The world was nothing but ruins and smoke.
Noah clawed his way through the rubble, his palms bloodied, splinters buried deep under his nails.
Every breath burned, the air choked thick with dust and the iron tang of blood.
Every heartbeat screamed one name into the silence:
Elias.
He staggered forward, coughing, blinking against the haze.
The explosion had torn the mansion apart like paper.
Once-proud stone walls now lay broken and twisted, a carcass rotting under the pale eye of the moon.
Noah didn't know how long he searched.
Minutes?
Hours?
It didn't matter.
Time had folded into a single desperate prayer: Find him. Save him. Don't lose him.
He stumbled over the remains of the grand staircase, broken glass crunching under his boots.
A shadow moved ahead — too fast, too deliberate.
Not Elias.
Noah ducked just as a hand swiped at him clawed, inhuman.
A vampire one he didn't recognize.
Eyes black as oil. Mouth twisted in a cruel smile.
"Fresh meat," the creature purred, lunging again.
Instinct took over.
Noah rolled to the side, grabbing a broken shard of wood and driving it upward, straight into the vampire's chest.
The creature shrieked, a sound that rattled Noah's bones, then disintegrated into ash.
Noah staggered back, chest heaving.
He hadn't even thought. He'd moved.
Survived.
Something inside him, something primal, was awakening.
And it scared the hell out of him.
A roar echoed through the ruins — a sound of pure rage and pain.
Elias.
Noah ran toward it without thinking.
He found him in the courtyard, surrounded.
A dozen vampires circled him like wolves around a wounded lion.
And at their head — a woman.
She was stunning in a terrible way, all cold elegance and lethal grace.
Her hair was black as midnight, her lips crimson as fresh blood.
Her smile was cruel, familiar.
Noah recognized her from the visions Elias had once shared.
Lilith.
The one who had betrayed him.
And now, she had come to finish the job.
Elias stood his ground, blood streaming from a wound above his brow, his clothes torn, his fangs bared.
But Noah could see it — the tremble in his stance.
The exhaustion pulling at him.
He was losing.
Lilith sauntered closer, her voice dripping venom.
"You should have stayed dead, my love," she purred. "You're not fit to rule. Look at you. Weak. Broken."
Elias spat blood at her feet.
"I'd rather die on my knees than crawl back to you," he growled.
Lilith laughed — a sound like shattering glass.
"Then let's grant you your wish."
She flicked her hand.
The vampires lunged.
Noah screamed, rushing forward — but it was like moving through molasses.
Every step felt weighted, slow, helpless.
Elias fought like a demon, his movements wild and desperate.
Claws tore into flesh.
Fangs flashed.
Blood sprayed across the stones.
But he was outnumbered.
Outmatched.
One vampire sank his claws into Elias' shoulder, pinning him.
Another struck him across the face, snapping his head back.
Elias roared, wrenching free — but it was too late.
Lilith approached, a silver dagger glinting in her hand.
Noah watched, helpless, as she raised it
No. Not like this. Not him. NOT HIM.
Something inside Noah snapped.
A blinding pain exploded in his chest fire, lightning, fury something ancient and terrible waking inside him.
He threw back his head and screamed.
The ground shook.
The air pulsed.
A shockwave of raw, crackling energy blasted out from him, sending the vampires flying like rag dolls.
Lilith stumbled back, eyes wide with shock.
Noah stood in the center of the carnage, panting, hands trembling, blue fire crackling along his arms.
His vision had tinted — everything bathed in silver and sapphire.
The power burned inside him, wild and endless.
Lilith recovered first.
"So," she hissed. "The boy has teeth after all."
Elias battered, bleeding staggered to Noah's side.
He looked at him with a mix of awe and horror.
"Noah," he rasped, grabbing his wrist. "You have to stop. You're not ready—"
But Noah barely heard him.
The fire raged in his veins, demanding to be unleashed.
He raised his hand
Lilith snarled and retreated
And with a roar, Noah unleashed a second wave of energy.
It tore through the courtyard, ripping stone from earth, shattering walls, annihilating everything in its path.
When the light faded, the vampires lay broken and screaming — some turning to ash where they fell.
Lilith, though wounded, managed to vanish into the smoke with a snarl of fury.
Silence fell.
Noah dropped to his knees, shaking, gasping.
The power inside him flickered, guttered, and died.
Elias knelt beside him, grabbing his face between bloodied hands.
"You shouldn't have done that," he whispered, voice raw. "You don't know what you are."
Noah stared at him, wide-eyed, terrified of himself.
"I had to," he choked out. "I had to save you."
Elias shook his head, agony in every line of him.
"This is the last time I can save you," he said, voice breaking. "Next time… I won't be able to stop myself."
Noah opened his mouth — to argue, to plead — but the words never came.
A sudden blur of motion.
A glint of silver.
A sickening sound metal tearing through flesh.
Elias jerked, a strangled sound escaping his throat.
Noah saw the silver blade protruding from his back, saw the blood blooming like a flower against his torn shirt.
Time froze.
"No!" Noah screamed.
He caught Elias as he collapsed, lowering him gently to the blood-soaked stones.
"No, no, no — stay with me," Noah sobbed, pressing his hands against the wound, desperate, useless. "Please, Elias, don't leave me!"
Elias coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
His eyes fluttered open gold and dimming.
His hand found Noah's, weakly curling around it.
"I'm… sorry," Elias rasped.
"No!" Noah shouted, tears blinding him.
"You don't get to leave me, you stubborn bastard! You don't get to give up! I'm not losing you!"
Elias smiled, a broken, beautiful thing.
"You were… always the light," he whispered. "Even when I didn't deserve it."
"No, no stay Elias, please...."
But Elias' eyes drifted shut.
His body went still.
And the world ended.