Chapter 5: The Lord of Misery
SERAPHINA
Blood spread across the ground—Adrian's blood.
My hands froze. My legs froze. Everyone froze.
A spear stuck through Adrian's skull. His eyes were wide, staring at nothing.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Someone screamed.
That's when everyone snapped out of it. The room exploded into chaos. Guards rushed toward me. My father ran in my direction.
No one understood how a spear had gone through Adrian's head.
"Seraphina... are you okay?"
My father grabbed me, shaking me hard.
But that's when I felt it. The air changed.
It got thick. Dark. Heavy.
No one else noticed. Everyone was running toward the doors.
But before they could reach them, the doors exploded open. The blast sent people flying, tearing them apart.
It happened so fast.
Then I heard screaming from outside.
The day went dark. Smoke filled the air—thick and choking.
And then someone walked through it.
Everyone stopped. Stared at the figure coming through the smoke.
When he stepped into the light, I couldn't breathe.
A man. Taller than anyone I'd ever seen. Big in a way that was terrifying. Hair black as night. Arms thick enough to break stone.
He wore dark armor covered in sharp thorns that looked like they could slice through skin. The armor stopped at his arms, showing tattoos that ran from his hands up to his neck.
When he looked at me, everything inside me went cold.
Red eyes with black rings splitting his pupils in two stared right at me. Not with the coldness Adrian had. This was darker. Colder. Filled with so much hate and disgust it felt like it would kill me. The same eyes from my visions. A scar ran down from his forehead, across his eye, down to his jaw.
I stepped back. Everyone stepped back, horrified.
"Draven Gravestone."
My father's voice came out shaking. Not cold and strong like usual. Terrified.
My eyes went wide.
The letters. The visions. It was all real.
"How dare you walk into my kingdom—"
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Henry. Didn't you know your time was up? Didn't you feel me coming? Didn't you hear that the Lord of Misery was on his way to make all of you my slaves?"
His voice was deep, rough, terrifying. He cut my father off completely.
His eyes moved down my body—from my legs, up my curves, back to my face.
His expression stayed cold. Empty.
This was the Lord of Misery.
"You walk into my land to kill my son-in-law. How dare you commit such an abomination. Draven, you've crossed the line."
My father's voice shook with anger. His fists clenched.
But Draven said nothing.
He just walked toward us slowly. His eyes stayed on me the entire time. The hate in them made my stomach turn.
"Don't come any closer to us. To her."
My father warned.
For a second, I wished he'd shut up.
Draven stopped walking.
My heart pounded even harder.
"Or what will you do, Alpha King Henry?"
A woman's voice said.
I hadn't noticed anyone else. My eyes snapped to her.
She was staring at me with pure hate.
"You think you can win? I have dragons—"
"Oh really? You think you still have dragons?"
A man's voice said. He looked dangerous. His eyes roamed over me in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Veythar!"
My father screamed, calling his dragon.
I said a silent prayer that Draven would at least be scared.
"Lunaris..."
I whispered my dragon's name, too quiet for anyone to hear.
But Draven heard. I saw him smirk.
Then we heard them. The dragons coming.
Their howls filled the air as they landed at the entrance.
My father's dragon, Veythar, came first. His scream was so loud it sent everyone backward. Everyone except Draven.
The dragon's wings tore through the walls as he stepped inside, staring at my father.
"You made a mistake coming here. We're not ordinary werewolves. The goddess blessed us with dragons. Today, you'll see your end, Draven Gravestone. Just like I killed your parents and destroyed your kingdom, I'll kill you and end your life with fire."
I stared at my father, shocked.
He'd killed Draven's parents?
But Draven stepped closer to us. I could feel how dark he was. How powerful. Even my father was shaking.
"I can see you trembling, Henry. I can smell your fear. You tortured me. Broke every piece of humanity in me. Why? Because I was an abomination? A hybrid?"
He whispered, turning his head to look at me. A dark smile crossed his face before he looked back at my father.
"I'll make your dear daughter pay for everything you've done. For all your sins. For everything. For all the slaves in this room. Your daughter will pay for it forever."
"Zhorath!"
My father screamed so loud it made my blood run cold.
Veythar flew up, mouth opening wide.
That's when I saw it.
Veythar wasn't aiming at Draven.
He was aiming at my father.