The Devil's Son and His Fated Bride
Chapter 159: One chance.

Chapter 159: One chance.

Coran didn’t blink. His earlier lie had landed smoothly, he assumed, and now he wove another without flinching.

"Master Agara and His Highness rode out toward Jaigara’s borders," he said. "After your last visit with monsters, when the goblins attacked, he wanted to ensure the sorcerers hadn’t returned."

Half a truth, polished and wrapped in just enough logic to sound convincing.

Ren nodded, her gaze flicking toward Arkilla, whose eyes hadn’t left Coran since the first word.

"Thank you, Beta Coran," Ren said softly. But a pulse of suspicion began to beat in her chest.

Ren shot a sharp glare at the gossiping girls before turning away with a low sigh. "Rude," she muttered beneath her breath, already walking off. She couldn’t stay there a moment longer.

Once they were out of earshot, her eyes swept the corridors warily. "They’re lying to us," she said, voice low and certain.

"I know," Arkilla replied grimly. "And there’s no way to prove it. Not yet."

Back in their chambers, Ren waited. And waited. The minutes crawled. The uneaten fruits on her plate grew weathered, but she couldn’t summon an appetite, not with every tick of time hollowing out her chest. Arkilla eventually dragged her to the dining hall, insisting she eat something.

But the room was stifling. The clatter of silverware grated against her nerves. Laughter sounded forced. The air was too still, too false.

Aunt Eve tried to lift the mood, weaving cheerful stories and pleasantries. But Ren barely heard a word. Her eyes stayed fixed on the two empty seats. Her gut churned. Something’s wrong. This isn’t just a delay...

They had just stepped out of the hall when the world shifted.

A sudden rush of wind. A shiver of magic. Cold, a freezing cold.

A portal tore open before them, crackling with violet light. Master Agara stumbled through, barely managing to hold Rail upright. Blood soaked the young man’s tunic, pouring in dark rivulets from his side. His legs buckled.

Then another figure stepped through.

Kai.

But it wasn’t him that stopped Ren’s breath.

It was what he carried.

Gloria. Unconscious. Limp in his arms. Her skin was ghost pale, her red hair darkened with rain and blood.

Ren’s heart stuttered. The hallway tilted. Her blood turned to ice.

No...

~*~

Six hours ago...

The Ice Land groaned beneath the weight of a merciless storm. The wind howled like a beast in pain, hurling ice shards sharp enough to flay flesh from bone. Even the vampires, creatures bred for darkness, retreated into crumbling fortresses and behind cracked stone walls, shielding themselves from the sky’s fury.

Gloria pulled her collar tighter around her throat, teeth chattering. Fear clung to her like frost. She wasn’t here just for her queen. She was here for Kamin. Because she owed that wolf her life, and Dave’s. If Kamin hadn’t stepped between her and that Fae vampire, she and the boy would be corpses by now, long rotten in graves.

"How long must we stay out here?" Rail barked, his voice cutting through the wind. "It’s too damn cold for Gloria!"

Without a word, Azrael strode toward them. His expression was unreadable. His steps were accurate, as though this storm was invisible to him.

Before anyone could protest, he swept Gloria off her feet and into his arms.

"You should worry about yourself," he muttered, and then, with a sudden flash, vanished into the swirling snowstorm.

Rail cursed, already sprinting to catch up. "I swear I’ll rip that arrogant bastard’s head off!" Now he understood why Agara hated him so much, Azrael was insufferable, infuriating, and selfish to the bone.

Moments later, they all materialized inside the enemy’s castle.

And then the sky changed.

A golden blaze cracked through the storm. Clouds spiraled away, the wind stilled, and light rained down, summoned by the one who bore the name Sunkiath, just like the sun summoned by the golden dragon of old. His power split the heavens open.

Below, the vampires poured out, blinking against the radiance. Curious. Intrigued. Unaware. A light couldn’t burn them, why not take a look?

And then death struck.

Kai, Rail, and Agara surged from the shadows, a storm of steel and fire. They moved like ghosts, too fast to follow, too ruthless to stop. Blades flashed. Heads fell. Vampiric shrieks tore through the night as bodies burst into ash and flame.

Blood painted the ice in crimson streaks.

Gloria slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her scream. Her legs were rooted to the ground.

Then her eyes were drawn upward. And she couldn’t look away.

That was a dragon.

The dragon– Sunkiath.

The beast that could turn an entire Kingdome just a pile of ash. Like they never existed.

The great beast her queen had once touched with her bare hands.

Oh, dear gods.

Gloria’s breath caught in her throat. She had only ever heard its roars echo through Thegara’s skies, felt the ground quake beneath its fury, and the searing heat of its fire from miles away. But now, now she saw it. His towering figure, so terrifyingly Majestic.

Its golden scales shimmered like sunlight on steel. She watched as its massive throat swelled, and in the next heartbeat, fire erupted from its jaws, blanketing the battlefield in molten brilliance. Heat rushed over her, chasing away the cold. The scent of sulfur curled in the air like smoke from a sacred altar.

Azrael’s grip seized her arm. "No time. Move, we can’t lose this chance."

From a distance, Rail caught the motion—Azrael’s hand on Gloria—and hesitation flared in his eyes. He faltered for half a second.

It was enough.

A mutated vampire burst from the shadows, its claws raking across his chest. Flesh tore. Blood spilled.

Rail gasped, and stumbled back, the pain stealing the strength from his legs.

"Gloria..." he choked, her name a plea in the storm. Panic twisted in his gut.

He didn’t trust Azrael, not with her.

Not with anything.

Agara came to his aid, his sword tearing through that dead stench flesh. He shook his head at the wound, "Too deep. It won’t heal with my light power. Take this potion and we must wait, can you hang on?"

Rail nodded, drinking the potion quickly, "I’ll go for Gloria. Azrael is harsh to her."

Agara cursed under his breath, "Go, I’ll cover you."

Vampires were swarming from every angle like poisonous wasps surrounding them.

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