The tension between the twin sisters could be felt like static in the air. Aria watched Seraphine from across the campfire as flames danced between them—symbolic, somehow, of the fire that separated their truths.
Seraphine had claimed their father betrayed her. That she was meant to be the true Luna but had been imprisoned for her gifts. She told stories of visions, of being hunted by their stepmother Mircella for the power she couldn't control. But every word she spoke wrapped around Aria like a vine—tight, suffocating, beautiful, and possibly deadly.
Kael didn't trust her.
Nyla barely concealed her hostility.
Raekon seemed… distracted, like he was holding a secret of his own.
But Darius? He watched Seraphine like one watches the sky before a storm.
"Do you remember this place?" Seraphine asked Aria one evening, standing at the edge of a frozen lake.
"No," Aria said.
"I do. We used to play here. Before they took me." She smiled sadly. "They made me forget you. But the dreams brought it back."
Aria frowned. "Why are you really here, Seraphine?"
"To reclaim what I was denied. But maybe… to help you, too. We're stronger together."
Later that night, Aria couldn't sleep. She wandered the woods alone, trying to clear her head.
That's when the vision struck.
She fell to her knees, breathless. The trees shimmered. Voices echoed in her skull.
"…the Moonborn child will wear two faces…" "…one of light, one of lies…"
A woman stepped from the shadows in her vision—robed in crimson, skin marked with sigils.
"You cannot trust the mirror, daughter of Vale. She will break before you bend."
When Aria awoke, Kael was holding her.
"You collapsed," he said. "You've been out for nearly an hour."
"There's something wrong with her," Aria whispered. "Seraphine. I saw it… in the dream."
---
The next morning, the camp was in chaos.
One of the scouts had gone missing—Talven, a quiet wolf with a sharp eye. His blood was found near the river. No body.
"I found these," Nyla said, holding a strip of fabric and a pendant.
Aria's stomach dropped. The fabric was unmistakable—black velvet with a crimson vine stitch.
Seraphine's cloak.
But when confronted, Seraphine only smiled.
"Talven was watching me. Spying. Maybe he got lost."
Darius narrowed his eyes. "Or maybe you made him disappear."
Seraphine stepped toward him, and for a heartbeat, the fire in her eyes wasn't human. "Careful, hunter. Your ghosts are still bleeding."
Aria broke the standoff. "We can't afford this. Not now. We need answers, not accusations."
But the trust was cracking.
---
That night, Aria dreamed again.
This time, she stood in a throne room made of bone and ice. Her father knelt before her, eyes hollow.
"Forgive me," he whispered. "I split you in two to save the world. But the darkness has found her. You must choose, Aria. Bind her… or become her."
She awoke gasping.
Outside, the wind carried whispers.
And in the shadows, Seraphine smiled.
To be continued...