Chapter 179: The Shattered Barrier

Azriel

Hearing the name of Draca fall from Seraphel’s lips sent an ice-cold chill straight down my spine.

I instinctively tightened my arms around him, pulling his trembling frame as close to my chest as physically possible, as if my own flesh could shield him from the nightmare still echoing in his mind.

Pazuzu had not mentioned a single word about Draca stirring, let alone possessing enough power to breach a dream space.

I could not help but wonder what was truly happening, and how that monster had managed to reach past my own wards to torment my mate.

"We need to find Luceriel immediately," I muttered, my voice dark and low. "Pazuzu is the only one who can explain what is happening."

Seraphel nodded against my shoulder, but I could feel his entire body shaking violently beside me.

He kept casting frantic glances toward the shadows of the cavern, as though Draca himself might burst through the solid stone walls at any moment.

Even wrapped tightly in my embrace, the frantic, irregular pounding of his heart vibrated against my chest.

His terror was so thick it bled straight through our soul bond, making my own pulse race as I braced for an attack that had not yet come.

I let out a heavy sigh, forcing myself to stay grounded for his sake.

I climbed out of the bed first, stepping onto the cool stone floor before turning to stretch my hand back out to him. He took it without hesitation, his fingers gripping mine with desperate strength.

We quickly retrieved our discarded robes from the ground, slipping them on over our shoulders.

Once we were decent, I raised my right hand, unleashing a surge of demonic magic that tore a swirling, radiant crimson portal directly into the air.

Wrapping an arm around Seraphel’s waist, I pulled him through the glowing gateway alongside me.

The portal snapped shut behind us, opening up directly into Luceriel’s grand pavilion.

But the quiet space stood completely abandoned.

"He is not here," Seraphel said, his eyes scanning the empty hall, anxiety creeping into his voice. "Is he still with Pazuzu? Why would he not be here?"

I shook my head silently, my mind racing through the few places my brother frequented when he did not want to be found.

There was only one sanctuary where Luceriel retreated when he demanded absolute solitude.

Without another word, I raised my hand and summoned a second portal, pulling Seraphel into the tear before he could ask another question.

When the swirling red light cleared, we were standing inside a massive, glowing subterranean cavern lined with raw, luminescent emeralds.

At the center lay a still, emerald-green pool of sacred water, and suspended in midair directly above its surface floated Luceriel.

His legs were crossed in deep meditation, his eyes closed, and his unbuttoned jade silk robe hung loosely from his shoulders, exposing a broad, sculpted chest that, under normal circumstances, I would not have wanted Seraphel staring at. But my petty jealousy vanished instantly, drowned out by the sheer urgency of our arrival.

Surrounding the pool were hundreds of floating candles. With every deep inhale Luceriel took, the flames flared up into brilliant, blinding beacons. With every slow exhale, they withered down to tiny, flickering embers.

"What business do you have barging into my sanctuary and disturbing my meditation, brother?" Luceriel demanded smoothly, his voice echoing off the emerald walls without him ever opening his eyes.

"Pardon me, dear brother, for intruding upon your precious meditation," I replied, my tone laced with sharp bite, "but we have a massive problem at hand, and it involves the father of your mate."

Luceriel’s eyes snapped open, his piercing green gaze locking onto mine instantly.

The rhythmic flickering of the floating candles faltered for a fraction of a second as he slowly lowered himself through the air, his boots coming to rest silently on the stone ground right in front of us.

"What happened?" he asked.

I gave him a sharp, questioning look before answering. The Luceriel I once knew would not have cared about anyone else needing help.

He cherished our core family bond and guarded it fiercely, but anyone outside that tiny circle simply did not matter to him.

Yet the edge of concern in his tone now proved just how deeply this had struck home.

"Draca..." Seraphel whispered before I could speak, his voice trembling as he stepped forward. "He appeared in my dream."

Luceriel’s bright green eyes ignited with immediate power. He closed the distance between them in a split second, reaching out to press a single, steady finger against Seraphel’s forehead.

"He appeared to you in a dream?" Luceriel demanded. Seraphel gave a small, pale nod. Luceriel withdrew his hand, his brow furrowing deeply. "That is... he is not supposed to be able to do that."

"What does that mean, Luceriel?" I snapped, stepping up beside Seraphel.

Silence stretched through the cavern. Luceriel offered no reply, staring blankly ahead.

"Luceriel, I need to know what is going on," I barked, my patience snapping entirely. "Why did you say he is not supposed to do that? And where is Pazuzu? He should have answers as to why Draca is suddenly tormenting my mate and destroying our peace."

"I..." Luceriel stuttered, his voice catching in his throat.

Luceriel never stuttered. As his closest brother, I knew him better than anyone in this realm, and seeing him falter like this set off every alarm bell in my head.

I reached out and grabbed Luceriel by the shoulders, shaking him forcefully to break whatever trance had overtaken him. "If there is something I need to know, then tell me now, because this silence is not helping."

Luceriel slowly raised his head to meet my eyes, his glowing green irises flaring brilliantly before he whispered, "He is not supposed to appear at all, especially while he remains sealed. Unless..." He trailed off again, staring past me.

"Unless what?" I demanded, tightening my grip until my knuckles turned white. "Stop stopping mid-sentence and tell me exactly what is happening to my mate."

"Unless Draca has already been unsealed."

"Unsealed?" Seraphel gasped, his face draining of what little color it had left. "Pazuzu swore Draca was bound. There is no way he could break free from a divine seal that quickly. We do not even have enough power to stand against him right now, so how did he break it? Are we... are we all going to die?" He buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking as he lowered his head. "What is happening right now? Where is Pazuzu? We need to force answers out of him."

Luceriel let out a long, weary sigh, turning away from us to stare up through a jagged fissure in the cavern ceiling that revealed the dark night sky.

The moon hung high and cold above us, casting a pale light over Luceriel’s unnatural, heavy silence.

It was the kind of silence that all but screamed he was hiding some catastrophic secret.

"I sent him away already," Luceriel said quietly.

"You sent Pazuzu away?" Seraphel’s fear hardened instantly into sharp indignation. "He was supposed to be helping us. Why would you banish him?"

Luceriel whirled back around to face him, his eyes blazing with sudden, terrifying fury. "That demon was pushing me to the very edge of what I could endure," he yelled, his voice echoing violently off the cavern walls. "He dared to disrespect me in my own Kingdom. I had no choice but to throw him out, because I will never allow someone like him to treat me with contempt. That is why he is not here. He did not deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us."

"But we need him now," I interjected, keeping my voice dangerously low as I stepped between them. "If Draca is truly free, then we are in far graver trouble than any of us realized. Is there any way you can use your visions, Luceriel? Can you look into the future and confirm whether this is real?"

My voice carried a subtle, desperate edge, a tone I almost never used. But an ancient, god-killing demon king was hunting my mate and our unborn child, and I needed every piece of foresight my brother could offer.

Luceriel slowly lowered his head, his chest heaving. "I am afraid... I cannot do that."

"You cannot do what, Luceriel?" I asked slowly, pronouncing each word with care, as though trying to hold onto what remained of my sanity. "Why?"

"Because of this," Luceriel answered softly.

He raised his face back up toward the light, and both Seraphel and I gasped.

Twin streams of thick, pitch-black blood flowed steadily from his eyes, trailing down his pale cheeks like dark, venomous tears.

My eyes widened in pure horror as I stared at him. "Luceriel... what have you done to yourself?" I fought with everything I had not to scream. "Your eyes. You are being consumed by a divine curse—"

BOOM!

Before I could finish my sentence, a deafening explosion shattered the sky above the cavern. The night sky illuminated in a terrifying display of violent, multi-colored light.

"What was that?" Seraphel cried out, covering his ears as the ground beneath us buckled.

Luceriel did not answer with words. He rapidly traced a series of glowing, ancient symbols in the air before thrusting his palm upward, sending the glowing ward shooting out of the cavern fissure and into the atmosphere.

The moment it reached the sky, the ward shattered into ash.

"The grand barrier of Verolona has been breached," Luceriel stated, his voice hauntingly void of emotion.

"What?"

"And a massive force is descending directly upon us," Luceriel added.

The moment the words left his mouth, a second, far more catastrophic explosion ripped through the sky.

A massive shockwave tore through the realm, vibrating straight through the earth and threatening to bring the emerald cavern down around our heads.

Looking up through the shattered ceiling, a colossal meteor of roaring black flame, wrapped in violent streaks of crimson lightning, heading straight down toward us.