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Chapter 9 : Traces of Shadows
Last Updated:
2025-01-11 05:51:16
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Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 10 : The Ambush
The march south resumed at first light. The army moved with disciplined precision, their ranks tight and their spirits steeled by the looming threat of Drevon’s forces. Lyra rode at the head of the column alongside Kane, her wolf senses sharp and attuned to the stillness of the forest around them. The weight of leadership bore heavily on her, but she bore it with pride, knowing what was at stake.Behind them, the witches maintained their protective wards, weaving magic that hummed faintly in the air. Scouts fanned out ahead, returning periodically with updates that kept the column informed of the terrain and any potential threats.It wasn’t until the sun dipped low on the horizon that the first signs of trouble emerged.“Something feels wrong,” Lyra muttered, her amber eyes scanning the dense trees that lined their path.Kane, riding beside her, nodded grimly. “I feel it too. The forest is too quiet.”The silence was unnerving, broken only by the soft crunch of hooves and boots on the
Last Updated : 2025-01-12Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 11 : Voices of the Wolf
The camp was eerily quiet under the canopy of night, the tension from the ambush still clinging to the air. Soldiers moved in subdued silence, repairing armor, sharpening weapons, or standing watch at the edges of the protective wards the witches had erected. The campfire crackled softly, casting flickering shadows across the gathered ranks, and Lyra sat apart from the others, her body aching from the transformation and her heart heavy with unease.Thalia’s voice stirred within her, a low growl of concern that seemed to echo in Lyra’s chest.“You’re stronger than you’ve ever been, Lyra,” Thalia said, her tone both proud and cautioning. “But that strength comes with a price.”Lyra shivered, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. “I lost control today,” she murmured aloud, though her words were meant for her wolf.“You did what you had to do to protect the pack. To protect Kane. But I feel it too - the pull of something greater. Something darker.”The stone, nestled in her pock
Last Updated : 2025-01-12Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 12 : Ambush at the Ridge
The sun hung low on the horizon as Lyra led the army deeper into the rugged terrain. The rocky hills cast long shadows across the winding paths, their jagged peaks like the teeth of some ancient beast. The air was tense, every soldier on edge as they marched toward an uncertain fate.The scout’s report lingered in Lyra’s mind. The disarray in Drevon’s forces suggested vulnerability, but it also raised a troubling question: what could sow such chaos in an army so formidable?Kane rode beside her, his sharp blue eyes scanning the path ahead. “The terrain works against us here,” he said. “If Drevon’s forces are lying in wait, this is exactly where they’d strike.”Lyra nodded, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. “Then we need to stay sharp. Send word down the line to keep formations tight and watch for any signs of movement.”Kane gave a curt nod and motioned to one of the nearby captains, who relayed the order down the ranks.They hadn’t gone far when the first signs of trouble ap
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Lyra stood alone in the camp’s outer perimeter, the moonlight casting long shadows across the barren ground. The chill in the air bit through her cloak, but she barely noticed. Her hands trembled as she stared at them, her claws still faintly stained with the dark, viscous blood of the Shadow Beasts.The whispers of the stone echoed in her mind, an incessant hum that gnawed at her thoughts. It was like a living thing, pressing against the edges of her consciousness, demanding more of her, urging her to let go and embrace its full power.“You’re stronger with me,” the voice cooed. “You can protect them all. You can end this war.”But Lyra knew the truth. The power came at a cost. Each time she tapped into it, she felt a piece of herself slip further away - a fragment of her humanity, a shred of her will.She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she tried to silence the voice.“It’s not real,” Thalia growled from deep within her. “It’s feeding on your doubt. You’re th
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The southern forest was quieter than it should have been. The scouts who had returned with their grim report moved uneasily through the camp, their eyes darting to every shadow as if expecting the trees themselves to spring to life.Lyra stood near the edge of the camp, staring into the distance where the tracks vanished into the darkness. Kane approached, his heavy footfalls muffled by the damp earth.“They’re not just regrouping,” he said, his tone heavy. “There’s something more to this.”Lyra turned to him, her sharp amber eyes narrowing. “What did the scouts say?”“They found blood on the trail,” Kane replied, his voice low. “Fresh, and not just from their wounded soldiers. It’s something... bigger. And the tracks - they’re not all human.”Lyra felt a cold knot form in her stomach. “Not human? Like Shadow Beasts?”Kane shook his head. “No. They said it was as if the earth itself had risen to walk.”Lyra’s heart skipped a beat. Memories of the last battle with Drevon flashed throug
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The camp was eerily quiet after the encounter with the creature. Soldiers who had once stood firm in the face of Shadow Beasts now exchanged nervous glances, their hands never straying far from their weapons. Lyra remained at the edge of the clearing, her amber eyes locked on the kneeling figure of the earthen golem. Its massive frame shimmered faintly in the moonlight, the glowing embers of its eyes like a flickering fire threatening to go out - or blaze anew.Kane stood a few steps behind her, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “You can’t let your guard down,” he murmured. “Whatever this thing is, it’s still dangerous.”Lyra nodded, though her gaze didn’t falter. “I know,” she said, her voice steady. “But it responded to me. That means there’s a connection - a way to control it.”Thalia growled in her mind, a low rumble of unease. “Control it? Or let it control you? This thing is bound to the stone, Lyra, just like you are. You’re walking a fine line.”“I don’t have a choice
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Drevon POVThe cave reeked of decay. Stale air clung to the jagged walls, and the dim glow of sputtering torches cast unsettling shadows that danced like restless specters. Drevon sat hunched over a stone altar, his gaunt figure outlined in flickering orange light. His once-imposing presence was diminished - his robes tattered, his face pale and drawn, and his dark eyes shadowed with exhaustion and fury.The stone was gone.The reality gnawed at him like a starving wolf. That wretched Lycan woman had ripped it from his grasp, severing his connection to its boundless power. The loss had left him weaker, his magic fractured and unreliable. Every incantation now demanded more from him, draining his strength faster than ever before.But weakness did not mean defeat.“Master...”The voice broke his thoughts, low and hesitant. One of his lieutenants - a wiry man with a scar bisecting his cheek - stood at the entrance, his posture half-bowed.“What?” Drevon snapped, his tone like the crack o
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Drevon POVDrevon staggered to his feet, his dark robes torn and singed by the clash of energy. The ground beneath him trembled as the golem reared back, preparing for another devastating strike. Its molten eyes blazed with fury, the raw power of the earth coursing through its massive form. Drevon’s mind raced, each passing moment reminding him of how far he had fallen since losing the stone.The creature charged again, its movements unnervingly fast for something so massive. Drevon raised both hands, chanting an incantation under his breath. The words burned his throat, the magic straining his already weakened body. Shadows coiled around him, forming a swirling barrier just as the golem’s fist came crashing down.The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the ruins, shattering stone and toppling soldiers who had dared to remain close. Drevon’s barrier held, but only barely. The dark energy flickered and cracked under the assault, and he knew it wouldn’t withstand another strike."Fa
Last Updated : 2025-01-17
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Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 102 : Thalia
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, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 101 : Memories
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.“
Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 100 : The Ruins
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, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 99 : Nightfall
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Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 98 : The Spark of Wrath
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, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 97 : Pain of Rejection
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
Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 96 : Shattered Bonds
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Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 95 : The Storm Above and Below
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
Lyra, His Second Chance Mate Chapter 94 : The Breaking of the Sky
Lyra’s POVThe world trembled as the battle began.Lyra had prepared herself for a monstrous form, for the shape of something inhuman. But what stood before them was a nightmare given flesh. The Harbinger wore the form of a man - tall, broad-shouldered, his dark armor clinging to his frame like a second skin. His hair was swept back, revealing a face carved from ice, sharp angles and regal cruelty. His piercing golden eyes glowed in the darkness, twin suns in an endless void.It was the face of the First King. And it was nearly identical to Kane’s.Lyra felt Kane tense beside her, his grip tightening around the hilt of the First King’s sword.A slow smile curled the Harbinger’s lips. "You feel it, don’t you?" His voice was deep, resonant, laced with something ancient and terrible. "The bond between us. You were made for this, Kane. You carry my blood, my legacy." He took a step forward, power radiating from him in sickening waves. "Come to me, my son."Kane stiffened as if struck.Lyr
