael continued reading.
“She couldn't control it.”
Lucia looked at him.
“So she used you.”
He nodded.
“When I refused to marry her, she used the Hollow to curse me.”
Lucia's eyes filled with tears.
“She turned you into the Beast.”
“Yes.”
“But why the famine?”
Azrael slowly looked at her.
“The Hollow feeds on the kingdom.”
Lucia understood.
“The famine…”
“Is its hunger.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Lucia noticed something written in the margin.
A name.
Isabella Vale.
Her breath caught.
“Mama was here.”
Azrael looked at the writing.
“She helped your mother?”
Lucia shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to another sentence.
“She helped you.”
Azrael stared.
Lucia read aloud:
The prince can only be saved by the daughter of the woman who carries silver.
Azrael's eyes lifted.
“Your mother knew.”
Lucia's voice trembled.
“She knew exactly what would happen.”
A hidden compartment opened beneath the desk.
Inside was a small box.
Lucia reached for it.
Azrael stopped her.
“Wait.”
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a letter.
Addressed to Lucia.
Her hands shook as she unfolded it.
My darling daughter,
If you are reading this, then the world has already become more dangerous than I feared.
There will come a day when you meet a man everyone calls a monster.
Do not judge him by his face.
Judge him by what he does when no one is watching.
Lucia looked at Azrael.
He couldn't meet her eyes.
She continued.
If he protects you when he could possess you, trust him.
If he gives you the freedom to leave, believe him.
And if you love him, Lucia…
She stopped.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Azrael looked at her.
“What does it say?”
Lucia couldn't speak.
She forced herself to continue.
…make sure it is your choice.
The letter slipped from her fingers.
Azrael picked it up.
His hands were trembling.
“Your mother knew.”
Lucia nodded.
“She knew I would find you.”
Azrael looked at her for a long moment.
Then he stepped back.
“Lucia…”
“What?”
“If the prophecy requires you to love me, then I cannot allow myself to influence your choice.”
Her heart tightened.
“You think I don't know my own feelings?”
“I think you deserve a life untouched by curses.”
“And what if I don't want that life?”
He looked at her.
Neither spoke.
Then—
the fortress doors slammed shut.
A voice echoed through the halls.
“Such touching devotion.”
Vespera.
Lucia turned.
The queen stood at the far end of the corridor.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood Cedric.
Lucia's father.
His wrists were bound.
His face was bruised.
“Papa!”
Lucia ran forward.
Azrael caught her.
“It's a trap.”
Vespera smiled.
“Of course it is.”
She looked at Lucia.
“But now you have a choice.”
She raised her hand.
A black flame appeared around Cedric.
“Come with me willingly…”
The flame grew brighter.
“…or watch your father die.”
Lucia stared at her father.
Then at Azrael.
Vespera smiled.
“Choose carefully, little bride.”
The fortress doors locked behind them.
And somewhere beneath the mountain, something enormous opened its eyes.
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