The moon had vanished behind a veil of storm clouds.
Thunder rolled across the ridge, shaking the forest floor as if the earth itself feared what was coming.
James, Chloe, and Taron stood before an ancient ruin — half-buried in roots and shadow. The air pulsed faintly, alive with whispers neither human nor divine.
The Blood Chamber.
A forgotten temple said to be the place where the first vampire drew his curse — and where the Blood God still dreamed.
Taron's nostrils flared. "This place reeks of death."
James glanced at the walls, tracing symbols carved in both vampire and wolf script. "It's older than our war. Older than either race."
Chloe's eyes glowed faintly silver. "Then why does it call to me?"
No one answered. The wind carried a low hum — a voice beneath all voices.
"Child of moonlight... child of blood... the curse remembers you."
Chloe's breath hitched. "You hear it too?"
James nodded slowly. "It's him. The one my father worships."
They descended the cracked stone steps into the chamber below.
The walls shimmered with a dull red glow, and veins of crystallized blood pulsed like living arteries. At the center lay a massive coffin of black glass, sealed by chains etched in moonlight sigils.
Taron growled. "Whatever's inside— we bury it deeper and walk away."
But Chloe stepped closer, drawn by something unseen. Her hand hovered over the glass, where faint images shimmered — of wolves and vampires locked in battle, and a single figure standing between them, crowned by both light and blood.
James's voice broke through her trance. "Chloe, don't—"
Too late.
Her fingers brushed the glass, and the chains screamed.
The sigils burst into flame — one red, one silver — as the ground split open. A shockwave threw all three backward, slamming them into the stone walls.
From the coffin rose a shadow of bone and flame, a monstrous being with wings made of blood and light.
Its voice thundered through their minds.
"The heirs awaken... and so shall I."
Taron shifted instantly into wolf form, claws tearing the ground. "Chloe, move!"
He lunged, biting into the creature's arm — but his fangs met only smoke. The beast's eyes burned crimson.
James drew his twin blades, slashing a crimson arc through the air. The strike split the creature in half — but its body reformed, laughing.
"Blood cannot kill what birthed blood."
Chloe stood, her silver aura flaring. "Then maybe moonlight can."
She raised her hands, and a beam of lunar energy erupted from her palms, piercing the creature's chest. It shrieked, the sound shaking every bone in their bodies.
James shouted, "Now!"
He plunged both blades into the creature's chest, channeling his own blood through them. The crimson light merged with Chloe's moonlight — silver and red colliding in a blinding explosion.
The chamber roared like a dying god.
When the light faded, the creature was gone — nothing left but ash and silence.
James collapsed to one knee, panting. His palms were scorched, his veins glowing faintly red.
Chloe knelt beside him. "You're hurt."
He looked up, meeting her eyes. "So are you."
For a heartbeat, the world stood still — two enemies breathing the same air, surrounded by ruins of what once divided them.
Then the ground trembled again.
Taron snarled. "It's not over."
From the ashes where the creature had fallen, a new mark burned into the stone — a circle of intertwined blood and moonlight.
At its center, a single phrase appeared in ancient script.
"When heirs bleed together, the Blood God shall rise."
James stared at it, realization dawning. "We didn't destroy it… we woke it."
Chloe's expression hardened. "Then we end it before it ends us."
As the wind carried their vow into the night, far across the land, the Crimson Citadel pulsed with light.
In his throne room, Thomas Wilson opened his eyes, crimson fire burning within.
"So… the prophecy begins."