CHAPTER 136: CALEB’S STAND

Caleb POV

The shadowy figure lunged at Lily from behind just as she knelt beside the injured Void Walker. Without thinking, I threw myself between them, taking a blast of dark energy straight to the chest. Pain burst through my body like lightning, but I stayed standing.

"Get away from her!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the twisted world we’d somehow ended up in.

The attacker pulled back his hood, showing Viktor’s cold smile. "Little brother Caleb. Still protecting people, I see."

My heart sank. Viktor was supposed to be dead. We’d all seen him fall into the dimensional tear months ago. But here he was, his eyes shining with the same terrible light as the other corrupted Original Vampires.

"You’re working with the Moon Goddess," I said, helping Lily to her feet. The Void Walker she’d been trying to heal writhed in pain nearby, its form changing between solid and shadow.

"Working with her?" Viktor laughed. "I am her biggest success. She showed me what we could become if we stopped caring about guilt and weakness."

Behind him, more forms emerged from the darkness. Elena, another of our apparently dead siblings. And worse - at least a dozen Void Walkers, but these ones moved with purpose instead of dumb hunger.

"They’re not random monsters anymore," I whispered to Lily. "Someone’s controlling them."

Lily’s face went pale, but she didn’t back down. "The cure might still work. If I can reach the part of them that’s still-"

"Still what?" Viktor interrupted, having heard her with his vampire senses. "Still human? Still good? My dear girl, goodness is just weakness wearing a pretty mask."

The controlled Void Walkers began to circle us. Unlike the wild ones we’d fought before, these moved like soldiers. Smart. Organized. Terrifying.

"Caleb," Lily said softly, "I need time to try the healing technique Elder Iris taught me. Can you-"

"Keep them busy? Yeah, I can do that." I stepped forward, putting myself between her and the growing threat. "But I have to tell you something first."

She looked confused. "What?"

"I don’t feel the mate bond anymore." The words came out rushed, like taking off a bandage. "Ever since we entered this world, it’s gone. I can’t sense your feelings, can’t feel that connection that’s supposed to tie us together."

Her eyes widened. "Caleb, I-"

"But it doesn’t matter," I continued, surprised by how much I meant it. "Bond or no bond, I choose to stand with you. Not because some special mark tells me to, but because I believe in what you’re trying to do."

Viktor made a disgusted sound. "How sweet. The scholar thinks he’s brave."

"I don’t think I’m brave," I admitted, fear making my voice shake. "I’m scared. But being scared doesn’t mean you can’t do the right thing."

The first Void Walker attacked without notice. I barely got my hands up in time to catch its claws. The thing was stronger than me, pushing me backward, but I held on. Behind me, I could hear Lily starting to chant in the old language Elder Iris had taught her.

"You cannot save them," Elena called out, her voice strangely calm. "The Void Walkers are beyond repair. They chose to accept the darkness."

"Did they really choose?" I grunted, wrestling with the thing. "Or were they forced into it, like you were?"

For just a second, Elena’s perfect poise cracked. A flash of something - pain? regret? - crossed her face before the cold mask returned.

"Choice is an illusion," she said. "Power is all that matters."

Another Void Walker joined the attack. Then another. Soon I was fighting three at once, my scholarly muscles no match for their magical strength. Claws raked across my arms, drawing blood. My back hit the ground hard.

Just as the creatures moved in for the kill, something amazing happened. The Void Walker Lily had been trying to heal suddenly stood up. Its form solidified, the jumbled shadows settling into the shape of a young woman with sad eyes.

"I... I remember," she whispered. "I remember my name. Sarah. I was Sarah Morrison."

Viktor snarled. "Impossible. The change is permanent."

But it wasn’t. Right before our eyes, the darkness was leaving her, replaced by human love. Lily’s mending was working.

"Help me," Sarah said, looking at me with frantic hope. "I can feel the others fighting the power. If we can break enough of them free-"

Viktor moved faster than lightning, his hand closing around Sarah’s throat. "You will return to darkness, or you will die completely."

"Let her go!" I yelled, trying to get up. But the other Void Walkers held me down.

"You want to save everyone, don’t you, little brother?" Viktor smiled coldly. "Such a good heart. Let me show you what nobility gets you."

He began to squeeze. Sarah gasped, her newly restored humanity flickering like a candle in the wind.

"Stop!" Lily cried out, abandoning her routine to rush forward.

"Ah ah ah," Elena stepped in front of her. "The girl dies unless you do exactly what we say."

My mind raced. We were trapped, outnumbered, with no help coming. The realm we were in seemed to dampen our powers while making our enemies stronger. But there had to be something...

Then I remembered what Dmitri had said about Original Vampire blood being able to fix dimensional damage. What if it could do more than that? What if it could break the Moon Goddess’s control?

"I’ll make you a deal," I called out to Viktor, hoping my voice sounded steadier than I felt.

"You’re not in a position to make deals," he answered, still choking Sarah.

"My blood," I said. "Original Vampire blood, freely given. You said you needed it for something. Take it, but let the girl live."

Viktor’s eyes gleamed with interest. "You would sacrifice yourself for a creature you just met?"

"That’s what good people do," I said simply. "They help others, even when it’s hard."

For a moment, silence filled the twisted space around us. Then Viktor began to laugh - a sound like breaking glass.

"Oh, little brother. Your blood is exactly what we need. But not for what you think." His smile turned aggressive. "You see, Original Vampire blood can heal dimensional rips. But it can also tear new ones. Bigger ones. Permanent ones."

My heart stopped. "What are you saying?"

"We’re going to use your sacrifice to rip open a gateway straight to Earth," Elena explained pleasantly. "Every Void Walker in this world will pour through. Millions of them. All hungry. All under our control."

The horror of it hit me like a physical blow. By trying to save one person, I’d just offered to destroy my entire world.

Viktor’s grip tightened on Sarah’s throat. "So, brave Caleb. Do you still want to make that deal?"