Katrina’s POVMira stood frozen, her face pale, her breath unsteady. The blood on the ground hadn’t even dried, and yet the camp felt quieter than ever. All around us, the warriors watched and waited. They had no faith in her. Nor was I certain that I did.Beside me, Shaun was motionless, his hand clutching his sword's hilt. I could feel the anger leaving him even though he remained silent. In combat, Mira had served as my sister, friend, and second-in-command. Now, however, she was our only link to the enemy.I walked slowly in her direction. "Be honest with me."Mira winced. "Katrina, I—""Now," I said, sounding sharper than I meant to.Her mouth quivered. She looked around, at Shaun, at the warriors, at the dead body between us. Then her eyes met mine, full of something I couldn’t name. Fear? Guilt? Desperation?“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she whispered.Shaun laughed. "That is insufficient."Mira’s hands curled into fists. “You think I did this?”I inhal
Katrina's POVThe shadows let go of Mira, and she gasped, her body twitching. Shaking and breathing in sharp, irregular breaths, she fell into my arms. I grounded her by holding her tightly with my fingers on her shoulders. The shadows had parted. However, I was aware. It remained. Not quite yet. A few feet away, Shaun stood with his muscles taut and his sword drawn. Suspicion burned beneath his eyes as they flitted between Mira and me. He still didn’t trust her. Maybe he never would. Mira’s voice was hoarse. “Katrina…” I pulled back slightly, scanning her face. "I'm present." Her eyes welled with tears. “I didn’t want to. I promise, I didn’t want to.” Shaun laughed. "What did you not want to do?" Mira winced. “Obey.” Quiet. The word hung between us, heavy, laden with significance I didn’t understand yet. Shaun gripped his sword tighter. "So you acknowledge it." Mira balled her hands into fists. "I had no other option." I took a deep breath. "Why?" Her voice cracked. "Be
Katrina’s POVBefore us, the mountains loomed, quiet, and unending. I ascended higher, each step heavier than the previous, the chilly air burning my lungs. Steep and twisting through dense forests and sharp rocks, the trail was designed to keep people out. Perhaps that was the idea.Shaun strolled next to me, his eyes keen, his shoulders stiff. This was not a place he trusted. I didn't either.With her arms around her body and her breath coming in short gasps, Mira followed. Since our departure, she had not spoken much. Her thoughts were elsewhere. her relatives. With each stride she took, the burden of their destiny continued to pound down on her shoulders.Above us, ominous clouds rolled in, laden with the threat of a storm. A caution. Through the woods, the wind howled and whispered mysteries that I couldn't comprehend.I drew my coat closer to me. "How far is it?"Shaun looked over the cliffs in front of him. "Not too far. whether the tales are accurate.Mira let ou
Katrina's POVDarkness. Cold. Silence.The might of the Elders has engulfed the world around me. My chest burned and my breathing was shallow and tight, but my body felt weightless, as if it were floating in an unending emptiness. Nothing was there for me to grasp when I reached out. Just the whispers, swirling like smoke around me."You are not ready."Soft and eerie, the words reverberated in my head, tinged with an unidentified substance. A caution. A pledge.Then—light.blinding. fierce.I gasped as I smacked against solid ground and the abyss broke. My muscles ached like if I had fallen from the sky, and my eyesight swam as I forced myself to stand.In an instant, Shaun was by my side, his hands on my arms. "Katrina?"I blinked vigorously as the final traces of the vision left my brain. "I'm here."Mira pushed herself up a few steps away and coughed. Her fingers were digging into the soil under her, and she appeared pale and scared. "What was that?"The Elders were in
Katrina's POVThe air was different.Colder. Heavier.I clenched my fingers into fists and inhaled slowly. I had been cautioned by the Elders that The Forgotten Realms was not a place for the weak. That I might not come out again after I got in. However, I didn't think twice. I was unable to.Shaun was standing next to me, nervous. "This is not necessary for you to do."I looked him in the eye. "Yes, I do."Mira spoke softly. "What if you don't return?"I made an effort to grin. "Then let my son know that I made an effort."She nodded and swallowed hard.The cloaks moved in the gloom as the Elders moved forward. One held out his hand. "Enter through the curtain."The air twisted and bent, and the area in front of me rippled. I could sense it, but it was like staring through water. a strong pull that pushes me ahead and pulls at my spirit.I inhaled.After that, I entered.In an instant, the world disappeared and the cold enveloped me.I was no longer in the mountains.I w
Katrina’s POVI stood in the middle of it all, my breath sharp, my fingers curled into fists. The shadows weren’t just around me anymore. They were inside me, whispering, creeping into the edges of my mind, trying to take root."You are no different from them."I flinched. The voice wasn’t a stranger’s. It was my.I turned—and came face to face with myself.She stood there, eyeing me with icy, dark eyes. She looked like me, but something was wrong. Her lips twisted in a nasty sneer, her stance relaxed, confident. But there was no kindness in her face. No warmth. Only something sharp and unyielding.The villainous version of me.She tilted her head. “Did you think you were the hero in this story?”I took a deep breath. “You’re not real.”She laughed. "Am I not?"More individuals appeared as the shadows behind her changed.Davos. Lucy.Their smiles were mocking, and their eyes were glowing red.I stepped back. "This isn't real."I smirked as the other me. "It's sufficient
Katrina’s POVI opened my eyes and gasped, my body shaking. The icy stone underneath me seemed far away, as if I weren't really there. My chest was tight and my limbs felt heavy. Each breath was a burning sensation.However, I was still alive.The first thing I heard was Shaun's voice. "Katrina?"His brows were pinched in concern as his face hung over mine. His hands were solid and warm on my arms. He was checking to see whether I was still alive.I took a deep breath. "I'm all right."Mira laughed unsteadily. "No, you're not."I made an effort to sit up. Despite the protests of my muscles, I persisted. I sensed it as soon as I did.There was a change.The energy-filled air buzzed all around me. My heart thumped and my skin tingled. It seemed as though a strong, ancient force had awakened inside of me.Shaun must have sensed it as well. He drew back a little, his eyes keen. "What happened just now?"Mira was looking at me as if she hadn't seen me before. “Your eyes, Kat
Katrina’s POVThick with the smell of rain and worse, the wind howled through the trees.Blood.Smoke.War.My heart was pounding, yet I was standing on the hill with my chest tight and my breathing regulated and calm. His army was spread out over the valley below us like an unstoppable force.The Alpha Crimson.And at last he had shown himself.Shaun was quiet as he stood next to me, his jaw gritted and his blade tightly grasped. Just behind us was Mira, whose fingers were twitching at her sides and whose breathing was irregular. Nobody said anything. Nobody made a move.Since none of us anticipated this.Below, the army was enormous. Thousands. Perhaps more. Lycans. Werewolves. creatures I had never even seen before. Their bodies shifted in the darkness, their luminous eyes flickering in the night. Awaiting. observing.And he stood tall in the middle of them all.The Alpha Crimson.Even from this distance, his presence felt heavy on my chest. His physique was bigger tha
Katrina’s POVThe wind howled through the valley, carrying the scent of blood and smoke, even after all this time. The battle was over, but the land still bore the scars of war—charred earth, shattered weapons, and graves upon graves stretching farther than my eyes could see. I stood at the edge of the ridge, my cloak billowing behind me. The sun was setting, casting an eerie golden glow over the ruins below. It should have been beautiful. Instead, it felt haunting, as though the land itself mourned what had transpired here. Jax stood beside me, his large frame unusually still. He wasn’t the same man who had charged into battle with reckless confidence. None of us were the same anymore. Mira knelt beside a small grave, placing a single white flower upon the fresh mound of dirt. “She was only eighteen,” she murmured, her voice tight with grief. “She was supposed to see the world, not…” Her voice trailed off as her fingers traced the name etched into the stone. Shaun was further
Katrina’s POVAside from the distant moans of the injured and the crackle of dying fires, the battlefield was eerily quiet. Staring at the Crimson Alpha's lifeless body, his once-imposing figure reduced to a heap of broken bones and lost force, made my heart race. The victorious moment, however, felt unjust. hollow. I felt a shudder go through me as a slow, purposeful clap reverberated over the field. When I turned, I saw Lucy Hawthorne standing there. Her icy-blue eyes gleamed with laughter, and her scarlet cloak hardly stirred in the wind. As she stepped forward, her boots stomping on the blood-soaked grass, she exclaimed, "Well done." "You really did a favor for me." Mira tensed up next to me, her hand clenching over her knife. With a low growl, Jax's muscles tensed, poised to attack. Shaun's amber eyes blazed with anger as he took a defensive step forward. Davos, however, was the one who spoke at last. His voice was like steel as he said, "You were never here for him." “You
Katrina’s POVThe battlefield was quiet. My own rapid breathing was the only sound I could hear for the first time since the start of the conflict. The land was covered in blood, with the dead of both enemies and friends scattered like shattered dolls. There was a smell of death, fire, and grief in the air. A feeling of disquiet, more than anything else, was in the air. Beside me, Jax's enormous body heaved with fatigue. His silver eyes looked over the area as though he thought more foes may resurrect. Grasping her arm, Mira struggled to remain upright. With blood streaming from a cut on his forehead, Shaun rested on his sword, but his amber eyes remained alert. The conflict with the Crimson Alpha was over. Why, though, did it seem like we had lost something far more important? My eyes shifted to the Crimson Alpha's lifeless body. His once-dominant body was still, his red eyes permanently closed. The eerie force that had propelled him had vanished, vanishing into thin air. But som
Katrina's POV With the exception of the distant crackling of flames devouring the remains of the dead, the battlefield was strangely quiet. The ground was slippery with the remains of soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for this conflict, and the air was heavy with the smell of blood and burned flesh. I walked over corpses, some I recognized, others I didn't, and my heart ached. The never-ending cycle of violence had taken another person, and each one was a loss. And yet there he was, in the middle of the slaughter. The Alpha Crimson. Despite the devastation all around him, he remained tall and intimidating. His posture eased as if he were just a spectator to the mayhem he had created, and his crimson eyes burned like coals. My body cried out for me to fight, to put a stop to this once and for all, and my grasp tightened around my blade. However, he held up a hand. "We need to talk, Katrina." My whole body hummed with stress as I tightened my jaw. "I have nothing to say to
Katrina’s POVUnease was in the air at the war camp. The tension was oppressive and unavoidable; it adhered to my skin like a dense mist. There was a problem. The absence of food supply had been the first clue. When additional warriors joined our army, we first believed that the rations were being stretched thin, which was a simple error. Weapons, however, disappeared. Our strategy tent's plans outlining our next course of action vanished. Worst of all, fighters were vanishing into thin air. I looked around the camp as I stood outside my tent. Long, unsettling shadows were thrown over the restless warriors by fires that flared in the darkness. They experienced the paranoia and the feeling that something was falling apart inside of them as well. Shaun came over, his face serious. "Last night, another fighter disappeared. a top scout for us. No indication of a fight. It seems as if he just left. Mira folded her arms. "Someone is helping the enemy." I let out a deep breath, my thoug
Katrina's POVEven the most courageous soldiers were hesitant to enter the safehouse since it was tucked away in the deepest area of the forest. It was an area unaffected by conflict or the mayhem engulfing the world beyond the woods. My youngster was protected here.That's what I kept telling myself, anyhow.As the last of the sunshine slipped behind the tall trees, I watched from the doorway of the little wooden home. The soft sound of my son's laughing reverberated within, a tune so innocent that it didn't fit with the burden on my chest.I balled my fists up. The Crimson Alpha's soldiers were gaining momentum as the conflict reached its climax. My troops continued to fight without me for every second I was here. They lost another second life. But leaving was a total gamble. Leaving him was necessary.I turned and stepped inside, feeling a chill. With the flickering fire creating gentle shadows on the walls, the cabin's warmth enveloped me. Mira gave my kid some wooden sculptures t
Katrina’s POVAs we gathered around the frayed scroll, its mysterious lettering flashing in the faint torchlight, the atmosphere was heavy with suspense. Every time my heart beat, it served as a harsh reminder of how much depended on us. We had arrived to the deserted Lycan ruins, a location lost to time, thanks to the mystery. I felt the old carvings under my fingertips as I moved them over the stone walls. Relics from the past. Back when werewolves and lycans weren't adversaries. When they were one, that is. Shaun was standing next to me, looking over the ruins with amber eyes. "This place gives me a bad feeling." Mira let out a loud sigh. "Whether you like it or not, this is where the puzzle took us. Here is the solution. I looked to a big archway at the far end of the room and nodded. Beyond it, the blackness went on forever. I got a weird feeling that we were closer than ever before, like a weight pressing down on my chest. "We move together," I murmured while holding onto m
Katrina’s POVAs we gathered around the frayed scroll, its mysterious lettering flashing in the faint torchlight, the atmosphere was heavy with suspense. Every time my heart beat, it served as a harsh reminder of how much depended on us. We had arrived to the deserted Lycan ruins, a location lost to time, thanks to the mystery. I felt the old carvings under my fingertips as I moved them over the stone walls. Relics from the past. Back when werewolves and lycans weren't adversaries. When they were one, that is. Shaun was standing next to me, looking over the ruins with amber eyes. "This place gives me a bad feeling." Mira let out a loud sigh. "Whether you like it or not, this is where the puzzle took us. Here is the solution. I looked to a big archway at the far end of the room and nodded. Beyond it, the blackness went on forever. I got a weird feeling that we were closer than ever before, like a weight pressing down on my chest. "We move together," I murmured while holding onto m
Katrina's POVThe air shifted around me, thick like a heavy mist, pulling me under. My body no longer felt like my own. The world faded, the ground dissolving beneath me until I was floating in an endless void. I wasn’t sure how I got here—one moment, I had been gripping the scroll the temple guardian had given me, reading its cryptic words, and the next, everything had gone dark. I took a slow breath, steadying my nerves. This was part of the trial. I had known there would be one. The moment I touched the scroll, I felt something pull at me, dragging me into a place beyond the physical world. But I hadn’t expected it to feel so... real. A soft whisper echoed through the void, a voice both foreign and familiar. "You're not prepared." I spun, searching for the source, but there was only darkness. Then, out of nowhere, a figure stepped forward. My breath caught. It was me. Or rather, it was a version of me—one twisted, darker. Her eyes blazed an unnatural red, her lips twisted