Chapter 115: The Last Secret

The battlefield had finally fallen silent.

Only smoke remained where armies had clashed.

Broken armor lay scattered among cracked stone roads, and the morning wind carried away the last wisps of black ash from the defeated nightmare creatures.

Prince Cassian Aurelius stood atop the ruined battlements overlooking the valley below.

His polished armor was dented and scratched.

His royal cloak had been torn nearly in half.

Blood—his own and his enemies’—streaked the silver plates covering his arms.

Beside him stood Lady Aurelia.

Unlike the prince, she still carried herself with graceful composure, though exhaustion showed in her weary eyes.

Neither had spoken for several minutes.

They simply watched the survivors rebuilding.

Pig soldiers dragged damaged barricades back into place.

The Marionette Corps silently collected their fallen companions.

Dark Chapel sisters walked through the battlefield, offering prayers over the dead regardless of which side they had fought for.

It had been a victory.

But victories always came with a price.

A soft vibration interrupted the silence.

Cassian froze.

His eyes dropped to the leather bracelet around his wrist.

Tiny blue runes slowly awakened beneath the worn leather.

One by one.

Until the entire bracelet glowed.

Lady Aurelia immediately noticed.

“…Cassian.”

He swallowed.

“I can see it.”

She had never seen that bracelet activate.

Not once.

Cassian slowly removed the glove from his left hand.

The bracelet continued pulsing.

Steadily.

Urgently.

“It shouldn’t be doing this.”

He stared at the old family heirloom.

“It only activates…”

“…when someone of House Aurelius calls for help.”

His expression slowly darkened.

“…or when our ancestral estate has fallen.”

⸻

Within minutes, the prince had assembled a small escort.

Only trusted soldiers.

The journey home was completed through one of Mother Sarah’s temporary portals before continuing on horseback through the outer forests.

The further they traveled…

The quieter the land became.

Fields once covered with wheat had turned black from fire.

Farmhouses had been abandoned and ransacked.

Entire villages stood empty.

Doors hung open.

Meals still rested upon tables.

No bodies remained.

Only silence.

Lady Aurelia rode beside Cassian.

“They left recently….”

Cassian nodded.

“Hopefully they made it out…”

His horse suddenly became restless.

The prince focused ahead.

Smoke.

Fresh smoke.

His stomach tightened.

“No.”

Beyond the trees…

The towers of House Aurelius appeared.

Or what remained of them.

One tower had collapsed completely.

The western wall had been blasted inward.

The great iron gates lay twisted upon the ground.

Dark stains covered the stone courtyard.

The family estate had become a battlefield.

Cassian’s voice became frighteningly calm.

“Draw your weapons.”

Every knight obeyed.

⸻

The courtyard was eerily still.

Until something moved.

A nightmare creature slithered over the broken  water fountain.

Its body resembled a wolf stitched together from dozens of different species corpses.

It sniffed the air.

Then screamed.

Instantly…

More answered.

Dozens.

They burst from broken windows.

Stable doors.

Collapsed hallways.

Cassian drew his sword.

“Team 3 Protect Aurelia!”

The first creature leapt for the kill.

It never landed.

The prince’s blade flashed once.

The nightmare was split cleanly in half.

Another charged.

Then another.

His knights formed a shield wall while Aurelia unleashed bursts of radiant magic that shattered multiple monsters into clouds of black mist.

Still…

More kept coming.

These nightmare creatures had managed to turn the front estate into their nest.

Cassian roared.

“For House Aurelius!”

The knights answered as one.

Steel crashed into claws.

The courtyard exploded into violence.

⸻

Cassian fought like a man possessed.

Every hallway.

Every staircase.

Every room.

They cleared them one by one.

The hallway where he had learned to walk…

He slashed and stomped through remnants of dead creatures.

The library where his mother had taught him to read…

He called out for the knights to team up and search for anyone alive.

The training courtyard where his father had first placed a sword in his hands…

He managed to thwart an ambush, chopping heads and claws with deadly accuracy.

Every memory he had, quickly become stained with blood.

By the time they reached the central hall…

One massive creature remained.

It towered nearly fifteen feet high.

Its body was wrapped in fragments of banners stolen from many fallen kingdoms.

Multiple arms ended in rusted weapons.

It smiled.

Too many heads on its body showed too many unnaturally sharp teeth.

Cassian didn’t hesitate.

He charged.

The creature swung a massive axe.

The prince rolled beneath it.

His sword pierced what looked like its knee.

The monster screamed.

Aurelia’s spell struck its chest.

The distraction was enough.

Cassian drove his blade upward beneath its jaw.

The sword erupted through the top of its skull.

The nightmare collapsed.

Silence returned.

⸻

Breathing heavily, Cassian slowly pulled his sword free.

Then…

A faint cough echoed somewhere deeper inside the mansion.

His heart nearly stopped.

“…hello?”

No answer.

He sprinted.

Aurelia followed.

They found survivors inside the family chapel.

His mother knelt beside a blood-soaked figure lying across the altar steps.

Lord Aurelius.

The once-proud lord looked twenty years older.

Bandages covered nearly half his body.

One arm had been splinted.

His breathing was shallow.

Yet when he saw Cassian…

He smiled.

“…You answered the call.”

Cassian dropped to one knee beside him.

“What happened?”

“Well I’d have to say…”

His father laughed weakly.

“…we lost an argument.”

Even now…

He still joked.

Lady Aurelia quietly knelt beside Lady Aurelius, embracing her.

The older woman finally allowed herself to cry.

“They came at night…”

“They already knew where everything was…”

“They searched every room.”

Cassian frowned.

“What were they looking for?”

His father’s smile disappeared.

“The last secret of House Aurelius.”

⸻

Lord Aurelius motioned weakly toward the others.

“Close the doors.”

Once they were alone…

He spoke in little more than a whisper.

“Our family has protected something for generations.”

“We never knew why.”

“Only that the once powerful Dreamseers entrusted it to us.”

Cassian looked surprised.

“The Dreamseers?”

His father nodded.

“The cult demanded that we surrender it.”

“When I refused…”

He pointed around at the ruined chapel.

“…this was their answer.”

Cassian slowly lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

Lord Aurelius shook his head.

“No.”

“You arrived in time.”

“That means they  have failed.”

He slowly removed a small bronze key hanging around his neck.

It was ancient.

Older than the estate itself.

Covered in tiny runes.

Lady Aurelia carefully accepted it.

Lord Aurelius smiled faintly.

“It doesn’t open anything here.”

He looked directly at his son.

“It opens something far older.”

Lord Aurelius coughed.

“There is a hidden crypt beneath Moira’s office.”

“Only the head of House Aurelius knows how to reach it.”

Cassian stared.

“There… is a crypt under the archives?”

His father nodded once.

“The Dreamseers built it.”

“And what waits inside…”