The temple was silent, heavy with the scent of burnt incense and dried blood. The air hung thick with an otherworldly tension, as though the world itself held its breath. Outside, the night sky was slowly bleeding red, the Third Blood Moon had risen.

Darius stood in the center of the cracked floor, Selene’s body laid carefully upon the stone altar before him. Her hair, tangled with blood and ash, fanned across the surface like a dark halo. The faintest glimmer of moonlight brushed her cheek, ...