Prologue: The Blood That Started the War
They say wars begin with hatred.
They are wrong.
Wars begin with fear.
Fear of what we cannot understand. Fear of what we cannot control. Fear of those who are different from us.
And centuries ago, that fear turned the world against itself.
Before the kingdoms fell into darkness, before vampires and werewolves became enemies, there was a time when both races stood together.
A time when the moon and the blood lived in balance.
Until one night changed everything.
The forest burned beneath a crimson sky.
The screams of warriors echoed through the ancient trees as vampire soldiers clashed against werewolf armies. The ground trembled beneath their feet, stained with the blood of creatures who had once fought side by side.
The war had lasted for seven days.
Seven days of betrayal.Seven days of death.Seven days of losing everything they once protected.
At the center of the battlefield stood two rulers who had once called each other family.
The Vampire Queen.
And the Werewolf King.
Both had lost too much.
Both had blamed the other.
And neither knew they were being manipulated by something far older than their hatred.
“You will regret this, Evelina,” the werewolf king growled, his golden eyes glowing beneath the moonlight.
The woman standing before him did not move.
Queen Evelina Vale.
The most powerful vampire to ever exist.
The Crimson Queen.
Her dark gown was covered in blood that did not belong to her. Her expression remained cold, but behind her crimson eyes was a pain she refused to show.
“I already regret everything,” she whispered.
The werewolf king froze.
For a moment, the battlefield went silent.
Because everyone knew the truth.
The queen did not sound like a conqueror.
She sounded like someone who had lost.
Then a cry broke through the silence.
A newborn’s cry.
Both armies turned.
Hidden behind the ruins of an ancient temple stood a woman holding a small child wrapped in black cloth.
The baby had been born during the eclipse.
A night that legends said only happened once every thousand years.
The woman looked toward the two rulers with tears in her eyes.
“She is the answer,” she whispered.
The vampire queen stepped forward.
“What have you done?”
The woman looked down at the child.
“Not what I have done.”
She smiled sadly.
“What fate has chosen.”
The baby opened her eyes.
And everyone stopped breathing.
Because the child was not supposed to exist.
A vampire born with the power of the moon.
A creature who carried both darkness and light.
A child who could unite their worlds...
or destroy them.
The woman placed the baby into Queen Evelina’s arms.
“Her name is Seraphina.”
The queen stared at the child.
For the first time in centuries, the most feared vampire in history looked afraid.
“What will happen to her?”
The woman looked toward the burning battlefield.
“She will inherit a crown she never wanted.”
A cold wind swept through the forest.
“She will carry a war she never started.”
The queen held her daughter closer.
“And what happens when the world comes for her?”
The woman looked at the newborn princess.
“Then the world will learn...”
Her voice lowered into a whisper.
“...that the most dangerous thing in existence is not a monster.”
“It is a girl who has finally learned she has something worth fighting for.”
Centuries later, they would tell stories about the Vampire Queen’s daughter.
Some would call her a savior.
Some would call her a curse.
Some would pray for her.
Others would hunt her.
But no one knew the truth.
Not even Seraphina herself.
The war was never started because vampires hated werewolves.
The war was started because someone was terrified of what Seraphina Vale would become.
And when the princess finally opened her eyes to the world...
the kingdoms would remember why they feared her blood.
