The clearing descended into chaos the moment Kael stepped forward.
The Obsidian Fang surged as one, no longer cautious, no longer waiting. Claws tore through the air, shadows stretched and twisted, and the forest seemed to recoil as violence exploded beneath its canopy.
Kael became motion.
He moved faster than sight, his body blurring as he cut through the attackers. An arrow struck a vampire through the eye before the creature could scream. Kael wrenched it free and buried it into another throat, then another. His movements were sharp and merciless, driven by a single purpose. Protect her. Protect the child.
Isolde tried to rise, but her body betrayed her. Pain wracked her from within, sharper and deeper than anything she had ever endured. She pressed both hands against her stomach as another wave hit, stealing her breath.
Inside her, the child stirred.
Not gently.
Not instinctively.
It was awareness.
Quin watched from the edge of the clearing, his expression unreadable. He did not join the fight. He did not need to. His eyes glimmered with something dangerously close to awe.
"You feel him now," Quin said calmly, his voice carrying through the noise. "The prophecy was not exaggeration. He is listening."
Kael turned sharply, rage flashing across his face.
"Shut your mouth," Kael snarled. "You've already spoken too much for a dead man."
Quin smiled, thin and unsettling.
"You still think this is about you," he replied. "This night was always about him."
The ground trembled.
At first it was subtle, like a distant thunder rolling beneath the earth. Then the trees began to shudder. Leaves rustled violently though there was no wind. The shadows recoiled from Isolde as if burned.
Isolde screamed.
Pain unlike anything she had known tore through her body, ripping through bone and blood. She collapsed to her knees, crying out as the air around her thickened, pressing down on her lungs.
Kael was at her side in an instant.
"Isolde," he said urgently, catching her before she fell. "Look at me. Stay with me."
Her eyes met his, wide and glassy.
"I'm afraid," she whispered. "Kael… I can feel it. This night is taking everything from me."
"No," he said fiercely. "It's not taking you. I won't allow it."
But even as he spoke, he felt it too.
The child's presence was no longer distant. It was vast. Heavy. Watching.
A scream tore through the clearing.
One of the Obsidian Fang suddenly convulsed, their body collapsing inward before disintegrating into ash. No blow had struck them. No magic had been cast.
Another followed.
Then another.
The vampires froze.
Panic rippled through them.
"What is this?" someone shouted.
Quin staggered back a step, his confidence cracking for the first time.
"That's not possible," he muttered. "He should not be capable of this yet."
The shadows twisted violently, then fled, retreating from Isolde as if terrified.
Isolde clutched Kael's arm with trembling fingers.
"Promise me," she begged, tears streaming down her face. "Promise me you will protect him. No matter what happens."
Kael swallowed hard.
"I swear it," he said, his voice breaking despite his strength. "By my blood. By my soul. I swear."
Her lips curved into a faint smile.
"That's all I needed."
A sudden blast of dark magic slammed into Kael's side, hurling him backward. He hit the ground hard, breath torn from his lungs. Shadows surged around him, binding his limbs, crushing him into the earth.
Quin stood over him now, his calm gone, his face twisted with fear and fury.
"You should never have let him awaken," Quin hissed. "Now everything ends."
Kael roared, straining against the shadows, but they held fast.
Behind him, Isolde collapsed.
Time slowed.
Kael saw it happen but could not reach her.
Her body glowed faintly, a soft crimson light spreading outward from her stomach. The air pulsed once, violently, and then she went still.
"Isolde!" Kael screamed.
The shadows shattered.
Kael surged forward, catching her as her head fell back. Her eyes fluttered open one last time, unfocused but peaceful.
"He's strong," she whispered. "Stronger than they fear."
Her hand slipped from his.
And she was gone.
The forest fell silent.
No wind. No movement. No sound.
Then came a cry.
Small. Fragile.
Yet powerful.
Kael froze as the crimson light faded, leaving behind a newborn child lying against Isolde's still form. The baby cried softly, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
Alive.
Kael gathered the child into his arms, his entire world collapsing and reforming in the same heartbeat.
"My son," he whispered.
The baby's eyes opened.
They were ancient.
They locked onto Kael with impossible awareness, and the forest trembled again, deeper than before.
Quin staggered back, terror flooding his face.
"No," he whispered. "This should not exist."
From beyond the clearing, a distant roar echoed through the night. More were coming. Stronger. Worse.
Kael rose slowly, clutching the child to his chest, grief hardening into something lethal.
"They will never touch you," he whispered. "I will burn the world first."
The baby stopped crying.
He stared into the darkness.
And smiled.