Chapter 8: Beneath the Ashes of Truth
The sun had barely broken over the horizon, but Ethan hadn't slept.
He sat at the edge of the estate's rooftop again, the morning fog swallowing the world below in grey silence. In his hand, the map Luca left behind fluttered in the breeze—five ancient seals, one already broken, and the second marked with a cruel countdown.
7 days.
Or now, 6.
The Second Seal would awaken in less than a week—and they had no clue where it was.
Behind him, the rooftop door creaked open. He didn't have to turn to know it was Ava.
She sat beside him without a word, her shoulder brushing his. She still looked pale from the net's burn—its silver had seared her down to the soul.
"I couldn't protect you," Ethan said quietly.
"You did," she replied. "You broke the trap. You stopped the ambush."
He shook his head. "Not before it scarred you."
Ava reached for his hand, her fingers brushing his. "There's no love without scars, Ethan."
Their marks pulsed gently in sync, warm, no longer blackened—but the connection between them still felt... fragile.
She leaned her head against his shoulder. "We need to find the historian."
He nodded.
The name haunted him since Eli mentioned it: Mathias the Keeper.
A supernatural scholar. Exiled. Hunted. Mad, some said. Brilliant, others whispered.
He was the last known person to have seen all five seals before they were hidden.
And now, he was their only hope.
---
They rode out by nightfall.
Two black bikes again, speeding through twisted mountain roads and fog-laced highways. The destination: The Ruins of Morvane Library, deep in the forgotten Blackridge Hills.
It had once been a place of learning. Now, it was a crypt.
Ava led them down a winding path until they reached a crumbling archway with clawed symbols etched into the stone. The ground smelled of wet stone and ash.
They dismounted. Ethan pulled his blade. Ava summoned two red daggers of blood-light.
Silence.
Then, a voice from the shadows:
"I wondered when you'd come."
Mathias stepped from the ruins, tall, skeletal, wrapped in a dark cloak that shifted like smoke. His eyes glowed faintly—not gold, not red, but gray, as if time itself reflected in them.
"I know who you are, Ethan son of Ulric," he said.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You knew my father?"
"I helped him bind the First Seal."
That hit hard.
Ava stepped forward. "We need to know where the Second is."
Mathias chuckled. "You mean the one beneath the blood-temple of San'Darr? The one protected by the Crimson Order? Or the one currently being excavated by your dear friend Luca and his charming cultists?"
Ethan's breath caught. "You know where it is?"
Mathias turned serious. "I did. But the location was cloaked by magic older than death. To see it again… we must unbind what's left of your father's memory."
Ethan froze.
"My father is dead."
Mathias smiled grimly. "Not completely. He left a memory anchor. In the ruins below this library. Sealed in his own blood."
---
They descended.
The air beneath the library was suffocating. Dust, bone, and echoes of voices that shouldn't exist.
They reached a sealed door—stone, carved with runes. Ethan's hand brushed it, and his soul-mark flared.
The door shuddered, then opened.
Inside: a chamber of memories. Swirling mist, trapped images—his father, Ulric, speaking into the void.
"Whoever opens this… know the seals are not just prisons. They are promises. To break them is to invite the storm."
The memory flared brighter.
"The Second Seal lies beneath the Temple of Red Water. Only one bloodline can enter… and survive."
The vision vanished.
Ethan dropped to one knee, sweating. His father's voice still echoed in his mind.
Ava steadied him. "What did he mean?"
Ethan stood. "I think I'm the key. I think… Luca can't break the second seal without me."
Mathias nodded. "Then you are more important than you know. And more hunted than ever."
---
They left the chamber in silence.
But they weren't alone.
As they emerged back into the ruins above—
The ambush began.
Three cloaked figures leapt from the rafters. Fire and silver flashed.
Ethan spun, blade out. Ava vanished in mist.
Mathias shouted a warning, but it was too late—one of the attackers stabbed Ava through the side.
"AVA!"
Ethan roared. His blade pulsed with gold light. He moved like fury, slicing through two attackers in a blur.
The third pulled off their hood—a female vampire, eyes blood-red.
"You should've died with the old king," she hissed. "You're a mistake. An abomination."
Ethan's eyes turned gold.
He raised his palm.
Power exploded outward like a wave of lightning. The enemy flew back into stone walls, bones snapping.
Silence returned.
Ava coughed, blood on her lips. Ethan rushed to her side.
She smiled weakly. "You're glowing again."
"Don't joke right now," he said, cradling her. "Don't you dare joke."
Mathias stood over them. "Her wound is cursed. Only ancient blood can heal it."
Ethan looked up. "Mine?"
Mathias nodded. "But the price will be… binding."
---
Later that night, in a stone chamber below the ruins, Ethan knelt beside Ava.
He opened his palm. "I don't care about the price."
He placed his bleeding hand on her wound.
Magic flared—gold and crimson. Her body arched. The mark between them blazed hotter than ever before.
And in that moment, they saw each other's hearts.
Not thoughts.
Hearts.
Pain. Fear. Hope. Love. Destiny.
When it ended, Ava collapsed against him, tears streaming silently down her face.
"I saw your soul," she whispered.
"And I saw yours."
They didn't kiss this time.
They just held each other—two broken creatures caught in a war they didn't ask for, but now had no choice but to lead.
---
As dawn broke, Mathias handed them a new map—one that revealed the hidden path to the Second Seal beneath the blood-temple.
"You'll have five days to stop it from awakening," he said. "Or the world shifts forever."
"And if we fail?" Ethan asked.
Mathias turned away. "Then not even the dead will rest."