Chapter 3: Where Monsters Smell Royalty
The forest swallowed Amira whole as she stalked deeper into the Black Pines, her breath steady, her steps unhurried. If the supernatural underworld was so desperate to find her, she would make it easy.
Let them come.
She wasn't running anymore.
A low growl vibrated through the trees — distant, but unmistakable. Not human. Not friendly.
Amira didn't flinch.
"Wow," she muttered. "Didn't think the welcoming committee would show up this early."
Branches snapped overhead. Something massive moved through the canopy, fast. A shadow swung down like a wrecking ball. Instinct screamed, but she didn't stumble. She planted her feet, eyes narrowing.
A creature dropped in front of her — tall as a bear, with obsidian skin cracked like volcanic stone and eyes burning molten red. Its jaw unhinged wider than human anatomy allowed.
A Shadowfang sentinel.
Straight from the nightmares in the book.
"Cute," Amira said flatly.
The beast roared and lunged.
She didn't think. She reacted.
Her hand ignited — white-hot, fierce, wild. Moonfire burst from her palm like she was hurling a star. It slammed into the creature's chest, ripping it backward and carving a smoking trench in the soil.
The sentinel shrieked — a horrible, bone-scraping sound — and dissolved into ash.
Silence fell again.
Amira stared at her own hand, still sizzling with light.
"…okay," she breathed. "That was new."
"Impressive," a voice drawled behind her.
She spun around so fast the air cracked. The man from yesterday stepped out from between two trees — same height, same predatory calm, same unreadable energy. Only his eyes had changed.
They glowed brighter.
Sharper.
Like he had just watched something he wasn't supposed to witness.
"That wasn't a normal Shadowfang," he said. "They sent a sentinel. For you. Already."
Amira scoffed. "What can I say? I'm popular."
"This isn't a joke." He stepped closer, and the temperature dipped as his presence pressed against her. Not threatening — but overwhelming in a way she hated. "A sentinel tracking you this fast means your bloodline is waking too quickly. They can smell you now."
"Well, tell them to mind their business."
His jaw flexed. "You can't outrun this."
"Watch me," she shot back.
Another crack echoed through the forest.
The man stiffened, head lifting like a wolf catching a scent. His eyes sharpened. "There are more."
"Good," Amira said immediately.
"No," he snapped. "You don't understand"
"And you don't get to tell me what I understand." She stepped into his space, eyes fierce and unyielding. "My parents are dead. Someone killed them. Someone stole my life. If these monsters want me, they can get in line."
Her aura flared a shockwave of silver energy surging from her chest and rippling through the clearing.
The man inhaled sharply, as if the air had punched him.
"…Moonborn," he whispered, stunned. "You really are Ryker's blood."
She glared. "Don't say his name like you know me."
He held her gaze. "I knew him better than anyone."
Amira froze.
Not because she cared about him.But because the forest went dead silent again.
A whisper slithered through the shadows:
"The heir walks… the heir burns…"
Amira's fists clenched. "I swear, if one more creepy voice speaks in riddles—"
But before she finished, something massive tore through the treeline.
Five Shadowfang beasts — smaller than the sentinel but faster, meaner, their teeth dripping black venom.
Amira smirked.
"Finally," she muttered.
She charged.
The stranger cursed and raced after her.
But Amira was already moving like she'd done this a thousand times — ducking claws, flipping over a wolf-like creature's back, blasting moonfire directly into its skull. She fought with controlled fury, every strike sharper than the last.
The stranger watched her for a second too long — long enough for one beast to leap toward him.
Amira whipped around and fired a blast past his head, incinerating the creature mid-air.
He stared at her, stunned.
"You… protected me?"
"Don't flatter yourself." She wiped ash off her jacket. "I just didn't want it drooling on me afterward."
By the time the last beast hit the ground, the clearing was covered in scorch marks and black dust.
Amira pushed her curls out of her face, breathing hard but stable. "Is that all they've got?"
The stranger approached her slowly, cautiously like she was a bomb ticking too loudly.
"You're changing," he said. "Faster than I expected."
"Not interested."
"You can't run from this."
"I can," she said, "and I will until I find whoever murdered my parents. Then I'll burn their world down."
His expression darkened. "You're walking into a war you don't understand."
"And you're talking too much."
The forest breeze shifted, carrying the scent of smoke, blood, and something ancient awakening inside her.
The stranger stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"If you keep using that power without training, it will consume you."
"Good," Amira said. "Then I'll drag them into the flames with me."
He stared at her not with fear.
With realization.
"You really don't want the throne."
"I don't want anything," she said coldly. "Except revenge."
A long beat of silence.
Then he bowed his head slightly — accepting something he couldn't change.
"Then I'll take you to the one who knows the truth," he murmured. "But once we start… there's no turning back."
Amira smirked, eyes gleaming like moonlit steel.
"I never turn back."
And the forest shuddered around her not from fear.
From recognition.
The trees groaned as if the forest itself felt the shift inside her. The air tightened, heavy with static. Her pendant pulsed violently in her pocket like it sensed something coming.
The stranger turned slightly, head tilted as if listening. His golden eyes narrowed."They're not done."
"Great," Amira muttered. "Round three."
"No," he said sharply. "This is different."
Before she could ask, a wave of darkness rippled across the ground — alive, crawling, hungry. The shadows twisted into claws, gripping the earth and pulling themselves upright.
A single figure rose from the black fog.
Not beast.Not wolf.Not anything she had ever seen.
Tall. Cloaked in living shadow. Eyes like burning coal. Its jaw cracked open in a smile that wasn't human.
"Moonborn," it hissed, every syllable scraping her skin like knives.
Amira rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. You're here with a warning. A prophecy. A threat. Maybe all three?"
It stepped forward, the ground dying under its feet. "You were hidden well. Erased. Forgotten. But power always leaks."Its voice sharpened."And now every monster in the underworld can smell you."
"Lucky me."
The shadow-being lifted a clawed hand, and the trees around her bent inward like they were bowing.
"But I did not come for your power…"
Its head tilted, jaw splitting further.
"…I came for your heart."
Amira didn't flinch. "Gross. Try Tinder."
Darkness lunged.
Amira raised her hands — but the stranger reached her first. He slammed one palm to the ground. A golden barrier erupted around them, the shadow striking it with a thunderous crack that sent splinters of light everywhere.
Amira stumbled back. "The hell was that?!"
"An Umbral Shade." His voice was tight. "A lieutenant of the Shadow Fangs. They don't hunt heirs. They hunt royalty."
"Well I'm not interested in the crown," she snapped.
The Shade laughed — a horrible, hollow sound."You think you have a choice."
It struck again. The barrier fractured.
The stranger's jaw clenched. "I can only hold it for a moment. You need to run."
"Not happening."
"Amira—"
She shoved him aside. "Move."
The barrier shattered.
The Shade shot forward, claws aimed directly at her heart.
Amira's vision flooded white.
A howl ripped through her chest — her own voice, not fully human. The air exploded outward, blasting the creature back like a hurricane made of moonlight.
Trees uprooted. Rocks split. The ground cracked.
The shockwave threw even the stranger to his knees.
Amira stood in the center, glowing silver, hair floating around her like she was underwater. Her spine arched painfully, power crawling under her skin like lava.
The Shade stared at her with something she didn't expect.
Fear.
"You… are not ready," it hissed.
Amira's voice dropped, low and dangerous. "Come here and find out."
The Shade lunged again — faster than lightning.
But she was faster.
Moonfire erupted around her fist as she punched forward. The impact tore through the creature, ripping it apart in a burst of silver flames. It shrieked — its body splitting, dissolving into dust and shadow until nothing remained but smoke.
Silence slammed down.
Her knees buckled, but she forced herself upright. Her breath came in sharp, burning pulls. Her skin still glowed faintly, veins lit like molten metal.
The stranger stared at her like he was seeing a ghost.
"You shouldn't be able to do that," he whispered. "Not yet."
"Yeah well," Amira panted, wiping blood from her lips, "nobody gave me the rulebook."
"That power… it's unstable. It's killing you."
She shrugged. "Then I'll die after I get my revenge."
He stepped towards her, voice sharper. "This isn't about revenge anymore."
"It is for me."
"No," he growled. "This is survival. The Umbral Shades don't come alone. They come before the generals."
Amira lifted her chin. "Let them come."
He grabbed her wrist — gently, but firmly. She didn't yank away, but her glare could have split stone.
"You can burn down the world," he said quietly, "or you can stay alive long enough to find the truth. Your parents didn't die by accident. And you are walking into the same trap they did."
Her heart kicked painfully.
"Speak plainly."
He let go of her wrist, eyes darkening like a storm gathering thunder.
"Your parents weren't just murdered."
A long beat passed.
"They were betrayed from the inside."
Amira's breath stopped.
The forest closed in around them, suddenly too quiet — like it was holding its breath.
The stranger stepped closer, voice low, deadly.
"And the traitor… is still alive."
Amira didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
Her eyes went coldcolder than the night air,colder than the moonlight.
"Then I'm going to find them," she whispered."And I'm going to end them."
A smile ghosted across the stranger's lips not mocking. Not cruel.
Knowing.
"Then our real journey begins."
Amira didn't speak for several seconds. The forest whispered around her, wind curling at her feet like it sensed the shift in her soul.
A traitor.Someone close to her parents.Someone who helped kill them.
Her jaw locked so tightly it ached.
"Tell me who," she demanded.
The stranger shook his head slowly. "Not here. The forest has ears."
Amira scoffed. "Then talk louder. I don't care—"
Branches snapped.
Both of them froze.
Not a creature.Not a Shade.
Footsteps.
Human footsteps.
Too slow, too heavy, too deliberate to be supernatural.
The stranger's eyes sharpened immediately. "Someone followed you."
Amira frowned. "Impossible. No one knows—"
"Amira?"A familiar voice called shakily from the trees.
Her blood ran cold.
No.No, no, no.
Her foster brother, Liam, stepped into the clearing — pale, sweating, chest heaving like he had sprinted the entire way.
He looked at Amira, eyes wide with fear.
"I—I saw you leave. I thought you were in trouble, and I—"
His gaze finally fell on the stranger beside her.
On the scorch marks.On the ash.On the glowing veins still faintly pulsing under Amira's skin.
"What… what is this?" he whispered. "Amira… what are you?"
Amira's heart slammed against her ribs.
"Liam," she warned. "You need to go. Right now."
He took a step toward her. "No. You tell me what's happening"
A low growl rumbled through the clearing.
Not from the stranger.Not from Amira.
From behind Liam.
The shadows behind him thickened… then rose.Three shapes materialized — wolves with eyes like dripping tar and jaws unhinged entirely too far.
Shadowfang scouts.
Tracking her.But they found him first.
"Liam," she breathed, panic slicing through her like a knife, "don't move."
He turned slowly—
Too slowly.
One wolf lunged.
"LIAM!"
Amira blasted forward, moonfire erupting around her, but—
The stranger grabbed her arm mid-charge.
"What are you doing?!" she screamed, voice cracking.
His eyes were grim, voice a razor-thin whisper:
"If you use that much power again, you'll tear your soul apart."
"I DON'T CARE!"
She yanked away with a snarl that wasn't entirely human. Her bones cracked, power roaring to the surface—
The wolves closed in.Liam stumbled backwards, terror paralyzing him.
"AMIRA!" he shouted.
She leapt—
But something slammed into the ground between them.
Something massive.
Black armor.A hood of shadows.Eyes like twin voids.
The Umbral Shade she killed.Or what was left of it.
It reformed.
Whole.
Stronger.
And this time, it didn't attack her.
It grabbed Liam.
One clawed hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground as if he weighed nothing. Liam choked, kicking helplessly in the air.
Amira froze.
Every sound vanished.
Her heartbeat.The wind.The forest.
Nothing existed except Liam suspended in that creature's grip.
"Moonborn," the Shade rasped, its voice deeper, darker, reborn."A king's heir must learn loss."
Its claws tightened.
Liam's scream died in his throat.
Amira's power surged wildly, her vision going white, silver, then black.
"Let him go," she whispered.
The Shade smiled.
"No."
The world snapped.
Amira roared — an inhuman, deafening sound that split the air. The ground cracked under her feet. The pendant in her pocket burned like a brand, searing her skin.
The stranger shouted her name, trying to reach her—
But it was too late.
Amira's power detonated.
The forest vanished under a blinding explosion of silver.
When the light died…
Liam was gone.
So was the Shade.
So was the entire clearing — scorched into a crater.
Amira stood alone in the smoke, trembling, her hands covered in silver fire.
The stranger approached her slowly, fear flickering in his eyes.
"Amira…" he whispered.
She didn't turn.Didn't breathe.
Her voice broke — low, fragile, deadly.
"They took him."
The wind shifted.
Her power flared hot and furious.
"No more warnings," she said."No more running. No more destiny."
She lifted her head.Her eyes glowed pure silver.
"I'm going to get him back."
A beat of silence.
"And then," she whispered, voice like a death sentence,"I'm going to make the traitor scream."