Master of MILFs-Chapter 9: The Dream With Many Eyes

That night, the house was quiet.

Too quiet.

Selene sat awake in the kitchen, a cup of tea growing cold between her fingers. The silver tome lay on the table before her, open to a page on warding dreams. A protective glyph glowed faintly at the window, flickering as wind whispered against the glass.

Her eyes were red from tears she didn't let fall.

She had seen what the thread meant.

The Book of Echoed Shadows didn't find children.

It chose them.

And once chosen, it didn't let go.

You're not going to have him, she thought fiercely. I don't care what you are.

A sudden creak echoed through the ceiling.

Selene snapped to her feet.

Upstairs.

Mike's room.

She blurred into motion, her cloak dragging wisps of starlight behind her as she raced up the steps and threw open his door.

He was gone.

The blankets were still warm.

The cup of milk tipped sideways on the bedside table, dripping slowly to the floor.

"Mike?" Her voice shook.

Nothing.

Then—

A whisper.

Faint. Like wind moving through silk.

She turned toward the hallway.

And saw it.

A faint shimmer, like heat haze, forming symbols on the wooden floor—leading away from his room.

No.

Not symbols.

Footprints.

Tiny. Barefoot. Glowing.

He had walked in his sleep. Again.

But this wasn't a dream.

This was a pull.

She followed, magic crackling along her fingertips, ready to rip reality apart if needed.

The footprints led her to the attic stairs.

Locked.

Always locked.

But now... wide open.

She climbed slowly.

At the top, she stopped.

Mike stood in the center of the attic, eyes closed, arms slightly raised—like a puppet mid-performance.

Around him hovered orbs of faint light, blinking in and out of view, spinning slowly.

Each orb held an eye.

Dozens.

Watching. Turning. Seeing her.

"Get away from him," Selene growled.

The eyes didn't react.

But Mike did.

He opened his mouth—

—and a voice not his own echoed from it.

Low. Female. Whispering like dry leaves on stone.

"You cannot sever what has been written."

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Selene's hands blazed with radiant glyphs. "He's a child. Let him go!"

The voice chuckled.

"He is more than a child. He is the echo made flesh. A page that breathes. The vessel of memory unforgotten."

Selene unleashed the spell—Radiant Pulse, a blinding flare meant to scatter spirits and sever psychic bonds.

The attic exploded with white light.

The orbs screamed, dissolving like smoke.

Mike collapsed, unconscious, into her arms.

She held him close, heart racing.

But as she cradled him, she noticed something under his fingernails.

Paper.

Fine and black.

He'd been writing in his sleep.

She looked down.

Behind him, scratched onto the attic floor, was a single phrase burned into the wood in ancient script:

"She sealed me once. She cannot do it again."

---

Elsewhere...

In the infinite, ink-dark void where the Book had been sealed, something stirred.

A whisper rippled across the seams of the dimensional prison.

A page turned by itself.

A name written in blood.

Selene.

Selene moved swiftly through the candlelit hallways, her son unconscious in her arms, cradled like something fragile. His breathing was steady, but a low magical hum pulsed just beneath his skin. She could feel it—like holding a box of thunder wrapped in silk.

She reached the master bedroom.

Inside, the only light came from the glowing emberstone on the wall, giving the room a warm, golden hue.

Leon slept deeply.

His back was turned, muscles rippling even in rest, the scars across his spine catching the emberlight. His sword—Aelrendel, the Blade of Stars—rested beside the bed, still bound in its obsidian sheath. No man in the known kingdoms had ever beaten him. No beast ever bested him.

But even legends need to be woken gently.

"Leon," she said softly.

No response.

"Leon." Her voice sharpened.

He stirred.

"Leon, wake up."

His hand went to the hilt of the sword instantly. His eyes snapped open—honed, trained, alert.

Then he saw her.

And the boy.

He sat up. Naked from the waist up, hair tousled, jaw rough with stubble. His gaze locked on Mike, and in an instant, everything changed.

He rose to his feet. "What happened?"

Selene placed Mike gently on the bed. "It's the Book."

Leon froze.

"The Echoed Shadows?" he asked, voice low.

Selene nodded. "He had a thread. I destroyed what I could. Tried the Fire of Erasure. The Chant. Even the Rite. Nothing worked."

Leon's jaw clenched. He looked down at his son. "And now?"

"He's being watched," she whispered. "Even in dreams. They spoke through him. Eyes were floating around him, Leon. Eyes. In this house. In our home."

Leon sat at the edge of the bed and brushed a strand of hair from Mike's forehead.

"He's still warm. That's good. The corruption hasn't anchored yet."

"You say that like it's happened before."

He didn't look at her. "It has."

Selene blinked. "What?"

Leon finally met her gaze. His eyes were sharp. Hard. "During the War of Black Flame. There was a boy in the Seventh Legion. A prodigy mage. Touched by the Book. I watched him kill twenty of our soldiers in his sleep. When we found him, his eyes were gone. Replaced by ink."

Selene covered her mouth.

Leon continued, voice cold. "We didn't save him."

She stepped closer, hand on his arm. "This time is different. Mike is ours."

He placed a hand over hers.

And for a moment, he wasn't a legend. Just a father. Just a man staring down something he couldn't kill with steel.

Then he stood.

And the storm returned to his shoulders.

He walked to the wardrobe and pulled out his blackened armor piece by piece—dragonhide cloak, reinforced plated vest, silver-threaded boots.

Then he drew Aelrendel from its sheath.

The sword sang. A faint, chiming hum filled the room, like the stars whispering across the edge of dawn.

Selene watched him, heart pounding. "Leon..."

He turned.

"The Book wants him for something. We need answers."

"And where will we get them?"

He looked down at his blade, then back at her.

"The only ones who ever escaped the Book... were the Ward Keepers. Deep in the Mourning Caverns. East of the Black Spine. If they still live, they'll know how to sever this."

Selene hesitated. "That place is cursed."

Leon nodded. "So is our son."