PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Like any other day, Lilith was concentrating on managing her kingdom, performing many tasks, and delegating to others when the report of the birth of a strange child in the Darkblood clan arrived.

At first, Lilith didn’t pay much attention to the news, but that changed when mention was made of the resemblance between the newborn Nicolai and Lilith. Although it might be nothing, the fact that Nicolai was born with silver hair instead of white caught Lilith’s attention.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Lilith visited Nicolai’s parents and confirmed her suspicions: the world had once again given birth to someone like her. Nicolai was a child born into circumstances far different from Lilith’s, but his belonging to her species remained unchanged. Being born of the Darkblood clan, a creation of Lilith, and of the same species as her, Lilith considered Nicolai her only true family, her blood brother.

For years, Lilith had been discreetly involved in Nicolai’s life and training, always wanting the best for her brother, something Desmond had also seen in Nicolai’s memories. Unfortunately, Lilith never expected Nicolai to grow obsessed with her, insanely coveting her sister and empress.

Lilith’s memory of the day she discovered this still remained fresh. In her office, where she used to receive Nicolai when he came seeking her help, her only family, the child she helped raise, confessed his love to Lilith.

“We are made for each other, one of a kind, and only you are fit to be the mother of my children and give our species a future. Accept your fate and become my wife, Lilith.” Nicolai’s delusional statements that day were still clear in Lilith’s memory. The same applied to the rejection and revulsion she felt that day.

As it had always been when someone managed to anger her, Lilith was ruthless, sternly rejecting Nicolai and making it clear that she would never be his. Lilith never expected such a rejection would turn Nicolai against her, leading to her downfall.

Unlike Nicolai’s memories, Lilith remembered more clearly what the final confrontation was like, just as she remembered the presence of a character that Nicolai overlooked; the Oscuras that Lilith had known years before.

.....

At that moment, Desmond finally understood why Lilith’s fall from grace seemed so abrupt but well-planned. It was because someone else outside this world had orchestrated everything against Lilith.

With false promises and deceit, the creature, the Oscuras, conspired with the help of the five clans against Lilith. Being the leader of the Darkblood clan back then, Nicolai collaborated with the other four leaders, and they all fought against the empress together.

Despite being outnumbered, Lilith always remained calm and graceful, dominating her opponents with the profound mastery of her blood magic; but that lasted until the Oscuras joined the fray. With the help of the five clan leaders, the Oscuras defeated Lilith, taking her blood as his trophy and imprisoning Lilith for eternity as a form of humiliation for her.

Lilith’s last memories were a growing darkness enveloping her, accompanied by the sound of chains and a last vision of the five clan leaders being slaughtered by that Oscuras; it seemed that only the leader of the Licht clan managed to escape.

And there Lilith’s memories ended, at least the ones she showed Desmond. Probably she wasn’t very interested in showing Desmond her memories of her thousands of years locked in this dark and maddeningly silent tomb.

“Pretty pathetic, don’t you think? Defeated by my own creation, as well as my brother and an Oscuras, I let escape. That bastard even used a blood curse, my own specialty, to imprison me. I can only say that it was expected that an Oscuras would go that far just to humiliate someone who defeated him once.” Lilith’s voice came from behind Desmond. At the same time, Desmond’s sight returned when Lilith’s delicate hands stopped covering his eyes.

In a way, even though Desmond discovered many things that he did not know about Lilith, especially about her origin, what she really was, and the real reason for her fall from grace, one fact remained unchanged; what happened to her was a tragedy full of injustice.

After all her efforts, all she had done to achieve the peace that her world had needed so much, after ruling for millennia with wisdom and benevolence, after meeting her only true family in the universe, Lilith’s story ended with her being betrayed, humiliated, and imprisoned for eternity.

At least, that should be the end of the story until Desmond came to this world under the orders of the angel of love. There was only one part that Desmond did not understand, how to free Lilith since the only thing Desmond knew on the subject was that Nicolai’s blood had somehow been used to imprison her, which made it the key to freeing her.

Sensing Desmond’s confusion, Lilith explained the situation as she looked at the chains that bound her. “These chains have a powerful blood curse created with Nicolai’s blood as a base. Not only do they keep me bound here, but they also drain every drop of arcana and blood power within me, thus preventing me from fighting to free myself or even attempting to override the curse with my arcana mastery.”

“Then how can I free you?” Desmond asked.

Lilith smiled like a proud big sister explaining something obvious to her little brother and answered. “These chains were created from arcane law; therefore, they are still governed by the same rules of the arcane. As much as that thing is an Oscuras, an entity of evil and chaos, he is not a god who can ignore the laws of this world. In the same way that a door has an opposite side and a mirror has a reflection, every lock must have a...”

“A key.” Desmond interrupted.

Instead of being angry, Lilith smiled and nodded. “There is no invincible or absolute in this world, there are no eternal curses or inescapable spells, the laws that govern this world would never allow something like that, and this curse is no exception. I don’t know why or how it happened, but Nicolai’s blood lasted until now, and with it, I have the key I need. I can only assume that that old man from the Licht clan had something to do with it.”

Although many secrets and details regarding how Nicolai’s blood ended up in Desmond’s hands always remain a mystery, the hunter had to agree with Lilith; it was very likely that the leader of the Licht clan from Lilith’s time had something to do with it. In fact, it was likely that he was the one who built the catacomb and the door with the super elaborate mechanism that was used to keep Lilith isolated since none of that existed in the past.

To some extent, Lilith’s tomb was a construction that was used only to keep the empress isolated from the world, to keep the secret of her existence and the betrayal of the five clans towards her since, even without this, no one could have truly release Lilith even if they wanted to.

“What do I have to do?” Desmond asked again, but his question was answered by the sound of hundreds if not thousands of chains falling to the ground.

Lilith revealed herself in all her splendor, emerging from her cocoon of chains. Lilith’s slightly childish slender figure with soft rather than pronounced curves did not diminish her attractiveness; on the contrary, the former empress was so tempting that she could well compete with those succubi of the Hearth clan.

With a confident and liberated smile, Lilith answered Desmond’s question. “All you had to do was let me drink your blood. The blood of the one who sought my destruction, given off by his own will. That is the way to break the blood curse. If you think about it, it’s a pretty cruel condition. It means it’s basically impossible for me ever to be released, but here we are.”

Desmond was stunned by the anticlimactic turn of events. In his mind, Desmond thought there would be some elaborate ritual or something full of mysticism and chants, and only then would Lilith be released. The reality was overwhelmed by Desmond’s wild imagination, who knew next to nothing about how blood curses actually worked.

“That’s all?” Desmond commented with great irony.

Lilith chuckled slightly at Desmond’s face and answered. “Did you want to make freeing your dear sister an impossible task?”

Although Lilith’s new way of referring to herself was a bit abrupt, Desmond didn’t comment on it; his heart and blood had quickly accepted this new sister. Nonetheless, Desmond still responded. “It’s not that; it’s just that I thought it would have more fanfare.”

Lilith shook her head and responded as she stretched out her slender body making her bones crack unbelievably loud. “If it’s fanfare you want to see, then you can stay and watch me reduce this world to scattered ashes.”