Accursed Heir

The Deathbed Request

The memory came unbidden, as vivid as if it were happening all over again. It had been two years ago, on a sweltering summer night, thick with the scent of bitter herbs and blood. Candles flickered around the room, their light casting jittery shadows over the thin figure lying in bed—a man Elijah had once seen as a pillar of strength, now diminished, frail, clinging to life by the thinnest of threads. Father Matthias Moreau, the last true Saint Longinus of Raven’s Hollow, was dying. And with each labored breath, Elijah could feel the weight of Raven’s Hollow’s legacy bearing down on him.

Matthias’s voice, once strong and commanding, had become a rasping whisper. Yet his grip on Elijah’s wrist was firm, as though he were trying to pass the weight of his years to him with that single touch. “Elijah…” he whispered, his voice hoarse but filled with urgency. “Listen closely. I have… a final request.”

Elijah leaned in, his heart pounding at the intensity of his mentor’s gaze. Matthias’s eyes, though dim with exhaustion, held a fierce spark that had always driven Elijah forward, pushing him through long nights of grueling training and endless rituals.

“I’m here, Father,” Elijah replied, steadying himself against the flood of emotions building in his chest. “Tell me what you need.”

Matthias drew a shuddering breath, and his eyes narrowed as if gathering every ounce of strength left in his fading body. “This is not just a request, Elijah,” he said. “It is a duty… a legacy… one that only you can fulfill now.” His hand tightened, his voice growing strained. “My granddaughter—Lina—she must be protected. From what lies in the dark.”

Elijah’s heart stilled. Lina. She was someone he’d only ever seen in passing, a presence flitting in and out of the quiet world Matthias had shaped around him. With her bright eyes and laughter, she had always seemed as though she belonged to another world, a world untouched by the darkness Elijah had been trained to guard against. And now, here was Matthias, telling him that she was the one who needed protection.

“I don’t understand,” Elijah murmured, searching Matthias’s face for some hint of an explanation. “Why Lina? What danger does she face?”

Matthias’s expression darkened, a shadow of fear passing through his gaze. “The Bloodseekers…” he rasped, his voice barely audible. “They will come for her. For my bloodline. If there is no Saint Longinus to shield her, she will be exposed, vulnerable to them.”

The name of the Bloodseekers sent a chill through Elijah’s veins. They were creatures of nightmare, spoken of only in hushed whispers—ancient beings that fed on broken promises and the weaknesses of human souls. He’d always known that they existed, but to hear Matthias speak of them now, on his deathbed, was like summoning a curse into the room.

“What would you have me do, Father?” Elijah asked, though he already felt the answer settling within him, as heavy and inescapable as a stone in his chest.

“You must marry her,” Matthias replied, his voice hollow, filled with a weary resignation. “Bind yourself to her. The Bloodseekers are bound by certain laws… ancient rules. The marriage vow will protect her. But if the bond is ever broken… if the vows are betrayed… then they will come.”

Elijah’s breath caught. Marry Lina? He’d accepted his life as a protector, bound to the hidden ways of Raven’s Hollow and the legacy of Saint Longinus, but marriage had never entered his mind. It was a life foreign to him, one he had never allowed himself to consider. And Lina… she would be as much a stranger to him as he was to her.

“She… may not want this,” he said quietly, his voice tinged with hesitation. “And I… I am no husband. I am only a protector.”

Matthias’s hand shook slightly as it held Elijah’s wrist, but the gaze he fixed upon him was as intense as ever. “There is no other way,” Matthias murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper. “You must do this, Elijah. She is all that is left of my family… my bloodline. Without this bond, the Bloodseekers will tear her soul apart.”

Elijah’s chest tightened as he felt the weight of Matthias’s words settle on him. He knew he couldn’t refuse, even if every part of him ached with doubt. Marrying Lina, binding himself to her, was a duty unlike any he had imagined. He had trained to face the horrors that hid in the shadows, not to build a life with another soul. And yet, Matthias had left him with no choice.

“If this is your final wish,” Elijah whispered, his voice steady despite the storm inside him, “then I will honor it. I will marry Lina. I will protect her, no matter the cost.”

A flicker of relief softened Matthias’s face, though it was shadowed with something deeper, a trace of guilt that lingered even as his strength faded. He released Elijah’s wrist, sinking back against the pillows, his breathing coming in shallow, labored gasps.

“My son…” Matthias murmured, his voice trailing off into a whisper. “You are… my last hope. May the saints guide you.”

Elijah tightened his grip on Matthias’s hand, feeling the warmth slowly drain from his mentor’s fingers. He wanted to ask more, to know what lay in the shadows Matthias feared so deeply. But Matthias’s eyes had already begun to drift shut, the lines of his face softening as he slipped further from this world.

“Father…” Elijah began, the words catching in his throat. He had so many questions, so much he wanted to understand. But Matthias seemed beyond hearing, his breaths shallow, his expression at peace.

“Elijah…” Matthias’s voice, so faint he almost missed it, cut through the silence. His eyes snapped open, filled with a desperate urgency. “Beware broken vows. The Bloodseekers… they are drawn to weakness… to betrayal…”

A final tremor passed through Matthias’s body, his hand falling limp in Elijah’s grasp. The room fell silent, the only sound the soft flicker of candle flames casting long shadows across Matthias’s still face.

Elijah sat there in stunned silence, Matthias’s last words echoing in his mind. “Beware broken vows… and betrayal.” They lingered like a warning, chilling him as they began to sink in. He had accepted a life of solitude, bound by duty. But now, he would be bound to a woman he hardly knew—a woman who might never understand the darkness he lived with every day.

As he rose from Matthias’s bedside, the faintest whisper seemed to linger in the air, barely audible but unmistakable. “Elijah… protect her…”

Elijah’s heart pounded, and he looked back at Matthias’s motionless form. The words hung in the air, a final plea that felt as binding as any vow.

“I will, Father,” he murmured, his voice a solemn promise. “I will protect her.”

He turned to leave, the memory of Matthias’s words heavy in his mind. And yet, as he left the room, he couldn’t shake the unease that gnawed at him, a shadow of doubt that whispered questions Matthias had left unanswered.

---

The memory faded, dissolving into the silence of the present. Elijah found himself back in the church, surrounded by flickering shadows. Matthias’s words echoed through his mind, binding him to a promise he could never escape.

He raised a hand to the cold metal of his silver-tipped staff, the weight of duty settling over him like a second skin. The bond was broken now, shattered by the betrayal that had tainted it. And somewhere in the darkness, he could feel the Bloodseekers waiting, drawn to the scent of a fractured vow.

Elijah drew in a steadying breath, his gaze hardening as he prepared himself for the battle that lay ahead. The past was done, but the vow remained—a binding promise, echoing with the ghosts of his mentor’s last words.

And in the silence, faint and mocking, he heard a whisper drift through the darkness.

“Elijah… we are waiting…”

A chill settled over him, colder than any he had known, as though the Bloodseekers were watching, biding their time until they could finally claim what had been promised to them.