Novel-novel oleh Katrina

The hall burned. Stone walls that had once echoed with music and laughter now trembled beneath the roar of fire. The floor was slick with blood and ash. Screams echoed in the distance—wolves, warriors, mothers, children. But none of them reached her ears fully. Everything sounded muted. Hollow. Like the air had been sucked from the world. Selene stood in the center of the crumbling hall, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Her dress was torn, her arms streaked with soot and blood—none of it her own. Around her, the air shimmered with heat and something more. A pulse of ancient magic that vibrated in her bones. And in front of her—he stood. Aylexelen. He was not the cloaked shadow she had seen in the forest. He was younger here, though not youthful. Regal, commanding, dressed in deep indigo robes trimmed with silver. His expression was calm. Too calm. Unbothered, even as bodies fell around them. And at his feet, Theoden lay. Deathly still. His blood pooling around him. Selene’

The moon hung low, half-hidden behind drifting clouds, casting pale slivers of light across the forest clearing. The fire had long since died, leaving only the quiet crackle of cooling embers. Theoden slept with one arm draped protectively over Selene’s waist, his breathing deep, steady. Selene stirred faintly beneath the blankets. Her mind drifted between sleep and waking, her body warm beside his. But then— The pain struck. It was sudden. Violent. Blinding. Her eyes flew open, but she couldn’t move. Her chest heaved, her limbs trembling beneath the weight of something she couldn’t see. Every breath was a razor. Every heartbeat sent waves of agony through her body. “Nova?” she screamed into her mind, but Nova didn’t answer. The connection was static—muted. Blocked. Selene’s throat worked, but no sound came out. Her voice had vanished, locked away with the rest of her strength. And then she saw him. Aylexelen. Standing just feet away. One hand extended toward her, glowing wi

The morning came with silence. No birdsong. No wind. Just the soft sound of the stream and the low crackle of coals in the fire pit. Selene stirred first, sitting up slowly. Theoden was already awake, leaning against a nearby rock, his arms crossed and gaze fixed on the woods beyond the clearing.“He’s gone,” he said without looking at her.Selene blinked the sleep from her eyes. “What?”“Aylexelen,” he clarified. “He left sometime during the night. No word. No sound. Just gone.”Selene’s heart stuttered. “Nova?”“I didn’t feel him leave,” the wolf said, her voice taut with unease. “It’s like he vanished.”Selene rose to her feet, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. “He hasn’t done that before.”Theoden shook his head. “No.”They packed up camp quickly, neither speaking much. The absence of Aylexelen was louder than his presence had ever been. Every sound in the forest made Selene tense. Every gust of wind set Atlas growling low inside Theoden’s mind.“He’s hiding something,” Atl

Aylexelen led them through a narrow gorge at the edge of the mountain range. The rock walls rose on either side, casting deep shadows across the forest path. The sky was overcast now, the light dim and pale, as though the world itself was withholding warmth.Selene trailed behind Aylexelen, her steps slow, deliberate. She could feel Nova pacing within her, a constant thrum of tension between her ribs.“He’s watching,” Nova murmured.Selene didn’t have to ask who. She’d seen the way Aylexelen’s eyes lingered too long, not with desire—but with calculation. Like he was measuring her for something.She glanced ahead. “Where are we going?”Aylexelen didn’t turn around. “There’s something I want you to see. Something that may help you understand your power.”Theoden moved up beside her, his voice low. “He mentions your power too often. I don’t like it.”She nodded. “And he never tells us what we’re walking into.”“That’s because he’s not walking into anything,” Atlas growled inside Theoden’

Selene watched the way Aylexelen moved through the forest. Always silent. Always just out of reach. He was neither rushed nor relaxed—simply… present. Like the woods belonged to him. Or maybe he belonged to them. She wasn’t sure which was worse.They walked without speaking for some time, weaving through thick pines and silent stone ridges. The silence wasn’t comforting. It was calculating.Nova stirred. “He doesn’t breathe the same air we do.”Selene didn’t answer right away. “You mean that literally or—““Both,” Nova said. “He feels like a wound the world never healed.”Selene’s throat tightened. “There’s something wrong with him,” she murmured through the mindlink. Theoden glanced at her from a few paces ahead, then slowed to fall in beside her. “Atlas said the same.”Selene looked up. “What did he say?”Theoden’s jaw tensed. “That when Aylexelen is near, the earth quiets. Like even the wild things know not to make a sound.”Aylexelen, as if sensing their thoughts, stopped beside

The morning light filtered through the canopy, soft and golden, but there was no warmth to it. The forest remained still, as if caught in a breath it couldn’t quite release. Selene sat on a fallen tree, her eyes fixed on the embers of their dying fire, her thoughts elsewhere.Nova stirred quietly in the back of her mind, not speaking. Just watching. Selene could feel her unease like a current beneath her skin, constant and restless.“You’re quiet,” Selene finally said.“Because I don’t trust him,” Nova replied. Her voice wasn’t sharp or angry—just deeply unsettled. “There’s something hollow in him, Selene. Something missing. Hollow. It’s not just a name.”Selene glanced toward the edge of the trees where Aylexelen stood, unmoving. He didn’t pace or fidget. He simply waited, like the forest itself. Still. Silent. Unreadable.“Do you think he’s lying?” she asked.Nova didn’t hesitate. “Not with his words. But he’s hiding something. His truth is only part of the story.”Selene swallowed