The woods were thick with mist as Lyra followed Vren deeper into the forbidden outskirts of the territory. The trees here bent unnaturally, as though something ancient had passed through them and never left. Shadows slithered across the edges of her vision, and though Kairo had tried to follow, she made him stay behind. This path, Vren said, had to be walked alone. That didn't stop her from glancing back at least once, hoping he'd disobey her just this once. But he didn't. His promise to trust her meant more than his instinct to protect her. That somehow made it worse.
The path curved and dropped, and soon the trees gave way to a clearing swallowed in ash and time. In the center stood a structure or what was left of it. Cracked stone walls. A shattered archway. Charred symbols faded but still pulsing faintly on the rocks. Lyra felt it the moment she stepped inside. Not fear. Not danger. Recognition. Her bones ached. Her chest tightened. Something inside her whispered that she'd been here before, even if her memories still refused to show her how.
This was her mother's place. Seraphine's sanctuary. And it reeked of power.
Vren moved with practiced steps, kneeling beside a cracked altar covered in blackened vines. She pulled back a rusted panel and revealed a strange circular symbol beneath it — half flame, half eye. It glowed faintly as Lyra approached.
Only blood opens this, Vren murmured.
Lyra hesitated. Then she reached into her palm with a sharp crystal edge lying on the floor and let a drop of her blood fall onto the stone. The symbol drank it in like it was starving. The ground trembled beneath them. The ruins responded to her. The magic wasn't dead — it was waiting.
A wall shifted behind them with a deep groan, revealing a narrow passageway lit with faint orange light. Without waiting for permission, Lyra stepped inside. The air grew warmer. Thicker. Each step sent her deeper into the past. Along the walls were carvings some of them depicting wolves with flames in their eyes. Others showed women with long braids and molten veins. But one carving at the end made her stop.
It was her.
Or someone who looked almost exactly like her.
Standing on a cliff of ash, surrounded by fire, with a crown of bone and smoke. Her arms were lifted like she was commanding the flames or controlling them. Beneath her feet were wolves bowing. Above her head were twin moons.
Lyra blinked.
She backed away slowly, heart hammering, the pressure building in her chest. A deep throb rippled through her body like something had awakened. Her fingertips heated. Her breath came in quick, shallow gasps.
Then she heard it.
Not a sound. A memory.
Run, her mother's voice echoed faintly in her mind. If they find out what you are before you're ready, they'll never let you love. They'll only want to use you.
Lyra stumbled backward. The walls around her suddenly felt too small, the carvings too loud. She turned and stormed out of the passage, past Vren, past the altar, out into the clearing again, where the air was colder and sharper. Where she could breathe.
But it didn't help.
Because standing at the edge of the trees was Kairo. His arms were folded. His eyes unreadable.
I told you to stay, she said.
You told me to trust you. I did, he said quietly.
Then why are you here?
Because I felt it.
Felt what?
Your panic. Your power. The way the earth shook under your feet. I couldn't sit there and wonder if it was your fear or your rage calling to me.
Her lips parted. She couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say. But when he stepped closer, she didn't stop him. When he wrapped his arms around her, grounding her like he always did, she let herself lean into him. Just for a second.
You saw something, he whispered.
I saw who I might become.
And?
She looked up at him.
I don't know if I can love you and survive it.
Kairo's jaw tightened, his voice thick with emotion.
Then I'll love you in the fire. Even if it consumes me.
She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was holding onto someone real. But that didn't stop the whisper in her mind. The warning. The prophecy humming in her veins.
Something is coming.
And it wants to burn everything.