The wind howled through the canyons like a dirge as Aria stood atop the cliff overlooking the valley of Eldryn. Below, a river split the land like a silver wound, and the sun hung low—blood orange and brooding.
Beside her, Darius lit a small pipe, watching the horizon. "You ever hear of the Broken Luna?"
Aria shook her head. "A myth. A ghost story the elders told to scare pups."
"She was real," Darius said grimly. "The twin sister of the First Luna. A powerful seer. Betrayed, exiled, erased from history. Some say her bloodline lived on, hidden."
Aria tensed. "You think Mircella found that bloodline?"
"I think you might not be the last Vale after all."
---
The group pressed forward through the marshlands of Grivor, following old paths few dared to walk. It was a cursed place—haunted by the memory of war and beasts twisted by magic.
Nyla led the way, flanked by Raekon and Darius. Kael stayed close to Aria, their connection stronger than ever. Even so, the shadows in her dreams whispered of betrayal, of blood ties that would unravel everything.
"Do you believe in fate?" Aria asked Kael one night as they sat by the fire.
He thought for a moment. "I believe in choice. Fate only matters if we surrender to it."
She leaned against him. "I won't surrender. Not again."
But fate had its own ideas.
---
They reached the edge of the Blackwood just as the first snowfall touched the land. The trees were massive, dark, and ancient. Birds refused to sing here. Even the air felt heavier.
Darius led them to an old ruin—a circle of standing stones.
"This is it," he said. "The place of binding. Where your father sealed away something he feared more than death."
The stones shimmered with residual magic. Aria approached them cautiously. Her hand brushed one—and visions slammed into her mind.
A girl, bound in silver chains. Eyes like her own. Screaming.
A ritual. Blood. Betrayal.
A woman who looked like Mircella, chanting.
Then… silence.
She fell back with a cry. Kael caught her.
"What did you see?" he asked.
"Her," Aria whispered. "My sister."
---
Later that night, Raekon confronted Darius.
"You knew. You brought us here to unlock her."
Darius didn't deny it. "The blood needs to meet. Only then can she understand what she's up against."
"You're playing with fire."
"I'm playing to win."
---
When the moon was high, the stones glowed red.
Aria stood in the center. Her pulse matched the beat of the earth. Something rose from beneath the ground—a coffin of obsidian etched with runes.
It cracked open.
Smoke poured out.
And from within stepped a girl.
Red-haired. Pale. Eyes like garnets and frost.
Aria's breath caught.
The girl looked at her, then tilted her head. "Sister."
Kael drew his sword. Darius held him back. "Not yet."
"I am Seraphine," the girl said, voice like silk over broken glass. "Firstborn daughter of House Vale. The one cast aside."
Aria swallowed. "Why are you here?"
"To finish what our father started," she said, smiling. "Or destroy it."
---
They brought Seraphine back to camp, where tensions ran high.
She was graceful, magnetic, and unsettling. She moved like a dancer, spoke like a queen, and watched Aria like prey.
But she also knew things—about Mircella, about the Blood Moon ritual, even about Aria's dreams.
And she could shift. Not into a wolf… but a shadowy beast with wings.
"She's not like us," Kael muttered. "She's something else."
"Maybe that's what we need," Aria said.
That night, Seraphine sang an ancient lullaby by the fire. Darius watched her with unreadable eyes. Nyla kept her hand on her blade.
And Raekon? He didn't sleep.
Because he had seen those eyes before—in the vault of Mircella's castle.
He knew what Seraphine truly was.
And he knew she was lying.
To be continued...