The Northern Manor was no longer the desolate, rotting carcass of a once-proud estate. With Kael Drayven's relentless efficiency, it had begun to resemble a fortress—alive with sensors, shimmer-fields, and arcane energy lines fed by the vampire kingdom's own veins. The walls pulsed faintly, like a slumbering beast being wired for war.
In the newly fortified control room Kael had crafted deep within the manor's catacombs, his fingers danced across a translucent screen made of vampire-forged crystal, pulsing with data streams only he could comprehend. His nanobots had successfully infiltrated nearly every sector of the kingdom: towers, palaces, patrol routes, feeding halls, even the Elder's private corridors. Their movements, conversations, magical patterns—they were all his now.
"The signal's clean," Kael muttered, eyes flickering with reflections of code. "I've extended surveillance as far as the Western Barricades. We see what they see."
Cassian leaned over his shoulder. "You're turning into a vampire . Creepy, but effective."
"That's the point," Kael replied flatly.
Zarek stepped in, his arms loaded with two satchels of dull red crystals, glinting faintly in the gloom. He dropped them on the reinforced table beside Kael. "Got them. Highest purity I could find. No questions asked, thanks to your... generous donation."
Kael nodded, already scanning the crystals' composition. "Perfect. Their lattice is stable enough to withstand fusions."
"Fusion of what?" Jaxon asked, stepping into the room with a towel around his neck, having just returned from sparring with Cassian.
"Fire and lightning," Kael replied, already drawing blueprints midair with light trails. "I'm forging you a weapon, Zarek. One that channels your elements."
Zarek blinked. "You're making me a sword?"
"No," Kael replied. "I'm making you the sword."
---
Outside the manor, in a circular clearing Kael had reinforced with hidden kinetic shields, Cassian and Jaxon were already back to training. Their bodies moved with fluid grace—Jaxon's flame-infused strikes clashing with Cassian's gravity manipulation, which twisted the air around them with invisible force. The clash of elements echoed like distant thunder.
Zarek watched them spar while Kael began forging the weapon, surrounded by floating tools and containment runes he'd drawn in vampire blood. The crystals pulsed with life as he began the delicate integration, whispering to them in a language only machines and creators understood.
Malrik sat beside Zarek, arms crossed, eyes narrow as he watched the horizon.
"They're strong," Malrik said. "But they're still not ready for what waits beneath that palace."
Zarek nodded. "We're doing all we can. Kael's giving us eyes, blades, defenses... But we can't simulate what Kenneth is going through. We don't know what we'll find when we break him out."
Malrik's voice dropped. "You won't recognize him. They're not just beating his body. They're unraveling his mind."
---
Far beneath the velvet rooftops of the vampire kingdom, within the damp, blood-slick stones of the dungeon, Kenneth stirred.
His wrists were raw, chained high above his head. The drugs that dulled his senses were waning, but so too was his grip on reality. He no longer knew which day it was. Or if days even passed anymore. His skin was split open in too many places to count, his body gaunt, his blood thick and strange.
The door creaked.
He turned his head slowly, vision clouded, eyes burning. A figure entered, cloaked in shadows and soft footfalls. The scent hit him first—not blood, but roses.
"Mother..." he whispered, his cracked lips trembling. "You came back..."
Seraphine froze in the archway. Her heart squeezed. The boy—no, the man—she had once admired as a prince was withering into a husk. She knelt beside him and carefully dabbed the blood from his face with a damp cloth.
"You need to eat," she whispered, pulling out the parcel of smuggled food.
Kenneth didn't even look down. His blurry gaze stayed locked on her face. Tears welled in his bloodshot eyes.
"Please... don't leave me again..."
Seraphine's hand trembled.
He thought she was his mother. Every time. It made it worse—and yet more heartbreaking.
"I won't," she said softly, placing the food to his lips. He bit weakly, like a child. "I promise."
He cried as he chewed.
"They won't let me go," he mumbled, barely coherent. "They said... I'm a curse... the end of them all..."
Seraphine's voice shook. "They're wrong. You're not a curse. You're the future."
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Heavy. Measured. Regal.
Seraphine's head snapped to the doorway, eyes wide.
The Vampire King entered with two guards and one of the Elders. His expression was unreadable, though his eyes burned with silent fury.
"You," he said to Seraphine. "How long have you been feeding him?"
She stood slowly, defiant despite the odds. "Long enough to know he's still alive. Still human."
The King drew his blade without hesitation. "Then die with him."
"Wait," the Elder said sharply, stepping forward. "We may finally have leverage. She could be the key to controlling him."
The King frowned. "He's feral. Lost."
"Even the most feral beasts respond to familiarity," the Elder said. "If he thinks she's his mother... let her be his tether."
The King stared at Seraphine. She didn't flinch.
"Fine," he growled. "Then she becomes part of the experiment. If she disobeys, her entire bloodline dies screaming. Do you understand, girl?"
Seraphine nodded slowly. "I understand."
But as the King turned to leave, Seraphine looked once more at Kenneth. He was crying again, mouth forming broken words she could no longer make out.
She touched his face gently. "I'll come back, my prince. I swear it."
---
Back at the manor, the group stood around Kael's workbench as he unveiled the completed blade. It shimmered with latent energy, arcs of lightning dancing up the edges while heat radiated from its core.
"Damn," Cassian muttered. "That looks... angry."
"It's not just a weapon," Kael said. "It's a conduit. Zarek, it will respond to your will—and only yours."
Zarek took the blade and felt the charge course through his arm.
"This'll do," he said quietly. But his mind drifted to Kenneth, alone in that dungeon.
He gripped the hilt tighter.
"We're coming for you, brother. Just hold on."