CHAPTER 18

The air was thick with tension when I faced Lyra. She looked like me. Her eyes, which I knew well, now had a strange red glow. It was like looking into another world, and it sent shivers down my spine.

“Lyra,” I growled, my voice carrying a new resonance in this form. “What have you done to yourself?”

A sinister laugh escaped her muzzle. “I've become what I was always meant to be, Aurora. True power, unbridled by your pathetic notions of morality.”

Before I could respond, Lyra lunged at me with inhuman speed. Even with my enhanced reflexes, I barely managed to dodge, her claws grazing my flank as I pivoted. My claws dug deep furrows into the earth where I landed, steadying myself for her next attack.

A group of twisted wolves surrounded us, their spooky howls filling the air like a bad dream. As Lyra and I moved around each other, I felt something big on my shoulders. This was more than a simple fight between two wolves.

We crashed into each other again. Our bodies moved so fast, it w