Chapter 12.5 - Lady of House Leonhart

The Shallow Ruins had tasted blood before, but never magic this raw, this desperate. Ancient stones, weathered by centuries of neglect, hummed with forgotten power as candlelight flickered against walls carved with symbols. The secret chamber beneath the ruins breathed with anticipation, its very air thick as honey and twice as suffocating.

Valeria's hands trembled as she approached the relic suspended in the chamber's heart. The artifact pulsed with veins of crimson that seemed to move beneath its surface, each throb sending ripples through the stagnant air. She had not touched it since that cursed day when everything she loved had been torn from her grasp.

"I haven't..." Her voice cracked like ice in spring. "I haven't touched it since..."

The box was no larger than a child's hand, yet it commanded the chamber like a throne commands a hall. Crimson veins traced patterns across its surface, pulsing with a rhythm that made the stones themselves groan in sympathy. When Valeria pressed her palm against its cold surface, the chamber filled with a sound like metal being bent past breaking.

Lyra pressed her spine against the wall, feeling the ancient stone's chill seep through her gown. "W-What's happening?"

"He knows." Tears carved paths down Valeria's cheeks. "Even after all these decades, he knows my touch."

The words that spilled from Valeria's lips next belonged to no tongue spoken in living memory. They rolled like thunder, sharp as winter wind, each syllable carved from desperation itself. "Dren'khar vel'shar, Thar'vrae zhol zhal'drok. Kor'ithul vor draesh'vok, Zhol nakar drae'shal."

The relic's surface rippled like water struck by stones. Cracks appeared, spreading like spider's silk, and through them seeped lightning the color of fresh blood. The chamber shuddered. Dust rained from above like snow in a tomb.

Then the artifact shattered.

What remained floating in the air where the box had been made, Lyra's knees buckled, and her breath caught in her throat. A heart, perfectly preserved, neither dead nor alive, covered in runes that spiraled across its surface like a language written in starlight. Each beat sent waves of force through the chamber that made the ancient stones weep.

"Lord preserve us," Lyra whispered, her hand flying to her chest. The power radiating from the floating heart felt wrong, too wild, too hungry. Like staring into a storm that could devour the world. “What manner of magic is this?”

"I don't know." Valeria reached for the heart with shaking fingers. "I've never understood these runes and markings. They were already carved into his flesh when she..." Her voice failed. "When she cut it from his chest."

The moment Valeria's skin touched the heart, red lightning exploded outward. Stones cracked. The chamber groaned like a beast in pain. Lyra threw her arms up as debris rained down, cutting her cheek, bruising her shoulder.

"Stay back!" Valeria's voice carried power now, desperate and fierce. "He fights the touch of the living. Even mine."

But Lyra could not look away. The runes on the heart moved like living things, flowing across its surface like molten silver. Each beat sent another wave of force through the chamber, and with it came whispers in a tongue of death itself that made her ears ring and her teeth ache.

"I-I can't..." Terror clawed at Lyra's throat. "Valeria, I cannot do this. That power... it fights against the very nature of life itself. There's something unnatural about it."

"My love may not have been blessed by the mortal hearts," Valeria said, cradling the heart as tears fell freely. "What they did to him was not righteous. But this..." She gazed down at the beating heart, at the runes that danced across its surface like living fire. "This is not his truth. This shows only his suffering, his pain."

Another pulse rocked the chamber. A crack split the stone slab from end to end with a sound like breaking bones.

"But those markings," Lyra forced herself forward, though every instinct screamed for her to flee. "You truly do not know their purpose?"

Valeria shook her head, her hair falling like a curtain across her face. "They were burned into his heart long before we met. He told me once they protected him from an ancient curse, kept the darkness at bay." Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Perhaps they brought him relief. Perhaps he was born with them." She looked up, fear naked in her eyes. "Or perhaps they are the curse itself."

The heart's rhythm changed, becoming stronger, more insistent. One of the runes blazed brighter than the others, and its whispers grew clearer to Valeria’s ears like a voice of her own.

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"It is time." Valeria moved toward the cracked stone slab. "Lie down, Lyra. If you still had the courage for it."

Each step toward the slab felt like walking through deep water. The heart's power pressed against Lyra's skin, trying to push her back, to keep her away from what must be done. Her legs trembled as she lay upon the cold stone, feeling its chill seep through her gown and into her bones.

"If something goes wrong..."

"Then I will have failed twice." Valeria held the heart above Lyra's chest, and in the crimson light, her tears looked like blood. "And this time, there will be no other chance for redemption."

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The stone slab felt like ice against Lyra's back, each breath a struggle as magic thick as tar pressed down from all sides. Above her, the heart pulsed with light that made her eyes water, its glow keeping time with the ancient words that flowed from Valeria's lips like honey laced with poison.

Valeria stood at the slab's head, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. The incantation spilled from her in that dead tongue, each word carrying the weight of centuries, of love lost and promises broken. The chamber resonated with her voice, the red glow from the heart's runes intensifying until shadows danced on the walls like demons at a feast.

Each syllable felt like it pulled at the very fabric of the world, bending reality like heated metal. Lyra clenched her jaw, fighting to remain still as pressure built in her chest, as if invisible hands were squeezing her heart.

The heart above began to pulse faster, its beat echoing through her bones. She felt something shift within her womb, the life there stirring in response to the forbidden ritual. It was intimate and terrifying, like feeling not just her own pulse but something other, something ancient and powerful awakening within her child.

Pain lanced through her chest, sharp as a blade. Her hands flew to her breast as the heart's rhythm intensified, each beat like a hammer blow against her ribs. But she gritted her teeth and endured. This was for him, for the child, for love that had transcended death itself.

Valeria's voice rose to a crescendo, her chant reaching heights that made the very stones sing in harmony. Light blazed from the chamber walls, the carved runes pulsing like living veins. The heart flickered violently, its glow unstable as the magic reached its breaking point.

Then, in a burst of light that turned the world white, the artifact vanished.

The ritual's force struck them both like a giant's fist. Valeria stumbled, fell to her knees, gasping as if life itself was about to leave her. As she hit the stone floor, a sharp pain lanced through her chest like a dagger finding its mark. She bit down hard on her tongue to hold back the scream, tasting copper as blood dripped from her mouth with each heavy gasp.

Lyra felt the surge of power slam into her chest, forcing her eyes shut as her body became a vessel for magic older than memory. She gasped, her breath catching as the heartbeat within her, Einar's heartbeat, merged with her own.

Searing pain tore through her chest like a brand. She bit back a scream as a dark trident rune burned itself into her skin just above her heart, the flesh blistering and healing in the same moment. The pain faded, leaving only a faint glow as the mark settled into her flesh like a mark of starlight.

It was done.

Lyra lay still, her chest rising and falling like a bellows. Every limb felt heavy as lead, but she had to know. She had to be certain.

"Is it finished?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper.

Valeria knelt on the chamber floor, pale as morning mist, tears and blood streaking her face. Pain tore through her chest as if invisible claws were shredding her from within. She gripped her chest with trembling fingers, the agony threatening to tear her apart. Through the torment that seemed to split her very soul, she could only manage a slow nod, her whole body trembling with exhaustion and suffering.

Lyra pressed a hand to her belly, feeling new power coursing through her child's veins like liquid fire. "And his memories?"

"They will come in dreams at first, fragments of a life lived long ago. Then in waking moments as he grows." Valeria met her gaze, and in her eyes was both gratitude and warning. The crushing pain in her chest began to ebb like a retreating tide, though her grip remained tight against her ribs. "When he begins to remember, when the past starts bleeding through, you must tell him everything. Help him understand what he was, what he must become again."

Her voice dropped lower. "But remember this above all, Lyra. Raise him with love. Keep him from anger, from hatred, from the darkness that devoured his first life. If he falls to that shadow..." She paused, and when she continued, her words carried the weight of prophecy. "It will not be just your family that suffers. It will be all of us."

Despite the exhaustion that weighed her down like chains, Lyra managed a smile. "I swear it. I'll give him all the love in the world and guard him from the darkness."

Valeria rose on unsteady legs and moved closer, her hand trembling as she placed it over the dark rune now marking Lyra's chest. Her touch was gentle, filled with both gratitude and grief deeper than any grave.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice breaking. "For everything. You've given me something I thought lost forever."

Lyra closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Valeria's palm against her skin. Her thoughts, heavy with fatigue, drifted toward the future. The life growing within her carried not just her hopes but the soul of a man thought dead, a love story written in blood and starlight. She had given them both a chance at redemption, but the burden was vast, and the road ahead was shrouded in shadow.

As sleep finally claimed her, Lyra knew with cold certainty that the world would come for him one day. The power stirring within her child could not remain hidden forever. The darkness that had torn Valeria and Einar apart would surely rise again, hungrier than before.

And when it did, she would be ready.