"There are truths that set you free.
And there are others... that set your soul on fire."
The shadows clung to them like a second skin.
Arisha walked ahead, silent, never looking back.
Baco, battered and limping, followed her — not out of duty, but as if something inside her pulled him stronger than any chains ever could.
Above them, the tunnels grew tighter.
The dim, sickly glow of the lower levels faded into pitch-black darkness.
Until finally, they emerged outside.
Something the old Arisha would never have dared.
They found shelter among the remnants of what once had been a Nevri sanctuary.
Carved into scorched stone, ancient circles of runes pulsed faintly, as if remembering their old purpose… or awaiting new blood.
When Arisha crossed the threshold, the runes ignited.
A faint white glow.
She froze.
The air thickened.
The ground seemed to hum beneath her feet.
"Why are you so afraid of what you are?"
Baco's voice did not come from his mouth.
It slid directly into her mind, soft but relentless.
Arisha clenched her fists.
She flushed slightly under the pale moonlight.
"Because I wasn't raised to be free," she muttered bitterly.
"I was raised to obey. To pretend I didn't shine."
She turned to him sharply, her gaze burning.
"I don't need you to remind me of that.
You're the last person I want near me."
She brushed dust off her worn-out clothes.
Even the ground outside looked different — a slight hint of green clinging to the earth.
Baco said nothing.
He simply lowered his gaze.
Beneath his torn shirt, the chain tattoo burned into his flesh remained visible —
not just from torture,
but from something older,
something deeper.
Arisha moved toward a darkened corner of the sanctuary.
Her fingers brushed against a stone, and a flash hit her.
A memory.
A ceremony.
The main hall of the mansion.
Vampires gathered, black candles burning.
A younger Arisha, dressed in heavy robes, forced to drink from a chalice of blood.
And… nothing.
No transformation.
No awakening.
Only silence.
She whispered the words without meaning to:
"My first initiation... failed."
She remembered it clearer now —
Varek descending the staircase, stopping everything, pulling her away.
No one knew why.
Except Mikhael…
Watching from the balcony.
A notebook in hand.
Eyes that knew everything.
Gasping, Arisha stumbled back into the present.
Baco watched her quietly.
"It wasn't a punishment," he finally said.
"It was fear. They knew what you were."
She glared at him.
But she didn't deny it.
Couldn't.
At the center of the sanctuary, a slab of black obsidian rested like a forgotten altar.
Upon it, more runes:
a six-petaled flower,
a broken circle,
a drop of blood in the middle.
Arisha approached.
Baco placed his hand beside hers — uninvited, yet unstoppable.
The symbol lit up.
White light from Arisha.
Blood-red light from Baco.
Both stumbled back.
And from deep within the sanctuary, a woman's voice whispered:
"The blood of sun and moon will awaken the Last Light…"
Arisha trembled.
Her breath came in shallow bursts.
"It can't be..."
"But it is," Baco said.
"You saw me before you met me.
I saw you too."
She couldn't argue.
She could only feel it.
The truth pulsing under her skin.
Baco stepped closer.
Close enough to feel her ragged breathing.
"Your eyes showed me the White Flower," he said softly.
"Your fire healed me."
"I… I'm nothing," she whispered.
But even as she said it, she knew she lied.
Meanwhile, back in the City of Gold...
Mikhael smoothed down his ceremonial cloak before the mirror.
"Make the announcement," he commanded.
"Let the rebirth begin. Let them all hear."
A servant bowed and rushed out.
"And Arisha?" another asked.
Mikhael's smile was venom.
"She belongs to me.
She just doesn't know it yet."
Kneeling before the obsidian stone, Arisha felt the earth tremble faintly beneath her palms.
A pulse.
Baco, beside her, placed his hand over hers.
"You didn't bring me here by accident," he said.
Arisha looked at him, pain and fury warring in her chest.
"There are things inside me that want to burn everything down," she whispered.
"You don't know me, slave."
The ground shivered.
And deep below the City Infernal...
something
awoke.
Two crimson eyes snapped open in the darkness.
Burning.
Watching.
Waiting.
Lionel had awakened.
And with him, the old war whispered by the elders began to stir again—
A war not of armies,
but of blood.
Of fate.
Of broken promises.
In the cold silence of the ruins,
Arisha and Baco stood at the edge of something greater than themselves.
Their hearts still beating...
for now.
Because in a world where even light bleeds...
only those who dare to burn can survive.