The queen's body struck the stone floor with a wet crunch, her limbs splayed like a broken doll's. For one terrible heartbeat, silence gripped the catacombs. Then Elyssia moved.
Her claws, blackened, curved things longer than daggers, flexed with a sound like swords being drawn. The crown embedded in her skull pulsed brighter, the vines writhing like serpents as she crouched over the queen's trembling form.Mother."*
The word dripped with something that wasn't quite hatred. Something worse. *Hunger.*
Seraphine's muscles locked. Every instinct screamed to run, but the obsidian slab at her back left nowhere to go. Kaelan pressed against her side, his breathing ragged. Blood still trickled from his nose, but his grip on his sword was steady. The first daughter, the *prototype*,circled them like a vulture, its stretched smile widening. *"She fed me scraps for centuries,"* it rasped. *"Bones. Rats. The occasional screaming prisoner."* Its too-long fingers twitched toward Elyssia. *"But you... she gave you* crowns *and castles."* Elyssia's head snapped up at the words. Her eyes,Seraphine's eyes, but flooded with that same sickly green,lockked onto the prototype. The crown's vines tightened in response, thorns biting deeper.
The queen seized the distraction. With a gasp, she rolled sideways, her jeweled dagger flashing as she drove it toward Elyssia's exposed throat,Black talons caught her wrist mid-thrust. Bone snapped. The queen's scream was cut short as Elyssia lifted her effortlessly, bringing them nose to nose. "You promised me a kingdom,"* Elyssia whispered. Then she *bit.* Flesh tore. Blood fountained across the carved slab, making the runes glow crimson. The queen's legs kicked wildly, her remaining hand scrabbling at Elyssia's face,A wet *crack.* Silence. Elyssia dropped the corpse. When she turned, blood dripped from her chin onto the crown's vines. They drank it greedily, pulsing faster. The prototype clapped its hands, the sound like dry sticks breaking. *"Sister dearest,"* it crooned. *"Shall we discuss your coronation?"*
Elyssia's gaze shifted to Seraphine. Kaelan's sword came up. "Run." The prototype lunged.
Chaos erupted. Seraphine ducked as claws whistled past her ear, driving Pip's dagger upward. The blade sank into the prototype's ribs with a satisfying *thunk.* Black ichor bubbled from the wound, stinking of spoiled milk. It didn't even flinch. "Sweet little replacement,"* it whispered, grabbing her wrist. Bones ground together. *"Let me show you what you really are."* Its free hand plunged into its own chest, fingers vanishing between ribs with a wet squelch. When it withdrew them, they clutched a pulsing, greenish mass, a second, smaller crown, its thorns already twitching toward Seraphine's face. Kaelan's sword flashed. The prototype's arm fell to the floor, still gripping the horrible thing. It screeched, the sound shattering nearby bones into powder Elyssia moved. One moment she stood by the slab. The next she had the prototype pinned against the wall, her claws buried in its stomach. *"Mine,"* she hissed. The prototype laughed, black blood gushing between its teeth. *"We'll see, sister."* Then it *twisted* in her grip
And plunged its remaining hand into Elyssia's chest. The scream that followed shook dust from the ceiling. Green light erupted from Elyssia's wounds, the crown on her head thrashing like a dying animal. The prototype yanked its hand free, clutching a writhing mass of vines that shrieked in a voice that wasn't human. Seraphine didn't wait to see more. She grabbed Kaelan's arm, dragging him toward a narrow side tunnel as the catacombs collapsed behind them.
Something roared. Something worse answered. And beneath it all, the faint, mocking laughter of the first daughter followed them into the dark.