The wind howled across the frozen ridge, carrying the copper scent of blood and ozone.

  Kaelen stood hunched in the snow, bruised, exhausted, but still on his feet. His obsidian katana rested point-down beside him, steaming faintly where Ni still bled from its edge. Blood—his and the beast’s—stained the ground beneath his boots.

  Kaze watched him in silence.

  Not as a savior.

  Not as a protector.

  As a predator evaluating another predator.

  Finally, the Vampire King spoke.

  “So,” Kaze said casually, crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dusk. “Tell me, Kaelen Volkov.”

  Kaelen lifted his head.

  The boy’s face was young—only fourteen—but his eyes were anything but. They were hard. Focused. Wounded in ways no child should be.

  “What do you want?”

  Kaelen didn’t answer immediately.

  He thought of the bomb.

  Of Lyra’s voice cutting out mid-sentence.

  Of Rizen standing cold and unyielding.

  Of Purifiers.

  Of Elders.

  Of blood on stone.

  “I want revenge,” Kaelen said at last.

  The words didn’t shake.

  “I want the Purifiers wiped out,” he continued. “And I want the Elder who killed my parents to suffer before he dies.”

  For a heartbeat—

  Silence.

  Then Kaze smiled.

  Not a warm smile.

  Not a proud one.

  A predatory smile that split his face wide, revealing fangs that gleamed like polished ivory.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Hah…”

  The sound grew.

  “Hahaha…”

  Kaze threw his head back and laughed.

  It wasn’t joy.

  It wasn’t humor.

  It was the sound of something ancient hearing words it had waited centuries to hear.

  The snow around them lifted.

  Shadows bent inward.

  Blood trapped in the ice began to vibrate.

  Then—

  BOOM.

  Kaze’s Ni erupted outward.

  A tidal wave of pressure slammed into Kaelen, forcing him to one knee. The air itself screamed as blood-red sigils flared briefly across Kaze’s skin. His eyes darkened—deep crimson sinking toward black, like a star collapsing.

  For a moment, Kaelen felt it.

  The weight of a king.

  The hunger of a god.

  The wrath of a grandfather who had lost his daughter.

  Then—

  It stopped.

  Just like that.

  The Ni vanished, reined in with absolute control.

  Kaze looked down at Kaelen, expression calm once more.

  “I like your answer,” he said simply.

  Kaelen looked up, breathing hard. “Then what?”

  Kaze turned, cloak snapping in the wind, and gestured toward the distant mountains where jagged black peaks clawed at the sky.

  “I will train you,” Kaze said.

  Kaelen froze.

  “In my lands,” the Vampire King continued. “The Sanguivar Dominion. At my seat of power.”

  He glanced back over his shoulder, eyes glowing faintly.

  “Castle Noctyrr.”

  The name alone carried weight—old, feared, whispered in forgotten histories.

  “I know Orion intends to send you to the Academy in two years,” Kaze said. “You will go.”

  His gaze sharpened.

  “But you will not go weak.”

  Kaze stepped closer, looming over Kaelen.

  “I will make you ready.”

  Kaelen pushed himself to his feet, pain flaring through his body.

  “Why?” he asked. “Why me?”

  Kaze’s expression softened—just slightly.

  “Because,” he said quietly, “the day the bomb went off… my daughter called me.”

  Kaelen’s breath caught.

  “She was afraid,” Kaze continued. “But proud. She told me about you. About your lightning. Your defiance.”

  His jaw tightened.

  “I felt our bond shatter before I ever reached the city.”

  Silence stretched.

  “I arrived during the funeral,” Kaze said. “Too late to save her. Too late to rage.”

  His eyes locked onto Kaelen.

  “So I watched. I listened. I learned. And when I heard Orion had ordered you away…”

  A thin smile returned.

  “I followed.”

  Kaze turned and began walking toward the mountains.

  “Get up,” he said over his shoulder. “We’re leaving.”

  Kaelen hesitated only a second before slinging his katana across his back, tightening the straps of his twin daggers and whip. His Veil Lord attire remained folded in his pack—for later.

  “Where are we going first?” Kaelen asked.

  Kaze didn’t slow.

  “Through hell,” he replied.

  Kaelen frowned. “Meaning?”

  Kaze chuckled darkly.

  “You will fight Ni-beasts,” the Vampire King said. “Relentlessly. Every territory we cross. Every night if necessary.”

  He glanced back, eyes gleaming.

  “You want revenge? You want power?”

  The mountains seemed to lean closer.

  “Then prepare yourself, my grandson.”

  Kaze’s voice dropped to a promise.

  “Your hellish life begins now.”

  Kaelen followed.

  And for the first time since the bomb—

  He smiled.