Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

The staircase was cramped.

That was the first thing Kael noticed after descending a few more steps. It was not a passage made for processions, kings, or pretty rituals. It was practical. Ancient. Uncomfortable. The walls scraped against the shoulders if someone walked carelessly, and the ceiling grew low in some places.

"Whoever built this hated tall people," Kael muttered.

Behind him, Sylphie answered:

"Or did not expect visitors."

"That is also a less personal possibility."

Liza came right behind Sylphie. Violet had insisted on staying before her, but the queen refused with a look. In the end, Violet stayed glued to her side, sword already in hand. Irelia and Amelia came a little farther behind, carefully. Umbra did not use the stairs properly. She simply appeared a few steps below, then above, then beside the wall, as if testing every shadow at the same time.

Kael glanced sideways at her.

"Can you stop doing that for five seconds?"

"No."

"That was a rhetorical question."

"So was my answer."

Amelia spoke quietly:

"That is irritating, but useful."

"I know," Kael said. "That is the worst part."

The air grew colder as they descended. It was not winter cold. It was the cold of a place sealed for a long time, mixed with the smell of old iron. Dried blood. Wet stone. Old mana accumulated over time.

Liza ran her hand along the wall.

"This is not modern vampiric construction."

Violet looked at the stone.

"Nor is it older than the capital?"

"It is," Liza said. "But it should not be here."

Kael continued descending.

"I am starting to think there are many things in this kingdom that should not be here."

Liza did not answer.

After a few more meters, the staircase ended in a straight corridor. There were old torches on the walls, unlit, but all of them were clean. There was no dust. No web. No sign of normal abandonment.

Irelia crouched near the floor and ran two fingers over the stone.

"This was used recently."

Violet frowned.

"By whom? This wing was sealed."

Umbra looked at the wall.

"By shadows. By people without leaving bodies. By people who borrow other people’s shadows."

Kael sighed.

"Could you say that in a less unpleasant way?"

"I could."

"Will you?"

"No."

Sylphie touched Kael’s arm.

"There is something at the end of the corridor."

He nodded. He had felt it too. It was not a living presence. Nor was it an ordinary undead. It was as if the entire passage led to a place where things had been repeated so many times that they remained there out of habit.

At the end of the corridor, there was a large door of dark stone. It had no handle. Only a symbol in the center: the cup, the faceless figure, and lines around it, like an oath written in a circle.

Liza approached first, but Kael placed his arm in front of her.

She looked at him.

"Again?"

"Yes."

"This is my palace."

"We have already talked about this."

"You are irritating."

"I have been told that about six times today. It has lost impact."

Amelia approached the inscription, keeping her distance.

"Can you read it?"

Liza looked carefully.

"Part of it." She remained silent for a few seconds. "The crown drinks from the first blood. The first blood drinks from the crown."

Irelia grimaced.

"That does not sound healthy."

"No," Amelia said. "It sounds like a contract."

Kael looked at Umbra.

"Open it?"

"I can try."

"Without waking anything large."

Umbra looked at the door.

"That is far too specific."

"You understood."

She knelt and touched the shadow beneath the door. The shadow moved, retreating. For the first time since they had arrived there, Umbra seemed genuinely displeased.

"It does not like me."

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"That is new?"

"Yes."

Sylphie placed her hand on the stone beside the door. A few small leaves appeared in the air and died right after.

"It is not just shadow. There is blood memory holding this closed."

Liza extended her hand.

"Then my blood can open it."

Kael caught her wrist before she could cut her finger.

"No."

She looked at his hand.

"Let go."

"No."

"Kael."

"This place just showed us a door upstairs that did not recognize your blood. Now there is a larger door with a cup drawn on it, and you want to give it blood?"

Liza went quiet.

Violet said, without looking at the queen:

"He is right."

Liza closed her eyes for a second.

"I hate that he is right."

Sylphie murmured:

"Welcome."

Kael almost smiled.

Amelia observed the door.

"If it needs blood and we will not give blood, maybe the option is to force the wrong memory."

"Explain," Liza said.

"This thing seems to be expecting a ritual. Royal blood, perhaps a phrase, perhaps submission. If it wants confirmation of authority, we can give it a lie. A simulation."

Kael looked at her.

"You are suggesting we trick an ancient blood door?"

"Yes."

"I like it."

Irelia took a deep breath.

"Of course you do."

Umbra placed her hand on the door’s shadow again.

"I can pull the echo. But someone needs to hold it when it reacts."

Kael stepped forward.

"I will hold it."

Sylphie advanced too.

"So will I."

"Stay behind."

"No."

"Sylphie."

"Do not start. You know you will need me if this tries to bite someone’s soul."

Kael went silent.

Liza looked between the two of them.

"Does she always answer like that?"

Kael said:

"More and more."

Sylphie smiled.

"A hundred years of practice."

Umbra pulled the shadow.

The door trembled.

It was not a strong tremor. It was small. The movement of something old waking up irritated. The inscription in the center glowed dark red, and the voice came low, spread throughout the corridor.

"Name."

Kael looked at the door.

"No."

The voice repeated:

"Name."

Amelia murmured:

"It wants identification."

Kael answered louder:

"You first."

The door fell silent.

Irelia looked at him.

"Did you just argue with a door?"

"It worked. It stopped."

Then the door opened.

Kael blinked.

"I did not expect it to work that much."

Liza looked at him with a dry expression.

"You are absurd."

"That has also lost impact."

The passage revealed a circular room. It was not enormous, but it was deep. The ceiling was low, supported by thick columns. In the center stood a stone basin, dry. Around it, names were engraved into the floor. Many names. Some recognizable. Others erased.

Liza entered slowly.

Her posture changed at once.

Violet noticed and moved closer.

"Your Majesty?"

Liza did not answer immediately. She was looking at the names.

"Kings. Consorts. Heirs." She crouched near one inscription. "This name was removed from public records."

Amelia approached carefully.

"Why?"

"I do not know."

Kael looked at the basin.

"Maybe because it was part of something no one wanted to admit."

Umbra stood at the entrance, looking at the corners of the room.

"We are not alone."

Violet raised her sword.

Sylphie closed her fingers, and green light appeared around her hands.

Kael did not draw a sword. He had not brought one. For an instant, that annoyed him.

"I should have brought a weapon."

Irelia looked at him.

"You are the weapon."

"That is beautiful, but not very practical."

Amelia, behind Irelia, answered:

"It is quite practical in most cases."

Kael accepted the point.

Liza stood and went to the basin. At the bottom, there was another sentence. She read slowly.

"The king does not command the first blood. The king guards the mouth through which it speaks."

No one said anything for a few seconds.

Irelia was the first.

"That changes quite a lot."

Liza clenched her jaw.

"That is a lie."

Kael looked at her.

"Could be."

She turned her face to him.

"You do not believe that."

"I do not know enough to believe anything. But this place exists. The door exists. The tapestry exists. The seal exists. So something happened."

Liza went quiet, but she did not like it.

She touched the edge of the basin.

Kael noticed too late the cut opening on her finger. It was not a deep cut. It seemed more like the stone scratching the skin.

A drop fell.

Kael grabbed her wrist and pulled.

"Liza."

"I did not do it on purpose."

The drop struck the dry bottom.

The basin answered.

A red shadow began to rise, like thick water. The smell of old blood grew stronger. The inscriptions on the floor lit one by one.

Umbra smiled without joy.

"Now it liked her."

Sylphie held Liza by the other arm and pulled the queen away from the basin.

"Do not listen."

Liza looked at her.

"I have not even heard anything yet."

"You will."

The shadow inside the basin formed a face with no defined features. It had no eyes, mouth, or nose. Even so, it seemed to look at everyone.

The voice came low.

"Crown."

Liza went tense.

Kael took a step forward.

"Wrong."

The face turned toward him.

"Foreigner."

"That is already my second title here. You people need to organize yourselves."

The shadow moved.

From the walls, dark figures began to emerge, thin, with red lines on their bodies. They had the shape of vampires, but no faces. Some held swords. Others simply had claws.

Violet advanced immediately.

Kael raised his hand.

"Wait."

"They are going to attack."

"I know. I just wanted to confirm we could not talk."

The first figure ran.

Kael used the new technique.

It was not perfect. His body complained, his ankle gave a very clear warning, and the air cracked. But he moved fast enough for the shadow to miss the blow. He appeared beside it and landed a punch wrapped in scarlet mana.

The creature came apart.

Kael looked at Liza.

"Better?"

She observed the cracked floor.

"A little."

"A little?"

"You almost fell."

"I did not fall."

"Barely."

"You people choose horrible moments to give lessons."

Sylphie raised green roots from the floor. They were not as strong as they would be in a forest, but they served. They trapped two shadows long enough for Violet to cut one and Umbra to pass through the other as if tearing cloth.

Irelia pulled Amelia close to a column.

"Stay behind me."

Amelia took a small crystal from her sleeve.

"I am not defenseless."

"I know. But stay behind me anyway."

"That is cute."

"This is not the moment."

"I know."

A smaller shadow appeared behind them. Amelia activated the crystal. A short barrier pushed the creature back, and Irelia used the opening to drive the dagger into the red seal glowing on its chest. It did not kill it at first, but it locked it down. Umbra finished the job.

Kael advanced toward the basin.

"If we break the source, do they stop?"

Umbra answered while tearing an arm off a shadow:

"Maybe."

"That maybe is terrible."

"It is what we have."

Kael approached the basin and struck the edge. The stone cracked, but the red shadow rose and grabbed his arm. The sensation was bad. Not ordinary pain. Memory entering without asking.

He saw people kneeling. Saw cups being raised. Saw an ancient king bleeding over the basin. Saw a faceless figure receiving the blood and returning words that seemed like laws.

Obey.

Hunt.

Be hungry.

Command.

Kael closed his hand.

"No."

The shadow tried to climb up his arm.

Sylphie noticed and ran to him.

"Kael!"

"I am fine."

"You always say that when you are not."

"Right now I am medium."

She placed her hand on his shoulder and pushed natural mana against the shadow. Umbra appeared on the other side and plunged her hand into the red shadow itself.

"Hold it."

Kael held it.

Liza looked at the basin, pale with rage. Not fear. Rage.

"This used my family."

The voice from the basin answered:

"Family is blood. Blood is path."

Liza took a step.

Violet held her arm.

"Your Majesty."

Liza did not try to break free. But she spoke to the basin.

"You are not my ancestor."

The shadow trembled.

"Crown."

"No."

"Hunger."

"Mine."

"Blood."

"My people."

Kael looked at her, still holding the shadow on his arm.

"Good. Keep going."

Liza took a deep breath.

"You are not the crown. You are an old parasite hidden beneath stone."

The basin reacted badly.

All the shadows screamed at the same time.

"It worked," Kael said.

Amelia shouted from the column:

"Define worked!"

"It hated hearing that."

"That is not a sufficient metric."

Irelia cut another shadow.

"For Kael, it is."

Sylphie tightened her hand on his shoulder.

"We are going to break this together."

Kael looked at her.

"Can you hold it?"

"I can. But quickly."

Umbra looked at the basin.

"I pull the shadow. Sylphie holds the memory. You break the stone."

"And Liza?"

Liza took Violet’s sword.

Violet seemed to want to protest, but did not dare.

"I cut the bond with my blood."

Kael stared at the queen for a second.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Honest."

"But I will do it."

"Then on three."

Umbra plunged both hands into the basin’s shadow. Sylphie placed her hands on the cracked edge, and green leaves appeared between the red inscriptions. Liza cut her own palm and let the blood run onto the blade, but did not let it fall into the source. She held firm.

Kael pulled his trapped arm.

"One."

The shadows advanced.

Violet intercepted two.

Irelia protected Amelia from another.

"Two."

The basin began to speak again, now with too many voices.

"Daughter. Queen. Mouth. Hunger."

Liza closed her eyes.

"Three."

Umbra pulled.

Sylphie held.

Liza cut the air before the basin, and the blood on the blade became a clean red line, separating the source from her.

Kael struck.

The stone broke.

It did not explode beautifully. It did not make a grand sound. It only cracked with a dry snap, split in half, and spilled the red shadow onto the floor. The substance tried to crawl back to the inscriptions, but Sylphie’s leaves pinned it, and Umbra pulled it into her own shadow as if sweeping dirt under a rug.

Kael looked at her.

"Did you just store that?"

"Yes."

"Is that safe?"

"No."

"Seriously?"

"Safer with me than loose."

He accepted that because he had no time to argue.

The figures on the walls came apart one by one. Some still tried to attack, but lost shape in the middle of the movement and turned into dark dust on the floor. The glow of the inscriptions slowly went out.

Silence returned.

This time, it was just silence.

Kael took a deep breath and looked at his arm. There was a red mark climbing up to his elbow, thin like drawn veins.

Sylphie saw it.

"Kael."

"I know."

"It stayed in you."

"I noticed."

Liza approached and looked at the mark. Her expression was hard.

"It is the same pattern as the seal."

Amelia came out from behind the column, already reaching for the notebook again.

"Do not touch it."

Kael looked at her.

"You talk to me as if I were going to poke it."

"You were."

"Maybe."

Irelia put away the dagger.

"We leave here now."

Violet agreed immediately.

"Yes."

Liza looked around the chamber. The basin was split. The inscriptions were dark. But no one there believed the problem was over.

"This was only one part," she said.

Umbra nodded.

"It was a mouth."

Kael looked at her.

"And where is the rest?"

Umbra looked at her own shadow, where she had stored the thing.

"Far. Deep. Spread out."

Sylphie breathed slowly.

"Then their hunger was shaped by this."

"Part of it," Kael said. "Not all of it."

Liza looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"Because if it were all of it, breaking this basin would have changed the entire kingdom right now. It did not. So this was a rotten root. Not the whole tree."

Sylphie glanced sideways at him.

"Good metaphor."

"Living with you has side effects."

She smiled, but she was worried.

Liza returned the sword to Violet.

"Seal this wing. No one enters without my order."

Violet nodded.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Kael started climbing, but stumbled on the first step.

Sylphie caught his arm.

"You said you were fine."

"I said medium."

"And now?"

Kael looked at the mark on his arm.

"Now I am irritated."

Amelia wrote it down.

"Clinical state: irritated."

Kael looked at her.

"Do not start."

Irelia passed by him.

"She is right. Irritated is better than dead."

Liza climbed right behind, still quiet. Kael noticed she was trying not to look at the walls.

"Liza."

She stopped.

"This does not prove your entire lineage was false."

"No?"

"No. It proves someone lied to it for a very long time."

The queen was silent.

Then she nodded once.

"I know."

She did not seem to know yet. Not truly.

But it was a start.

They climbed back to the palace in silence. This time, no one joked about the cramped staircase. Even Kael saved the complaints for later.

When they reached the upper corridor, the red light of the runes seemed too strong. Too normal.

Miren had already been taken away. Guards waited for orders. Violet began organizing the isolation of the wing without Liza needing to say much.

Kael leaned against the wall and breathed.

Sylphie held his marked arm.

"We are calling Eleonor."

"And Elion," Amelia said.

Irelia added:

"And maybe Yggdrasil."

Kael closed his eyes.

"She is going to scream."

Umbra appeared beside him.

"Probably."

Liza looked at the mark on Kael’s arm.

"And if it spreads?"

Kael opened his eyes.

"Then we cut it before it does."

Sylphie tightened her grip on his arm.

"Not alone."

He looked at her.

"I know."

"Say it like you believe it."

Kael sighed.

"Not alone."

She nodded.

Amelia was already preparing the communication crystal.

Irelia watched the corridors.

Liza gave low orders to Violet.

Umbra stared at her own shadow, as if the thing stored there were trying to speak.

And Kael, leaning against the wall of the Palace of Black Blood, looked at the red mark on his arm and thought that perhaps it would have been better to stay training in the courtyard.

At least there, the floor only cracked.