Third Point of view
Mira stepped into the chamber like a vision pulled from his nightmares—beautiful, venomous, and absolutely real.
"Alive?" Ravyn choked, staggering backward, the magical glow around her abdomen still pulsing from their bond.
Sebastian grabbed a sword from the wall without a word, his body on fire with rage. "I saw you die."
Mira smiled, slow and cruel. Her eyes shimmered like amethyst flames. "You saw what I let you see."
Serena stood in the shattered doorway, frozen. Her blade was still wet from the door's hinges. "You... you used the sigil. You activated the curse fully."
"Yes," Mira said, brushing a finger over one of the glowing symbols on the stone wall. "And now the seal is complete. My prince has fed… and I have returned."
Sebastian's chest tightened. "What do you mean, fed?"
She turned her gaze to Ravyn.
The witch stumbled back as if she was slapped. "No—"
"Ravyn is now your anchor," Mira said, her tone was almost bored. "But you didn't break the curse. You fulfilled it. Bound your soul to a priestess, impregnated her under the sigil's light. The demon is growing stronger inside you."
"No," Sebastian growled. "You lie."
Mira blinked slowly. "Then explain the tremors in your magic. The shift in your heartbeat. You thought you were saving yourself? Fool. You're becoming him."
The room went still. Serena stepped forward. "What do you want, Mira?"
"To take back what's mine."
Her eyes slid to Ravyn's exposed body, still glowing with the aftershock of power.
"She doesn't deserve you," Mira said. "None of them do."
Ravyn snarled. "You abandoned him. Cursed him. You tried to kill us all."
Mira only smiled. "Love is war. And I always win mine."
Without warning, a shockwave erupted from her palms.
Ravyn was thrown across the room, slamming into the far wall with a gasp. Serena charged instantly, her blade aiming for Mira's throat.
But Mira was faster.
She raised a single hand, and Serena's sword froze in midair—then turned in her grip.
The steel now pointed at her chest.
"Drop it," Mira whispered.
Serena obeyed, teeth clenched.
Sebastian lunged with a snarl, his blade slicing through the air, but Mira flicked her wrist, sending a barrier of raw magic into his chest. He crashed to the floor beside Ravyn.
She stood over them both like a goddess forged from spite and ruin.
"I'll give you a choice," Mira said softly, her voice curling like smoke. "Kill the witch. Kill her now—and I will restore balance to your curse. Or I'll kill Serena, and you can watch your harem rot around you."
Sebastian looked from Ravyn—writhing, dazed, bleeding—to Serena, who stood with silent fury on her face.
His breath was caught.
The hunger—the demon— wa stirred.
It didn't care who died. It only cared for desire. For chaos. For submission.
He gritted his teeth. "You were my queen, Mira. You were everything. But now..."
He stood.
"No throne is worth kneeling to a snake."
Mira's eyes darkened.
"You choose her?" she spat. "A priestess with a trembling womb and no spine?"
Ravyn pulled herself up. Blood stained her lip, but her voice was steady. "Better a priestess with strength than a queen with rot in her soul."
Mira screamed.
And the room shattered.
---
Elsewhere in the palace…
Lyra awoke again—this time to screaming wind and cracking walls.
She stumbled out of bed, vision blurry, only to see the sky bleeding red through the windows.
"She's back," she whispered.
Then the mark on her chest—the same cursed sigil Sebastian bore—ignited.
She screamed.
---
Back in the throne chamber…
Ravyn and Serena stood side by side, backs pressed together as Mira's dark fire spiraled around them. Sebastian fought to hold the barrier with sheer will alone, but it cracked under Mira's assault.
"You wanted war," he hissed, "then let's finish it."
He dropped the sword.
And summoned the curse.
The tattoos across his chest blazed.
Power erupted from his body like lightning.
But the demon inside laughed.
"That's it. Let me out."
Sebastian's scream tore through the chamber.
And in the shadows—just beyond the sigil—another figure stepped forward.
A woman, wrapped in blue flame.
Tall. Pale. Eyes silver as ice.
Lyra.
"I told you," she said, raising her sword, her body glowing with divine fire. "If you turned… I'd end you."
Sebastian turned toward her—
And his pupils were no longer human.
Lyra didn't flinch as Sebastian turned, his form flickering between man and beast. The sigil burned crimson across his chest, pulsing in rhythm with something darker—something ancient.
Ravyn gasped, sensing it too. "It's taking him."
"No," Serena growled, her blade shaking in her hand. "We're not losing him now."
But Lyra had already stepped between them, her sword raised high and glowing with divine runes.
"Sebastian," she called, her voice echoing unnaturally through the throne room. "Don't make me kill you."
His lips curled into a half-snarl, half-smile. "Then don't hesitate."
Darkness poured from his back like wings made of shadow. His skin shimmered, shifting, warping into something inhuman. Mira laughed in delight, watching the demon awaken.
"You see? He was always mine. Always meant for destruction."
But Lyra didn't back down. She walked forward until the tip of her blade touched his heart. It sizzled against the curse mark.
"You remember what you told me once?" she whispered. "That if I ever became your enemy, it would be because you lost yourself?"
Sebastian's eyes flickered. Gold clashed with red. "Lyra..."
Her free hand touched his face. "Then fight it. Or I'll burn the demon out of you, even if it means your death."
Behind her, Ravyn and Serena moved in unison, forming a triangle around him, their powers glowing faint but fierce. Their bond was all that kept the throne room from collapsing into pure chaos.
Then Mira screamed, "ENOUGH!"
She hurled a bolt of obsidian fire at Lyra's back.
But it never landed.
Something intercepted it—a roar split the throne room apart.
A massive, spectral wolf leapt from the shadows, devouring the flame midair.
Everyone froze.
From the smoke, another woman stepped out. Tall, with storm-gray eyes and hair like silver threads, dressed in priestess robes blackened by war.
"Who—?" Mira hissed.
The woman smiled. "His fourth."
Sebastian blinked. "Astra…"
The final member of the prophecy had arrived.
Mira's face contorted with rage. "No. No, this wasn't supposed to happen. She died."
"Like you did?" Astra answered coldly. "I came back for him."
Suddenly, the sigil above the throne blazed, reacting to all four women standing in unison.
Ravyn, Serena, Lyra, and Astra.
Sebastian clutched his head. The demon inside screamed as divine energy from each woman's bond surged through him.
And then—
His body exploded into black fire.
They all screamed his name.
But it was too late.
Only ash remained.
And a whisper.
"Set me free…"
---