Lyra POV The dawn came too soon.Lyra stirred beneath the heavy furs, feeling the warmth of Kane still wrapped around her. His arm was draped over her waist, holding her possessively close, his breath steady against the crook of her neck. For a fleeting moment, she allowed herself to sink back into the quiet peace of their shared night, her fingers lightly tracing the scar along his forearm.But reality was waiting.A soft knock echoed through the chamber doors, followed by a voice laced with urgency."My Queen, the council is waiting," Aldric called from the other side. "We’ve received reports from the capital."Lyra exhaled, her fingers tensing against Kane’s arm."Ignore him," Kane muttered against her skin, his grip tightening as he pressed a slow, lingering kiss to her shoulder. "Just a little longer."A smile ghosted her lips, but the weight of responsibility was already settling over her again. She turned in his arms, brushing her fingers along his jaw. "If we ignore him, he’l
A second wave of magic rose from the witches, this one more delicate but no less powerful. Lyra watched as High Priestess Seraphina lifted her hands, fingers moving in intricate patterns. Ancient symbols carved themselves into the air, glowing with golden fire, their very presence vibrating in Lyra’s bones.Around them, the capital pulsed in response. The wind howled - not just a natural gust, but something alive, carrying the remnants of the Harbinger’s influence as it was ripped from the city, screaming. Shadows convulsed in the alleys, twisting unnaturally before dissolving into nothingness. The scent of burned ozone and old magic lingered in the air.“These are the Shadow Wards,” Seraphina declared, her voice ringing with power. “They will ensure that no trace of the Harbinger’s corruption can take root within these walls.”Lyra exhaled sharply, rubbing her arms as a deep, unnatural chill lifted from the air. It was like the city itself had sighed in relief.But Seraphina was alre
Lyra POV The golden beacon still burned in the sky, splitting the heavens like a blade of light. The ritual had been completed, the call had been sent, but no one yet knew what would answer - or if anything would at all.Lyra felt the weight of that uncertainty pressing against her ribs as she stepped into the council chamber. The heavy oak doors shut behind her with a resounding thud, sealing her and Kane inside with the most powerful voices of the kingdom.The room was already tense. The long wooden table, lined with advisors, generals, and high-ranking officials, was split down the middle - not just physically, but ideologically.On one side sat those loyal to Lyra and Kane, the ones who had stood with them through war and bloodshed, those who understood that sacrifice was the only path forward.On the other side were the skeptics, the conservatives, the ones who had once ruled before Kane took the throne. These were the men and women who had never fully accepted Lyra’s reign, wh
The beacon flickered.The sky, once split by golden light, twisted into something unnatural - something wrong. The stars above dimmed, their brilliance swallowed by an unseen force. And then, the rift widened.A clawed hand, black as obsidian and veined with molten gold, pushed through the crack between worlds. Another followed, grasping at the edges of the breach, pulling it open wider.The ground trembled. Trees bent as if bowing to the force that had answered the call. Shadows stretched unnaturally across the valley, drawn toward the rift as though the entity were consuming the very light around it.And then, it stepped through.The being was massive - humanoid in shape, but utterly inhuman in presence. Its body was draped in a cloak of shifting darkness, tendrils of something half-formed slithering at its edges. Its face was obscured beneath a hood of swirling shadows, but two burning eyes - slitted, ancient, knowing - pierced the veil.It exhaled, and the wind died.A rumbling vo
Kane POV Shadows clung to the figure of Nyxar were moving, shifting, as though it were not entirely solid. It was massive, towering over them, its very presence warping reality itself. The air felt thicker, denser, as if the world itself was struggling to contain this being.And then, in a motion that defied logic, it changed.The obsidian flesh melted, peeling away like smoke.A tall figure emerged, broad-shouldered and powerfully built. He was clad in nothing but shifting darkness, an ethereal presence that blurred between solid and incorporeal. His features sharpened into something striking - unnervingly perfect, sculpted as if by the gods themselves.Yet his eyes never settled.One moment, they gleamed silver, then gold, then abyssal black. With each shift, something different stirred behind them - curiosity, amusement, calculation.Kane recognized the pattern. It was watching. Learning. Measuring him.The weight of its gaze was something Kane had only felt once before - the way
Kane POV The air was still heavy with the weight of unspoken things. The witches had not yet dared to move. Even Lyra was tense, though she did not show it on her face.Nyxar’s smile lingered as if he had already anticipated Kane’s next words.“Where do you plan to go now?” Kane asked, his voice calm, unreadable.Nyxar tilted his head slightly. “I was expecting an invitation.”Kane let the silence stretch between them.The witches shifted, uneasy. They knew the power standing before them. Bringing Nyxar into their court was not just a risk - it was a gamble against an unknown force.Lyra was the first to speak.“You want to stay in the capital?” she asked, her voice smooth but edged with curiosity.Nyxar turned to her, his shifting gaze settling into an almost liquid silver. “I wish to stay near you.”Kane did not move, but something in his presence changed. A shift. Subtle. Dangerous. The kind of stillness that came before a storm.Nyxar noticed. He smiled, like he had just uncovere
Kane's POV The chamber doors shut with a muted thud, sealing them in silence. The lingering tension from their encounter with Nyxar clung to the air like a ghost that refused to fade. The room was warm from the crackling hearth, but the cold weight of uncertainty pressed against Kane’s chest.Lyra moved first, stripping off her heavy cloak and placing it over the chair by the fireplace. Kane remained near the door, his fingers flexing at his sides. His wolf was restless, pacing beneath his skin.She knew. She always knew.“You don’t trust him,” Lyra said, pulling the pins from her hair. The strands tumbled over her shoulders in a dark cascade, her reflection sharp in the polished mirror. Her voice was steady, but he didn’t miss the slight tension in her shoulders.Kane unfastened the high collar of his jacket, stepping toward her. “Should I?”Lyra met his gaze in the mirror, her eyes unreadable. “He knelt.”“So did the most dangerous creatures before they struck,” Kane countered, his
The room was dark, save for the faint glow of the embers in the fireplace. Shadows flickered across the stone walls, wrapping around them like silent witnesses.Kane moved with purpose, his golden eyes dark with something primal. His grip on Lyra’s waist tightened as he pulled her against him, their bodies flush, heat radiating between them.The kiss was not gentle. It was fierce, consuming - lips and tongues clashing as if they were fighting for control, yet neither willing to surrender.His hands roamed, rough and possessive, claiming every inch of her he touched. Lyra arched into him, a soft gasp escaping as his teeth scraped against the delicate skin of her throat, sending a shiver of pleasure through her."Mine," Kane growled against her neck, his voice raw with emotion, with need.Lyra's fingers tangled in his hair, gripping hard enough to make him groan. "Yours," she whispered, breathless. But the fire in her eyes challenged him - daring him to prove it.Kane’s jaw tensed. His
Lyra POV The silence lingered after Thalia’s growl had faded. A silence that felt fuller now. Less like an absence and more like a promise.Lyra sat in the dust until the ache in her body returned, dull and real. Her palms were scraped, her muscles trembling from the strain of holding herself together for too long.Behind her, she felt Nyxar shift. She turned slowly.He stood near the edge of the temple, framed by broken columns and shafts of sunlight cutting through the crumbled roof. The wind stirred his dark cloak, and in the light, the silver of his eyes caught fire.“You saw her,” he said, not a question.Lyra nodded. “She didn’t speak. But she didn’t leave.”“That’s more than most get.”He walked toward her, steps almost soundless. For once, the air around him didn’t feel cold. Just heavy. Old. Like the ruins themselves.“What happens now?” she asked. “With the Harbinger? With… Kane?”Nyxar’s jaw tensed at the name.“He’s not gone,” Lyra said softly. “Not completely.”“No,” Nyx
Lyra sat on a worn, half-buried stone, the remnants of what might’ve once been an altar. Light streamed through the broken ceiling above - slanted, gold-tinged sunlight that pierced through the dust and fractured glass. The air here still thrummed with old power, magic older than any living soul could remember. And somewhere behind her, Nyxar lingered in the shadows, silent.She hadn’t spoken since the dream.Her hands rested limply on her knees, stained with dust and blood. Her eyes were fixed on the far wall where vines crawled over carved glyphs, half-erased by time and ash.“Do you remember what this place was?” she asked softly, unsure why she spoke aloud.Nyxar’s voice came like the stir of wind. “It was where we made promises. The first pacts. The first betrayals.”Lyra turned her head toward him slowly. “And you brought me here because…?”His gaze didn’t meet hers. “Because the temple still remembers. Even when the gods forget.”She swallowed the lump in her throat. Her body s
Lyra POV As Lyra stood beside Nyxar, the haze lifted, revealing more of the ruins that stretched beyond the immediate carnage. Crumbled walls half-swallowed by ash and time. Statues toppled. Towers broken. It was like walking through a graveyard built for gods.He moved ahead of her in silence, his long cloak trailing like smoke. Lyra followed, drawn forward despite the ache in her chest. She could feel the echo of magic here - raw, broken magic, older than any she had ever touched.“This was your home?” she asked quietly, though the answer pulsed in her bones.“It was,” Nyxar replied, his voice distant. “A long time ago. Before I became what I am now.”He stopped before a shattered archway. Vines had overtaken the stone, and in its center lay a deep scar carved into the earth, as if something had been ripped from it violently.“What happened here?” Lyra asked, stepping beside him.He didn’t look at her. “I had a mate once.”The words hit her like a thunderclap. Her breath stilled.“
The tent around Lyra was dim, the pale blue light of dawn barely seeping through the canvas. For a moment, she didn’t breathe. Her body ached, her skin prickled, and her heart thudded like a war drum beneath her ribs.Nyxar’s voice still echoed faintly in her mind. "Go to the temple ruins. Alone."She sat up slowly, wincing as every joint protested. The shirt clung to her skin with a mix of sweat and dried blood. The bowl of now-cold water on the table beside her remained untouched since last night, just as the plate of food had gone uneaten. Her stomach curled at the thought of it.Her gaze drifted to the opening of the tent. The barrier was up again - she could feel the thrum of its magic, steady but strained. The witches had worked through the night. So had the warriors. She wasn’t sure who had dragged her back from the battlefield after Ekreth vanished with Kane and the Harbinger. She only remembered the rage. The pain. The silence Thalia had retreated into deepest parts of her, l
Lyra POV The city felt like a graveyard.Not because it was empty, but because it wasn’t. The people had returned - cautiously, with bowed heads and silent eyes - but the air held the weight of something sacred lost. The Hollow Grounds beyond the barrier still burned faintly with the remnants of their battle. The smell of ash clung to everything.They entered through the eastern gate in silence. No one spoke. The warriors moved with grim determination, their weapons still bloodstained. The witches were pale and exhausted, many of them barely on their feet. But they made it.The barrier, though cracked and faltering, had been reforged. A tether of silver light shimmered faintly over the walls, patched and held together by runes and raw willpower. It wasn’t perfect. But it was enough - for now.Lyra said nothing as she passed beneath it. She felt the familiar hum of protection brush against her skin like a sigh, but there was no comfort in it. Not anymore.They returned to the same mak
Lyra POV The world had narrowed into silence. The kind that came after heartbreak. After devastation.The bond was gone. And the Harbinger stood above it all, smiling.A smug, inhuman smile that split his face like a wound. He turned slowly, savoring the moment, as if feeding off the ruin he had wrought.“I expected more from you, little wolf,” he said, voice velvet and rot. “But I suppose it was too easy, wasn’t it? A whisper here, a memory there... and your king tore himself apart for me.”Lyra couldn’t move. Could barely breathe.Every part of her felt hollow, carved out by the echo of Kane’s rejection. Even Thalia had gone silent, her presence curled up in some hidden corner of Lyra’s soul, wounded and refusing to rise.But there was something else now. Buried under the grief. Under the pain. It started as a flicker. A tremor in her fingertips. A breath drawn too sharply.Rage.The Harbinger kept talking, but she didn’t hear the words anymore. She only heard the blood pounding in
Lyra’s POVThe darkness was suffocating. Cold, biting, like something had clawed its way inside her, twisting every corner of her mind into a void. She had been lost in that space - unable to move, unable to breathe, stuck in a place between life and death.But then, there was light.A soft, gentle pull at the edges of her consciousness, like the first breath of fresh air after a suffocating storm. Her senses, one by one, came back to her.She could hear again.The faint hum of the wind, the crackle of the fire in the distance. The sounds of a world that hadn’t stopped turning, even though hers had.She could feel.The weight of her body against the cold ground, the pressure in her chest slowly lifting, replaced by a dull, aching emptiness. It was a hollow feeling, like something was missing… something important.She could see.The world came into focus, blurry at first, then sharp and clear. Her vision adjusted, and she saw… him.Kane.His tall form was standing before her, his back
Kane's POV Kane’s heart thundered in his chest, the storm in the sky only a reflection of the chaos inside him. His grip on his sword tightened, knuckles white. He barely felt the sting of the Harbinger’s dark presence pressing against him - more like an itch at the back of his mind than a physical threat.The Harbinger’s voice slithered like venom, a dark lullaby meant to seduce, to tear apart the last fragments of his will."You protect them, Kane," the Harbinger whispered, his eyes glinting with ancient knowledge. "You think you do it for love, for honor. But what is honor when it shatters? What is love when it weakens you? You are the protector. You need power. Control."The words dug into his skin like knives, twisting in a place that had never known peace. There was truth in them, wasn’t there? The responsibility, the weight of it all - the lives of the people he swore to protect. He had always been the shield. The protector.But the truth, the painful truth the Harbinger spoke
Lyra POV The Hollow Grounds pulsed beneath her boots like a thing alive.Darkness churned on the horizon. A storm not born of clouds or rain, but shadow and raw, ancient hunger. The sky bled crimson at the edges, unnatural and seething. Around her, the witches formed their line, magic crackling like flares beneath their skin. Soldiers stood behind them, tense, blades drawn. Kane to her right. Nyxar to her left.And ahead - him. The Harbinger.He stood as if carved from the bones of gods, the corrupted echo of something once noble. His lips parted in a smile. “Ah. There you are.”And his voice - silken, knowing - brushed across the battlefield like a caress laced with venom. “Kane.”He didn’t shout. He didn’t need to. The name echoed with power.Kane tensed. Lyra saw it in the line of his shoulders, the shift in his weight. Her heart clenched.“You’ve always belonged to me,” the Harbinger said. “Before time gave you another name. Before loyalty chained you to the lesser.”Lyra stepped