- The Hand That Feeds the Flame-
Elder Mira's POV
She waited until the moon dipped low.
Until the halls were empty.
Until even the guards near the temple steps were yawning.
Then she slipped into the prayer vault and locked the doors behind her.
Not to pray.
To betray.
Elder Mira removed her mask and lit the black candle—the one forbidden in all rites. Its flame burned purple, casting eerie shadows across the runes etched in the stone floor.
She took out the item she'd hidden in her robe: a tiny shard of bloodstone, stolen from the old tomb of the exiled.
"Let her hear me," she whispered.
"Let her answer."
She placed the shard on her tongue and bit down.
The room shivered.
Then the shadows moved.
A figure stepped out of the darkness, cloaked in rags and wolveskin, her long silver hair unbound and wild. Her face, though shadowed, was unmistakable.
Lilith.
Mira dropped to one knee.
"It worked," she breathed.
Lilith tilted her head, amused. "You're bold for an elder. Do you know how many wolves would kill you just for speaking my name?"
"And yet here I am."
Lilith circled her slowly. "What do you want, traitor?"
Mira rose to her full height. "I want balance. And Selene is not balance. She's chaos."
Lilith's lips curled.
"You fear your power slipping."
"I fear her making the same mistake you did."
"Don't insult me by pretending this is about protection," Lilith said. "This is about control."
"She cannot be controlled," Mira said. "But perhaps… she can be broken."
Lilith's gaze sharpened. "Go on."
"She has allies. Kael. The Young Council. Even whispers among the Moonborn heirs. She is building something, and we cannot see the full shape of it yet."
"She's not waiting for prophecy—she's rewriting it."
Lilith gave a dark laugh.
"Then maybe she's more like me than you thought."
"That's exactly what terrifies me."
Mira stepped forward, careful.
"I propose an exchange."
"I give you information. Routes. Weaknesses. Allies who can be turned. In return… you wait."
"You wait until she's isolated."
Lilith's eyes gleamed. "And then?"
"Then you take back what was denied you. And I make sure the council turns a blind eye."
A long silence.
Then, Lilith nodded once.
"You will deliver your first offering within three nights."
"And if you betray me, Elder... I'll wear your bones as earrings."
With that, Lilith stepped back into shadow and vanished.
Mira was left alone—sweating, shaking, and smiling like someone who had just pulled a dagger out of a friend's back.
"Let the girl shine," she whispered. "She won't burn long."
---
Meanwhile...
Kael jolted upright in bed.
He didn't know why.
His heartbeat was loud. His breath shaky.
And something inside him whispered...
"Selene is in danger."