Chapter 2753: Story 2754: The Mother of the Dead

The graves opened without a sound.

Pale hands emerged from the darkness, followed by ancient warriors wearing rusted armor. Their empty eyes burned red as they surrounded the chamber, blocking every path to the staircase.

Lyra kept her bow aimed at the woman.

“Stay away from him.”

The woman looked almost amused.

“You still believe he belongs to you?”

“He belongs to himself.”

For the first time, the woman’s smile disappeared.

“Then ask him who he is.”

Lyra turned toward Ronan.

He remained kneeling beside the coffin, his black eyes fixed on his mother. The red light beneath his ribs flickered, and his fingers trembled against the stone.

“Ronan,” Lyra whispered. “Look at me.”

He slowly turned.

“I remember your voice,” he said. “But I cannot remember why it matters.”

“Because you saved me. Because you stood beside me when everyone else ran. Because you promised you would never abandon me.”

Something moved behind his eyes.

His mother immediately pressed her palm against his forehead.

“Enough.”

Black energy burst from her fingers.

Ronan screamed as the memories vanished again.

Lyra released her arrow.

The woman caught it between two fingers.

“You have courage,” she said, snapping the shaft. “But courage cannot defeat a mother who has buried the world.”

She lifted her free hand.

The dead charged.

Lyra rolled beneath a rusted sword, drew a second arrow, and fired into the nearest warrior’s eye. Its skull exploded in red sparks. She seized its fallen blade and fought her way toward Ronan.

At the staircase, Kael and the brothers finally entered the chamber.

Elias unleashed black chains, binding several warriors together. Aren summoned silver barriers to protect Lyra, while Darian’s violet flames swept across the graves.

Cael stood motionless.

The pale woman stared at him.

“You survived.”

Cael lowered his head.

“I should have died that night.”

“You were supposed to protect the fifth child.”

“I tried.”

Her expression hardened.

“And failed.”

The chamber shook violently. The black coffin cracked, revealing a narrow opening filled with swirling darkness.

Kael raised his ancient weapon.

“Do not open that coffin!”

The woman laughed bitterly.

“You still think the coffin contains the fifth blood?”

She stepped aside.

Inside lay a small skeleton wrapped in black cloth. Its tiny hands rested upon its chest, where a familiar symbol glowed.

Darian stumbled backward.

“That’s impossible.”

“No,” Kael whispered. “That is the child she removed from history.”

Ronan stared at the skeleton.

The darkness inside him suddenly recoiled.

For one precious moment, his eyes returned to their natural color.

“Mother,” he whispered. “What did you do?”

Tears streamed down her pale face.

“I saved you.”

“From what?”

She looked toward the opening coffin.

“From your first death.”

Something enormous moved beneath the skeleton.

Then a child’s voice rose from the darkness.

“Mother, why did you leave me alone?”

The woman fell to her knees.

And every dead warrior bowed toward the coffin.