The ninth seal
933 Words
The eye opened.
It floated alone in the darkness beyond the stars.
Larger than continents.
Its silver iris narrowed as it focused on Earth.
Then…
It blinked.
Across the world, every supernatural creature cried out in agony.
Vampires clutched their heads.
Werewolves collapsed to their knees.
Witches screamed as their magic spiraled out of control.
Even the oceans rose several feet before settling again.
In Prague, Luna felt something inside her chest answer the creature’s gaze.
The Moon Crown became unbearably hot.
She fell to one knee.
“It… sees me.”
Nerissa rushed to her side.
“It doesn’t see you.”
“It recognizes you.”
Luna looked up in horror.
“What’s the difference?”
“The Devourer remembers every soul it has ever consumed.”
The cathedral fell silent.
Then the Shadow King spoke the words no one wanted to hear.
“It remembers yours.”
⸻
The Frozen Island
Thousands of miles north of Prague…
Snow fell across a forgotten island hidden behind storms and ancient enchantments.
At its center stood a temple carved entirely from black ice.
The hooded figure removed the black blade from the cracked altar.
A deep voice echoed through the chamber.
“You’ve done well.”
The figure slowly knelt.
“My master.”
A second figure emerged from the darkness.
Unlike the Shadow King…
This being radiated no power.
No darkness.
No light.
He looked completely ordinary.
A man in a gray cloak.
Brown hair.
Kind eyes.
The sort of face no one would remember.
Which made him far more terrifying.
“The first seal has fallen.”
He smiled.
“Only eight remain.”
The hooded servant frowned.
“I thought there was only one.”
“There were.”
The man placed a hand on the cracked altar.
“When Seraphina imprisoned the Devourer…”
“…the Moon Goddess divided the prison.”
“Nine pieces.”
“Nine seals.”
He looked toward the heavens.
“And one has finally broken.”
⸻
Prague
Kael paced across the ruined cathedral.
“If there are nine seals…”
“Where are the others?”
Nerissa closed her eyes.
“They were entrusted to the Nine Keepers.”
Lucien frowned.
“There are only eight thrones.”
“Exactly.”
Silence.
Luna looked between them.
“So…”
“Who’s the ninth?”
No one answered.
Even Seraphina looked confused.
Finally…
The Shadow King spoke.
“There was never a ninth throne.”
“There was…”
“…a ninth child.”
Every head turned toward him.
“What child?” Luna asked.
“The Moon Goddess had nine children.”
Nerissa inhaled sharply.
“You remember…”
“I remember everything.”
“The first eight became rulers.”
“The ninth…”
His voice became quieter.
“…refused.”
Luna’s heartbeat quickened.
“Why?”
“He fell in love.”
“With whom?”
The Shadow King’s black eyes met hers.
“The Moon Queen.”
Silence.
Lucien slowly lowered his sword.
“No…”
Seraphina’s face became ghostly pale.
“I erased him.”
Luna frowned.
“You erased a person?”
“No.”
Seraphina whispered.
“I erased every memory of him.”
“Why?”
Tears rolled down the First Queen’s face.
“Because I chose someone else.”
She looked toward Lucien.
The Vampire Emperor closed his eyes.
The truth settled over the room like a storm.
The forgotten ninth child…
Had loved Seraphina.
She had rejected him.
And history itself had forgotten he ever existed.
The Shadow King smiled.
“He never stopped waiting.”
⸻
Suddenly…
The cathedral doors slammed open.
A young woman stumbled inside.
She couldn’t have been older than twenty.
Her dark hair was covered in snow despite the warm summer night.
Her clothes were torn.
Blood stained her hands.
She collapsed before Luna.
“Please…”
She struggled to breathe.
“…they’re coming.”
Kael knelt beside her.
“Who?”
“The Keepers…”
She looked directly at Luna.
“They’re killing the Nine Keepers.”
Nerissa’s face lost all color.
“If every Keeper dies…”
The woman nodded weakly.
“The Devourer awakens.”
She pulled something from beneath her coat.
A crystal no larger than Luna’s palm.
Inside it floated a tiny silver flame.
“The Keeper of the First Seal…”
“…gave me this before he died.”
The flame suddenly flew from the crystal.
It hovered in front of Luna.
Then merged with the Moon Crown.
A new symbol appeared between its silver branches.
One of nine.
Only one.
The Shadow King stared in disbelief.
“The Crown…”
Nerissa whispered in awe.
“It can carry the seals.”
Luna looked at them in confusion.
“What does that mean?”
Seraphina answered.
“It means the Moon Crown wasn’t made to rule.”
She took Luna’s trembling hand.
“It was made…”
“…to imprison the Devourer.”
The cathedral shook violently.
Outside…
The eclipse deepened.
A voice unlike any they had heard before echoed from the sky itself.
Not male.
Not female.
Not human.
Ancient.
Hungry.
“Nine fragments…”
”…One Crown…”
”…Find my heart…”
Every window in Prague exploded.
Far beyond Earth…
The black moon smiled.
And hidden in the deepest chamber beneath the Vatican…
An ancient stone coffin cracked open from the inside.
A pale hand slowly emerged.
On its wrist burned the same symbol that had just appeared on Luna’s crown.
The hunt for the Nine Keepers had begun.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD