**The Cost of Blood and Fire**
Hidden beneath the floorboards of the cursed estate, the air thick with mildew and silence, three children sat huddled around a flickering candle. The faint light cast dancing shadows across their scarred faces—children in shape, but not in soul. They had shed innocence like dead skin.
Aelina traced a sigil in the dirt, her voice quiet, steady, almost gentle.
"She walks into the Black Room at the same time every night. Alone."
Nyra tilted her head, blonde hair spilling over her strange, luminous eyes, and smiled faintly.
"She never sees us. But I see her. Always."
Kael sat across from them, gripping a rusted blade, his knuckles white, his voice laced with an old, seething hatred.
"She'll scream," he muttered. "And I'll smile. I want to see her beg. I want to watch her burn. Slowly."
Aelina didn't laugh. She never did. Instead, she turned toward the pile of rats in the corner—vermin that had slithered too close, unaware they'd walked into hell.
She picked them off one by one. Tiny necks twisted between her fingers like paper. Bones snapped. Eyes bulged. She whispered soft apologies, like lullabies, as she tossed the broken bodies into a growing pile.
"There now," she murmured, placing one atop the heap. "Hush."
Kael didn't look away. He had seen her do worse.
Nyra, sitting in the dim circle of candlelight, pressed a finger into the carved lines of the ritual.
"It's almost ready."
"She deserves to die a thousand times," Kael growled. "But once will be enough… if it's slow."
And finally, Aelina—the youngest, the one the Shadowmother feared the least—whispered,
"She won't see morning."
The candle burned low.
The silence sealed the vow.
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### **Three Years Later**
The mansion had changed—or perhaps it was the children who no longer saw it the same. The red walls no longer breathed. The cries from the cells no longer stirred them. They had become creatures of silence, born in darkness, forged in cruelty.
Nyra sat cross-legged, the Book of Shadows resting open in her lap, its pages smeared with ink, blood, and bone. Aelina stood near the cauldron, stirring a cruel brew made from the ashes of the dead, the blood of the damned, and the breath of a dying thing. Her eyes never blinked.
The corner of the room still held a mound of skeletal rats, untouched for years. Aelina never moved them. She just added more.
Kael stood by the window, his blade no longer rusted, but etched with glowing runes that pulsed like veins. Tonight, the spell would be complete.
The Shadowmother walked into the Black Room at midnight—just like she always had.
But this time, she wasn't alone.
They sealed the door with blood.
She turned to find them waiting. Her sneer rose slow and mocking.
"You dare?"
Kael struck first, but it wasn't steel that pierced her. It was fury. It was years of torment, channeled into cursed runes and violent intention. His blade sang as it cut through the veil of magic she wore like skin.
Aelina spoke the first chant. Nyra followed, her voice deceptively soft, filled with something ancient and wrong.
The Shadowmother screamed—a sound the walls had never heard before.
They dragged her body, still writhing and cursing, into the wooden box lined with salt and soul ash. She spat blood, hissed in forgotten tongues. Kael slammed the lid shut.
Aelina lit the fire.
Nyra whispered the final verse.
The box caught flame.
Her screams tore through the house, then through the realms.
Ash fell like black snow.
They watched until nothing moved.
Kael stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
"Finally… she's dead."
Aelina and Nyra remained still. Cold. Silent.
The fire dimmed. The silence deepened.
Kael looked down at the ashes, his voice low, almost unsure now.
"She's gone. It's over."
But the shadows in the room lingered longer than they should have. And far beneath the earth, where the flames couldn't reach… something pulsed.
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## **Author's Note**
Hey everyone—thank you so much for reading **Chapter 3: The Cost of Blood and Fire**. This was one of the most intense chapters to write so far. The darkness is only beginning to bloom, and trust me… the Shadowmother's end may not be as final as it seems 👁️.
If you've made it this far, I'd *love* to hear from you:
**Which sibling do you think is the most dangerous right now—Kael, Aelina, or Nyra?** Drop your thoughts in the comments! 💬
And if you're enjoying the story, a simple like, comment, or rating helps more than you know.
See you in Chapter 4—where the fire spreads.
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