The forest behind Willow Town was quiet in a dangerous way—like a beast holding its breath before a hunt.
Mia walked beside Olcan, her boots crunching softly on the dirt path. She didn't speak. She couldn't. Her thoughts were loud enough.
Lilith. Echelon. Prophecy. Hybrid.
Words she barely understood now ruled her life. She was no longer just a strange girl in a human town. She was something ancient… something hunted.
They had left before dawn. No goodbyes. No explanations. Olcan said they couldn't risk it. Humans might have seemed harmless, but rumors spread like fire. And fire, to their kind, was deadly.
"Where are we going first?" Mia finally asked. Her voice sounded small in the open air, swallowed by the wind.
"North," Olcan replied without looking back. "We follow the river until it splits near the Shadow Creek, then cross into the mist lands."
Mia frowned. "That doesn't sound like a real place."
"It's real. And dangerous. That's why it's the first test."
Mia glanced at the forest on both sides of the path. The trees stood tall, their twisted limbs tangled like witches' fingers. Shadows moved even where light touched. And yet… the forest wasn't what made her uneasy. It was the silence between them.
She needed to understand. To feel something solid beneath her feet.
"Papa," she said. "You said I'm half vampire and half wolf. But how is that even possible? Aren't our kinds supposed to hate each other?"
Olcan finally stopped walking and turned to face her. "We do. That's what made you a miracle. And a threat."
He crouched beside a large stone, pulled a skin of water from his pack, and took a drink before handing it to her.
"Your mother and I broke the rules. And the price was blood."
Mia looked at him, unsure. "But... why didn't you fight back? You're a prince too, right?"
Olcan's jaw clenched. "I tried. But war between vampires and wolves has lasted for centuries. Our love was never going to be enough. We thought we could change things—make peace. Instead, we started a fire that consumed both kingdoms."
Mia sipped the water. It tasted metallic, like it had been drawn from deep underground. "And now… the prophecy says I'll fix it."
He met her eyes. "That's what they say."
"Do you believe it?"
"I believe the world is broken," he said. "And you might be the only one strong enough to put it back together."
They resumed walking. The air grew thicker, colder. Fog rolled across the path in waves. Mia wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to shiver.
"Tell me about the prophecy," she said, needing something—anything—to hold on to.
Olcan's voice was steady, low. "It was spoken by the Oracle of Avalon, hundreds of years ago. She saw a time when the balance of power would collapse. When the royals of Echelon would fall. When wolves would betray their own kind. And when darkness would cover the lands."
Mia swallowed. "That already happened."
"Yes," Olcan said. "But the prophecy wasn't just about the fall. It was about the rise. A queen born of two lines—blood of the night and heart of the beast—would rise and marry a white witch, the last of their kind. Together, they would restore the world."
Mia looked at him sharply. "White witch? Like… literally white?"
Olcan chuckled for the first time in days. "Not skin color, no. White witches are rare—born under a twin moon, gifted with the purest form of magic. Only one is believed to still exist."
"And I'm supposed to… marry him?"
Olcan raised an eyebrow. "That part can wait. First, we survive."
They crossed a shallow stream. Mia stepped carefully on the stones, the icy water brushing her boots. As she reached the other side, she froze.
She felt something.
Not sound. Not sight. A presence.
"Papa…"
"I know," Olcan said grimly.
He turned, drawing the blade from his side. The silver gleamed in the fading light.
From the trees, a shape moved. Then another. Then three more.
Wolves.
But not natural ones.
Their eyes glowed red. Their fur was streaked with black oil. Their movements were wrong—too smooth, too silent.
"Rogues," Olcan muttered. "Exiles. Magic-corrupted."
Mia's pulse spiked.
One of the wolves stepped forward, baring its teeth. Its growl sent chills through her bones. It didn't just sound angry. It sounded hungry.
"Stay behind me," Olcan ordered.
Mia's hand went to the pendant at her chest. The crystal pulsed like a heartbeat.
The first wolf lunged.
Olcan was ready. His blade sang through the air, slicing across the wolf's side. Blood sprayed, dark and thick, and the creature crashed into the dirt.
But two more came from the left. Fast.
Mia stepped back—but one of them leapt at her.
Her instincts screamed. She lifted her hands.
A blast of crimson light exploded from her palms. The wolf was thrown backward, crashing into a tree with a horrible crack. It didn't move.
Mia stared at her hands, breathing hard.
"What… was that?"
"Your power," Olcan said, cutting down the second rogue with a clean strike. "Your vampire side, waking up."
"I didn't even mean to!"
"You don't need to mean to," he said. "You just need to feel."
The last wolf hesitated, then let out a low whimper and turned, vanishing into the trees.
Silence fell again.
Mia's heart pounded in her ears.
She had just killed something.
And yet… she didn't feel afraid.
She felt alive.
"I felt something," she said quietly. "Like a pull. Like I wanted to protect you."
Olcan nodded. "That's the beast in you. The wolf protects its pack. But if you lose control, it will consume you."
He wiped his blade clean and looked at the corpses. "Rogues this deep into the forest… they were tracking us."
"Who sent them?"
"I have a guess," he said. "And if I'm right, this journey just became more dangerous."
They moved on quickly, leaving the bodies behind. The forest began to thin as they climbed a rocky slope. At the top, the land opened up. Mist curled around their feet.
Mia looked out and saw, far in the distance, the sharp black spires of a city rising through the fog.
"Is that Echelon?" she asked.
"No," Olcan said. "That's the edge of Avalon. Witch territory."
Her breath caught. "Are we going there?"
"Yes. We need allies. And we need help unlocking your full power. Vampires use blood. Wolves use strength. But witches… they use focus. If you want to survive, you'll need all three."
Mia nodded slowly, the fog wrapping around her like a cloak.
She didn't know what waited in Avalon. Or what would come after. But she was beginning to understand who she was.
She was born of night and shadow.
And her destiny had only just begun.
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