Blood Match

Chapter 59: Dawn Calls Him Home, Gideon's Rest.

Liam nodded at Alexi, who motioned for the Coronados to lead Gideon into the chamber. Liam took Leo’s hand, and both of them followed behind Gideon. Tristan was about to follow, but he heard both Leo’s and Liam’s voices in his head.

“Stay here, Tris. But never fear; we carry you with us. There is no separation now.”

Tristan breathed out a gentle sigh and stepped back to join Maria and Alexi. Maria took his hand and smiled reassuringly at him.

As Gideon moved through the threshold into the darkness ahead, the glyphs flared to life, their glow golden like the dawn. Liam and Leo followed behind, silent—witnesses to the judgment of the Weird Sisters.

The tunnel ahead curved to the right. As they walked, Liam got the distinct impression that the floor had a slight decline. He realized they were following a spiral, descending deeper into the darkness.

His eyes struggled to adjust to the gloom that pressed in on all sides once they had left the light of the braziers burning outside the threshold. I need more light, or I won’t be able to see where I’m going. The thought was natural, just a human observation made reflexively — but suddenly the walls of the tunnel began to glow softly.

As Liam and Leo glanced up, they realized the walls were covered with glyphs and runes, and the light was coming from them. As they continued their descent, the glyphs flared to life as they approached.

Finally Liam felt the floor level off, and one last turn brought the chamber into view. Moonlight streamed from the circular opening overhead in the center of the chamber. Bathed in the silvery glow was a column of stone, with chains and manacles attached to it. At the top of the column there were runes inscribed.

As Liam’s eyes fell on them, he heard the voice of the Divine whisper their meaning. He spoke them aloud:

“Return to me,
not in torment but in tranquility.
Your long night is over —
come back to the dawn.”

Leo looked at him, a question in his eyes.

“That is what it says. It is a call to come home. This is not a place of punishment; it is a place of release. A sacred path of return.”

Gideon looked up at that moment. He stood taller, straighter. He saw the chamber as a place of salvation. Soon he would be with Marlowe — his sister, the only one who had ever loved him.

A sense of calm spread through him as the Coronados guided him to the column and secured the chains. He felt strangely peaceful, even hopeful. This long nightmare would soon be over. He waited with his eyes lowered, ready for release.

Liam waited until the Coronados stepped back.

“Gideon, I return you to Theia, your First Mother. May you find peace in her arms until you witness the dawn again.”

Liam knew that this wasn’t the end. The Weird Sisters never destroyed anything; Gideon would return, and hopefully in his next life he would know joy instead of misery.

Gideon remained silent. It was hard to understand the emotions he was feeling. He had made peace with death; it was deserved after what he and Marlowe had tried to do. But there was something else, something he almost couldn’t put his finger on. He felt gratitude and respect. Liam had shown him that justice could come with mercy, and maybe at the end of all this, there was hope instead of despair. He would await the dawn knowing that at the rising of the sun he would see Marlowe once again.

Liam looked around the chamber once more and then gestured for the Coronados to leave. He lifted his hand discreetly, and suddenly the walls of the chamber were illuminated by softly glowing glyphs.

“Mother, Queen of the Dawn, we leave him to your care,” Liam whispered. Turning, he took Leo’s hand and led him out of the chamber. As they made their ascent back up, the glyphs that had lit their way began to dim as they passed.

As they stepped back out into the firelight, Alexi approached with Maria.

Leo spoke for the first time.

“Have the stone replaced at the entrance.”

Alexi nodded, and two Coronados moved the massive capstone into place. Once it was done, Liam walked over and placed his hand on the stone. For a moment nothing happened, and then—from the earth at the foot of the slab—green shoots sprang upward, stretching to cover both stone and archway. Buds of pure white burst to life along the living wood.

“Campion,” Tristan whispered as he watched.

Gideon sat at the base of the column. He exhaled—a full breath as if he had just put down a very heavy burden. He felt his chest loosen as he sank into the peace of the space, the glowing glyphs that covered the walls, and the silvery white light of the moon that shone overhead.

He had centuries of torment and blood on his hands. He had relished cruelty and power; nothing was forbidden. But in this moment, facing the end of his existence, he had known kindness and understanding from the very people he had tried to destroy. Liam had shown him both justice and mercy.

He would leave the torment of this existence and hopefully find his way back into the arms of the Goddess he had forgotten so long ago.

Maybe Marlowe was already there waiting for him.

He wasn’t terrified; he was tired. He knew it was time. He thought back to the moment when the voice had promised him power and realized that it was all a lie. That voice had set him on the path that led him here, and to an existence without the one person who had always protected him and loved him.

Now, in the silence, he could see that the voice’s promises were empty.

Liam turned to the waiting elders and coven leaders.

“Now comes to a close the events that have led us here. May the Goddesses dispense justice tempered with mercy and restore what has been broken in cruelty to wholeness in love.”

Liam took Leo’s hand and placed his arm through Tristan’s, and the three of them led the way back to the manor.

Thank you for sharing this chapter with me.
We’re nearing the end of our journey, and your presence here means more than you know.