Kael's hands trembled as he stared at the Eternity Core, its red veins pulsing with a rhythm that echoed in his chest. The single bulb overhead cast a harsh light across the lab, illuminating Seris's fangs as she circled him. The Chronovault's walls, lined with cracked monitors and humming machinery, seemed to close in. Outside, through a shattered window, the violet sky churned, and the distant roars of monsters pierced the silence—hulking beasts and wraiths pressing against the city's failing shield.
"You feel it, don't you?" Seris's voice was a velvet blade. "The blood in your veins—it's tied to the Core. To us." She gestured to the orb, its glow intensifying. "You chose this, Kael. The vial you broke wasn't just blood. It was the key."
Kael's mind raced back to the lab—to the crimson spill, the hum, the darkness. He gripped The Alchemy of Eternity, its pages warm under his fingers. "What did I choose?" he demanded, his voice cracking.
Seris smiled, her eyes glinting. "Immortality. Power. But every gift has a cost." She pressed a button on the console, and a holo-screen flared to life, showing a map of the city. Red blips marked breaches where monsters poured in, while green dots—human enclaves—faded one by one. "The Pulse keeps this city alive. Without it, we all fall. You're the anchor now."
A shadow stretched across the floor, red and jagged—a vampire silhouette with glowing eyes. Kael spun, but no one stood behind him. His reflection in a nearby monitor showed the same crimson flicker in his eyes. Me? His stomach churned as he realized the truth: the blood had changed him.
"Fix the Core," Seris said, handing him a tablet loaded with equations. "Or watch everything burn." She turned, her cloak billowing, leaving him alone with the orb's hum and the book's secrets.
Kael's fingers danced over the tablet, the formulas clicking into place like muscle memory. As he worked, a memory surfaced—shattered glass, a voice promising eternity, a choice made in desperation. The Core stabilized, its light steadying, but a sharp pain shot through his gums. He touched his teeth, feeling the first hint of fangs. The vampire shadow loomed larger, merging with his own.
Outside, a monstrous roar shook the walls. Kael glanced at the window—human survivors fled as a wraith breached the shield. His heart raced, not with fear, but with a hunger he couldn't name. The book whispered in his mind: The price is paid in blood.