Elena's steps froze. The crown of black snakes on the mirror in Elena's head was moving, their poisonous fangs darting towards Elena. "What did you think, Elena?" The mirrored form took a step forward, the ground beneath her feet turning to black ash. "Will you save this kingdom? You are the beginning of the destruction that your father began."
Horror flashed in the seraph's eyes. He saw that the magical mist around Elena was thickening. He felt that now was the time for him to leave his human skin behind. The seraph's body shook suddenly, a crackling sound came from his spine, and his eyes turned from golden to a deep yellow with a black line in the middle.
"Elena! Don't look at him!" The seraph's voice was no longer human; it had become a hissing of a snake.
Black scales began to emerge from the seraph's shoulders. His body began to expand, and in a few moments, a majestic black serpent appeared before Elena, with the royal emblem shining on its head. The seraph's serpentine form was so terrifying and powerful that the black mist emanating from the mirror retreated for a moment.
The seraph bowed its majestic head before Elena, as if taking her under its protection. The walls of the entire castle began to shake with its roar. Elena, the Mirror laughed. "So you've shown your true form, Prince? Will you tell him what your clan did to his family?"
Elena looked at the seraph, who was now guarding her in the form of a giant serpent. "Seraph... is this true?" Elena's voice trembled.
The seraph slammed its tail against the mirror door. The ground cracke,d and hundreds of small black snakes emerged from it, scurrying towards the mirrored form. But the form disintegrated into the air and reappeared behind Elena.
"Look, Elena! Your protector is a murderer himself!" Elena the Mirror extended her hand, her nails turning into long daggers.
Kavian raised his spear into the air. "Queen! This is the poison inside your mind. Seraph's past is not his truth; your present is your truth! To break this mirror, you must sacrifice your blood!"
Elena peered into the Seraph's yellow eyes for a moment. She saw not hatred there, but a yearning that could even give her life to save him. Elena drew her dagger and made a deep cut on her palm.
As Elena's royal blood fell to the ground, a black fire erupted from the Seraph's body. In her serpent form, she let out a roar that could be heard throughout the 'Bloody Eagle' castle. Elena's blood and the Seraph's poison combined to form a magical wave that gripped this mirror Elena.
"No!" The mirror form screamed, its face melting, and the snakes on its head began to swallow each other.
There was a loud explosion, and the silver door shattered into millions of pieces. The seraph slowly began to return to his human form, but he collapsed to the ground, exhausted. The snake scales were still visible here and there on his body, reflecting his pain.
Elena ran to him. "Seraph! Why did you make such a drastic change? Your body can't take it!"
The seraph held Elena's hand with a bloodshot smile. "For you... I can turn into a snake a thousand times and go to hell, Elena." As the silver door cracked open, the scene inside the castle was revealed, more terrifying than any nightmare. It was no ordinary palace, but seemed to be a living being. The walls of the castle were as white as human bones, but thousands of black snakes were wrapped around them in such a way that the walls themselves seemed to be moving.
As soon as Elena, Seraph, and Kaviyan took the first step inside, the door closed automatically, and a terrifying sound echoed throughout the building as if millions of snakes were writhing together.
"The way back is over," Kaviyan said, gripping his spear tightly. His gaze was fixed on the floor where a sea of black snakes lay. They were crawling on top of each other, and their yellow eyes were shining like stars in the darkness.
Seraph, who had just returned from his serpent form to human form, was still dazed. The scales on his skin had not yet completely disappeared, a sign that the snake inside him was still awake. He held Elena's hand, his grip so tight that Elena could feel both the fear and courage inside him.
"Elena, follow in my footsteps," the seraph whispered. "These snakes hunt by the tremors of the earth. If your step falters even slightly, they will swallow you alive."
They slowly began to walk on this 'carpet of snakes'. With each step, the sound of the snakes crawling and the touch of their cold bodies were numbing Elena's nerves. Suddenly, a huge pit appeared in the middle of the hall, from which a giant white cobra emerged. On its head were three red eyes that looked directly into Elena's soul.
"Queen..." The white serpent's voice was melodious, yet venomous, like a woman's. "You have come with the serpent whose ancestors set fire to your throne? Do you know that the blood of the Seraph contains the poison that was designed to destroy your family?"
Elena's breath caught. She looked at the Seraph, who had lowered his gaze. "Seraph, is this true?"
The Seraph said nothing, but sweat began to shine on his forehead. The white serpent let out a horrible laugh. "Blood never lies, Elena. It has only spared you so far so that it can hand you over to the 'Bloody Eagle' and become the new general of the Black Seraph itself."
Suddenly, the Seraph's eyes turned yellow again. He drew his sword and slammed it on the ground. "Be quiet, daughter of the devil! My poison is no longer within my control, but my love is my limit. Elena! It wants to take you away from me so that you will become weak!"
The white serpent attacked. Its speed was faster than lightning. Seraph pushed Elena aside and found herself in the jaws of the giant serpent. She tried to lower her sword into the serpent's throat, but the serpent's skin was as hard as stone.
Kavian, seeing the opportunity, threw his spear at the serpent's third eye. "Elena! Use your magic! This serpent can only die from your light, not from our swords!"
Elena called out to her ring. This time, she turned not only the light, but also her anger and sorrow into a force. "You cannot come between Seraph!" Elena screamed. A wave of golden serpents emerged from her hands and wrapped themselves around the white serpent.
There was such a clash of light and darkness that the entire hall shook. The white serpent writhed in pai,n and its body melted into black smoke. As soon as the serpent was gone, the millions of snakes on the floor also disappeared, as if they were just an illusion.
Seraph fell to his knees on the ground, his body trembling. Elena reached out and placed his head in her lap. "Why didn't you tell me, Seraph? Whatever your past is, I want to hear it."
Seraph looked into Elena's eyes, where there was still the same ocean of love. "My past is a story that ends only in death. But I didn't want to take you there." The hall was silent now, but it was not a peaceful silence, but the silence before a storm. The death of the White Serpent had sent a tremor through the walls of the castle. The human bone carvings on the walls now glowed, as if absorbing the conversation between the Seraph and Elena.
The Seraph placed his trembling fingers on Elena's hand, his blood dripping onto her palm, where he had cut himself. "Elena, that White Serpent was not lying," the Seraph's voice turned to a deep whisper. "My ancestors were the first generals of the Black Serpent. Half of the blood that is in the foundations of this empire has been shed by my clan. We are the Serpents who loved the darkness, but when I first saw you in these valleys, my poison turned to nectar."
Elena looked into his eyes, where the yellow scales remained. "Your past is not your destiny, Seraph. If you were what that serpent said, you would not have risked your humanity to save me today."
Kaviyan, who was guarding the other end of the hall, suddenly started. "Queen! Prince! The time for talking is over. The walls are moving!"
Indeed, this hall of the castle was now beginning to shrink. The walls were slowly closing in on each other, and a green, poisonous smoke was beginning to be emitted from the millions of tiny holes in them.
"This gas is not to kill us, but to stun us and take us to the court of the 'Bloody Eagle,'" Kaviyan said, tying a handkerchief over his mouth. "We have to get out before that happens!"
Seraph stood up with difficulty and followed Elena behind him. "Elena, now we must reach the top of this castle, the Eagle's Spire. There is only one way to get there, and that is through the 'Blood River.'"
They quickly moved towards a secret door in the hall that had just been revealed by the explosion of a wall. As they entered, there was a long staircase in front of them that seemed to go not downwards, but towards the sky, but under the staircase was not water, but thick red blood that was flowing upwards like a pump.
"This is the magic of the 'Blood Eagle,'" Kavian said, jabbing the stone of the staircase with his spear. "This blood is the blood of the innocent people he has imprisoned for centuries. This castle is built on the energy of this blood."
As they climbed the stairs, the stairs began to sway like snakes. Elena lost her balance, but the seraph held her. This time, the seraph's hands were not human; his nails had grown long and sharp, and his grip was like a steel claw.
"Do not be afraid," the seraph whispered in her ear. "If we fall, this blood will claim us forever."
Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared from above the stairs. It was not a serpent, but a human with a majestic eagle perched on its hand, with eyes like those of a human. It was the first soldier of the 'Blood Eagle', 'Erian the Hunter'.
"Queen Elena, you are welcome," Erian's voice echoed throughout the stairs. "Prince Seraph, you have chosen the wrong team once again. The black serpents will never forgive you for this betrayal."
Erian flicked the eagle with his hand. The eagle turned into a ball of fire as it flew and flew straight towards Elena. The seraph swung his sword in the air and tore the fireball in half, but the flames began to burn his clothes.
"Kavian! Take Elena up!" the seraph roared. "I will see to that hunter!"
"No, Seraph! I will not leave you alone!" Elena screamed. She called upon the power of her ring and created an icy shield in the air that blocked Arian's second attack.
A terrible battle had now broken out on the stairs. On one side, the seraph was fighting Arian in his incomplete serpent form, and on the other, Elena and Kavian were fighting the magical eagle that was increasing in size by the minute.
Arian's magic was powerful, but Elena's anger was even more intense. She saw that Seraph had been pushed to the edge of the stairs by Arian and could fall into the 'river of blood' at any moment.
Elena closed her eyes and let out a scream that shattered the castle's windows. The golden light emanating from her body had now turned into white fire. She threw the fire directly at Arian and her eagle. Arian didn't have a chance to recover and dissolved into the air along with her bird, but her final scream shattered the part of the stairs where Seraph was standing.
"Seraph!" Elena stepped forward and grabbed Seraph's hand, but Seraph was half hanging in the air.
"Elena... let me go," Seraph said in pain. Black blood was flowing from his body. "If you hold me, you will fall too. You have to reach the throne."
"Never!" Elena's eyes were filled with tears, but her grip was firm. "Without you, there is no throne, no kingdom!"
Kaviyan quickly drove his spear into the ground and supported Elena's waist. "Together! Push!"
With a powerful jerk, they pulled the seraph up, but the seraph was now unconscious. His body was going cold, as if the serpent inside him was dying.
Elena hugged him to her chest. "I will not let anything happen to you, seraph. Even if I have to fight the angel of death."
They were now at the bottom of the stairs, where a huge golden door awaited them—this was the real court of the 'Bloody Eagle'. The seraph's body lay lifeless in Elena's arms, but the black scales on his skin were now rapidly moving towards his face. This was a sign that his Inner Serpent was now trying to swallow his human being to save him from dying. The gasp that had escaped the seraph's mouth had now turned into a painful sob.
"Elena... you must go inside," Kavian pointed to the golden door that was adorned with a giant eagle with two snakes clasped in its talons. "The seraph's magic is saving him, but if we stay here too long, his human heart will stop beating. He needs the Serpent's Elixir, which is in the court of the Blood Eagle."
Elena kissed the seraph on the forehead and stood up. Her eyes no longer held that innocence, but a fire that could burn the entire castle to ashes. She placed both hands on the golden door.
As soon as her touch hit the door, the eyes of the eagle on the door turned red and it opened its mouth. A black tongue came out from there and clung to Elena's hand like a snake. Elena was not afraid, but rather she threw her magical power through this tongue into the door.
The door opened with a loud bang. Elena's blood froze when she saw the scene inside.
This was not a court, but a huge cage with thousands of innocent people hanging upside down from the ceiling and their blood was falling through the channels into a large pool in the centre. In the middle of this pool, the 'bloody eagle' sat on its throne—half of its body had the wings of a bird and half the body of a giant python.
"Come, my little queen," the blood eagle's voice had a soul-shaking resonance. "You have killed my hunter, but can you face the fact that your beloved Seraph will never be human again? He will now become part of my army of black serpents!"
Suddenly, hundreds of blood snakes emerged from the pool and rushed towards Elena. The Seraph's unconscious body felt one last tremor, as if its inner serpent was awakening for this final battle.
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