Caspian's POV
Three days.
I keep repeating it in my head as I watch Sera sleep. Three days to break into the Grand Temple. Three days to destroy the Binding Altar. Three days before millions of wolves lose their mates and die.
Three days before Sera and I lose each other.
Unless we die trying first.
Dawn breaks through the cabin windows, painting everything gold. Sera stirs, her eyes opening slowly. When she sees me watching her, she smiles.
Couldn't sleep? she asks.
Too much thinking.
About Kieran?
The vision haunts me Kieran waiting at the Temple's secret entrance, smiling like he knows something we don't. My rival has never been predictable, but this feels different. Dangerous.
Among other things. I stand, stretching muscles sore from yesterday's battle. We need supplies. Information. A plan that isn't just 'walk in and hope we don't die.'
Sera sits up, and something falls from her pocket a folded piece of paper.
The map Luna gave her days ago.
What's that? I ask, picking it up.
Sera hesitates. A location. Someone who might have answers about what I am.
I unfold it, and my blood runs cold.
The map shows a hidden valley deep in the old forest. And marked at its center, in Luna's careful handwriting: Elder Thorne's Sanctuary.
No, I breathe.
You know this place?
Elder Thorne. His name feels strange in my mouth. I haven't spoken it in years. He was the High Priest before my uncle. My mentor.
Sera's eyes widen. Your mentor?
When I first came to the Temple, broken and grieving, Thorne took me under his wing. He was kind. Patient. Wise. The memories hurt. He taught me everything how to fight, how to pray, how to serve the Moon Goddess.
What happened to him?
Fifteen years ago, he started questioning the Heretic hunts. Said he'd found old texts that contradicted the Temple's teachings. I stare at the map. My uncle accused him of heresy. Thorne was exiled. I never saw him again.
What did the texts say?
I don't know. My uncle had them destroyed. I look at Sera. Or so he claimed.
Understanding dawns in her eyes. What if he didn't destroy them? What if Thorne has them?
It's possible. I study the map again. The sanctuary is only half a day from here, slightly off our route to the Temple. But going there means delaying our mission. We only have three days
And we'll waste all three if we go in blind, Sera interrupts. Caspian, if Thorne knows the truth about Heretics, about the Binding Altar, he might know how to destroy it.
She's right. I hate it, but she's right.
Fine, I say. We'll go. But only because we need information, not because I believe whatever lies
You don't think he's lying, Sera says gently. You're just scared of what the truth might mean.
I am. Terrified.
Because if Thorne was right fifteen years ago, if my uncle exiled him for telling the truth, then everything I've believed is built on lies.
Let's go, I say, folding the map. Before I change my mind.
We travel through ancient forest where the trees grow so thick they block out the sun. The air feels heavy here, charged with old magic.
Tell me about him, Sera says as we walk. Thorne. What was he like?
He was... different from other Temple priests. He questioned everything, always looking for deeper meanings in the sacred texts. He used to say that blind faith was worse than no faith at all.
Sounds wise.
My uncle called it dangerous. I duck under a low branch. But I loved him for it. After my parents died, I didn't want to believe in anything. Thorne showed me that questioning and believing could exist together.
What changed?
He found something. Old texts hidden in the Temple archives. He wouldn't tell me what they said, just that they 'changed everything.' The memory is bitter. A week later, my uncle called a council meeting. He accused Thorne of spreading lies, of trying to undermine the Temple's authority. Thorne was exiled that same day.
Did you try to stop it?
I was fifteen years old, I say quietly. And terrified. My uncle made it clear if I defended Thorne, I'd be exiled too. So I stayed silent.
Shame burns in my chest. I've carried it for thirteen years.
You were a child, Sera says. You can't blame yourself.
Can't I? I chose safety over the man who saved me. Just like I chose duty over you for three years. I stop walking, forcing myself to meet her eyes. I keep choosing wrong, Sera. What if I do it again?
She takes my face in her hands. You won't. Because you're not that scared fifteen-year-old anymore. You're the man who fought his own uncle to protect me. Who chose love over everything he was taught to believe.
I don't deserve you.
Probably not. She grins. But you're stuck with me anyway.
Despite everything, I smile.
We keep walking.
By afternoon, we find ita hidden valley so thick with protective magic the air shimmers like heat waves. At the valley's center sits a small cottage, humble but well-kept.
The wards are strong, Sera observes. Whoever lives here doesn't want visitors.
That's Thorne. Always cautious. I approach slowly, my hands raised to show I'm not a threat. Elder Thorne! It's Caspian Ashenlore. I need to speak with you!
Silence.
Then the cottage door opens.
An old wolf emerges, his hair white as snow, his face lined with age. But his eyes ice-blue like mine are sharp and alert.
Elder Thorne.
He looks at me, then at Sera, then back at me.
And he starts laughing.
Oh, this is rich, Thorne chuckles, his voice warm despite his amusement. A High Priest bringing his Heretic mate to her execution. The Moon Goddess has a twisted sense of humor.
I freeze. How did you
Know about the mate bond? Thorne's smile widens. Boy, it's written all over both of you. The way you stand close but not touching. The way your eyes track each other. You're mates whether you admit it or not.
Sera steps forward. You're Elder Thorne?
I am. And you must be Sera Nightshade, the Heretic who's got the whole Temple in an uproar. Thorne studies her with obvious interest. You're stronger than I expected. Good. You'll need that strength for what's coming.
You know what's coming? I ask.
I know many things, Caspian. Including why you're really here. Thorne gestures toward the cottage. Come inside before the wards give you a headache. We have much to discuss and very little time.
Inside, the cottage is exactly as I remember books everywhere, dried herbs hanging from the ceiling, a fire crackling in the hearth. It smells like home.
Thorne pours tea with steady hands, moving with the same careful grace I remember.
Sit, he commands. Both of you.
We sit at a worn wooden table. Thorne places three cups of tea in front of us, then settles into his chair with a sigh.
So, he says, his eyes twinkling. Which of you wants to know the truth first? The hunter who's been lied to his whole life, or the Heretic who's about to change the world?
I want to know about my parents, Sera says immediately. The messenger said they built the Binding Altar. That they chose power over sacrifice. Is that true?
Thorne's expression softens. Partially. Your parents were Heretics, yes. And they did help create the Binding Altar. But not because they wanted power.
Then why?
Because Mordren threatened to kill every wolf in their pack if they didn't. Thorne sips his tea. Your parents were good people, Sera. They made a terrible choice to save innocent lives. And they've regretted it every day since.
They're alive? Sera gasps.
Your mother is. Your father... Thorne's face clouds. He sacrificed himself to give her a chance to escape when Mordren tried to execute them both. She's been in hiding ever since.
Tears stream down Sera's face. Why didn't she come for me?
Because Mordren told her you died as a baby. He lied to keep you apart, knowing that if you ever met, you'd be too powerful together. Thorne reaches across the table, covering her hand with his. She only learned you were alive a few months ago. That's why she sent Luna to find you.
I watch Sera process this, her emotions raw on her face.
And my parents? I ask quietly. What's the truth about them?
Thorne turns his sharp gaze on me. Your parents were the bravest wolves I ever knew, Caspian. They discovered what Mordren was doing using the Binding Altar to control wolves through their mate bonds. They were going to expose him.
So he killed them.
Yes. But not with a Heretic's power. He did it himself, using the Binding Altar to sever their bond. Then he blamed a Heretic to cover his crime and turn you into his perfect weapon.
The truth hits like a physical blow.
I've been avenging my parents by serving their murderer, I whisper.
You've been lied to, Thorne corrects gently. There's a difference.
Is there? Rage and grief war inside me. I've hunted innocent people. Killed them. All because I believed
You believed what you were taught, Thorne interrupts. And now you know better. The question is: what will you do with that knowledge?
Sera grabs my hand. We're going to destroy the Binding Altar. We have three days before it activates and kills millions.
Thorne goes very still. Three days? How do you know this?
A messenger from the Moon Goddess told us.
Raven. Thorne's face pales. She came to you?
You know her?
She's no messenger. Thorne stands abruptly, his tea forgotten. Raven is the Moon Goddess's executioner. She only appears when the Goddess has lost patience. When She's ready to end things permanently.
Fear crawls up my spine. End what?
Everything. Thorne moves to a bookshelf, pulling down an ancient text. Every century, the Moon Goddess gives wolves a chance to save themselves. She marks a Heretic and waits to see if they'll choose sacrifice over power. If they fail, She sends Raven to deliver an ultimatum.
He opens the book, showing us pages covered in ancient script.
Three days, Thorne reads. That's how long the last Heretic had before the Goddess destroyed an entire pack for failing her test. Three hundred wolves died in a single night.
Sera's hand tightens on mine. But we're not failing. We're trying to destroy the Altar
The Goddess doesn't care about trying, Thorne interrupts. She cares about results. And She's given you an impossible task to prove a point.
What point? I demand.
That Heretics always fail. That no matter how good their intentions, they can't overcome their nature. Thorne looks at us with something like pity. Raven isn't here to help you, children. She's here to watch you die.
The words hang in the air like poison.
So we're doomed, Sera says flatly.
Not necessarily. Thorne closes the book. There is one way to destroy the Binding Altar and survive. But it requires something neither of you may be willing to give.
What? we ask together.
Thorne meets our eyes.
One of you has to die, he says. The Altar is powered by mate bonds. To destroy it completely, you need to feed it the strongest bond freely given, willingly sacrificed. One of you dies, the other uses that sacrifice to break the Altar forever.
My blood turns to ice.
No, I say immediately.
It's the only way
Then we'll find another way! I stand so fast my chair falls. I didn't survive thirteen years of lies and three days of hell just to lose Sera now.
Caspian, Sera says quietly.
No! There has to be another option. Something you're not seeing
There isn't. Thorne's voice is final. I've studied this for fifteen years, looking for any alternative. There is none. Either one of you dies to save millions, or you both fail and everyone dies together.
Sera stands, her face pale but determined. Then I'll do it.
Sera, no
I'm the Heretic, she says. This is my destiny. My choice. Not yours.
Like hell it is! I grab her shoulders. We'll find another way. Break in together, fight together, and destroy that damn Altar together
And watch millions of innocent wolves die when we fail? Sera's eyes fill with tears. I can't do that, Caspian. I won't.
Neither will I! My voice cracks. Do you understand? I've lost everyone I've ever loved. My parents. Thorne. I am NOT losing you too!
You don't have a choice.
Yes, I do! I pull her against me, holding her so tight it must hurt. We'll find another way. We have to.
But even as I say it, I know Thorne is right.
There is no other way.
One of us has to die.
And neither of us will let the other make that sacrifice.
Thorne clears his throat. There is... one other thing you should know.
We turn to him.
Kieran Wolfscar, Thorne says. The one waiting for you at the Temple's secret entrance. He's not there by accident.
What do you mean? I ask.
He's Mordren's backup plan. Thorne's expression is grim. If you somehow make it past the Temple guards, past all the defenses, past everything Kieran has orders to kill you both. And he's been given a weapon that even a Heretic can't survive.
Sera's voice is barely a whisper. What weapon?
Thorne pulls out one final book, opening to a page that shows a blade glowing with black fire.
The Soul render, he says. A weapon forged specifically to kill Heretics. One cut, and your power turns against you, consuming you from the inside. There's no defense. No cure. No
A crash outside interrupts him.
We all freeze.
Then voices dozens of them shouting orders, surrounding the cottage.
They found us, I breathe.
Thorne moves to the window, his face grave. Temple hunters. At least fifty of them. And leading them...
He doesn't need to finish.
I can see through the window.
Mordren stands at the head of the army, the Soul render blade strapped to his back, glowing with deadly black light.
And beside him, wearing chains and looking terrified, is someone who makes my heart stop.
Luna.
My uncle smiles up at the cottage.
Come out, Caspian! he shouts. I have your friend here. Surrender the Heretic, or I'll use the Soul render on her instead. You have sixty seconds to decide!