The chamber dropped into silence so thick it could suffocate.
Damian's muscles coiled like a spring, shielding Ariella with his body, his voice like ice.
"You won't touch her."
But the stranger in black wasn't deterred. His golden eyes glowed brighter beneath the low torchlight, and the faintest smile curled beneath his shadowed face.
> "Oh, Damian... Still playing protector. Just like your father. And his father before him. You know how this ends."
Damian clenched his fists, magic crackling faintly around his palms. "You don't belong here."
The stranger tilted his head. "Neither does she."
Ariella's voice cut through the tension. "I'm done being talked about like I'm not here. What do you mean I carry a key?"
The man's eyes flicked to her. Something unreadable passed across his face—respect, maybe. Or something older.
> "Not a key you hold… a key you are. Your soul was marked long before you were born. And the curse? It's not tied to him alone. It's tied to both of you."
Ariella took a step forward. "What do you mean?"
"The prophecy is not about the Blackwood heir alone," the man said slowly. "It's about the one who awakens him. You were chosen not by fate, but by design. You are the breach. The only soul pure enough to unlock the sealed power—and unleash what lies beneath this tower."
Behind them, the cracked mirror pulsed with eerie light, lines spreading like veins across its surface.
Ariella shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. I'm just a girl. I don't have powers or secrets. I didn't choose this."
"No," the man whispered. "But your blood did. Long ago."
Damian's eyes snapped to her. "Your family... What do you know about your lineage?"
Ariella blinked. "Nothing. My mother died when I was born. My father left before that. I was raised in group homes. I don't even know my real last name."
The man in black stepped forward, slowly. "Then allow me to enlighten you. Your mother... was the last of the Whitewood line."
Damian staggered back. "Whitewood?"
The stranger nodded. "The ancient house sworn to end the Blackwood curse. Your mother carried the final fragment of light. And you—" his voice dropped into reverence, "—you carry her legacy."
Ariella's chest felt like it was caving in. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because if the curse knew what you were, it would've tried to destroy you at birth. Instead, it let you grow. Unseen. Unknowing. But now..." The man raised a gloved hand toward the mirror.
It shattered.
A scream—high, ghostly, and inhuman—ripped through the chamber. From the broken glass rose a shadow, humanoid but made of smoke and blood. It hovered, faceless and vast.
Ariella clutched Damian's arm. "What is that?!"
Damian's jaw was tight. "That's the curse… unsealed."
The stranger in black stepped back, satisfaction in his voice.
> "Now the game begins."
He vanished in a blink—swallowed by shadow.
The mirror's remains ignited in violet flame, and the cursed entity screamed again, its voice splitting the air.
Ariella and Damian stood side by side, facing it.
"I'm not running," she said.
"Good," Damian growled. "Because we fight this. Together."
---