The first step down was like stepping through a memory.
The air inside the chamber was colder than the forest above. Not bitter—just ancient. It smelled of dust and rain and something else… something like mourning.
Sheila paused at the threshold. Her heart thudded in her chest, not with fear, but with recognition.
"I've never been here," she whispered. "And yet I have."
The chamber descended in a spiral staircase carved into the rock. The walls were etched with unfamiliar runes, glowing faintly silver, pulsing in sync with the rhythm that had led her here.
Every step echoed. Every breath seemed louder. But Sheila kept going.
She didn't know how far she'd gone until the staircase opened into a wide chamber lit by soft blue fire floating in the air.
Her eyes widened.
Murals lined the walls. Not painted—*woven* into the very stone.
The first one showed a woman of light—Selene—standing atop a cliff, her hands raised to the sky, moonlight cascading from her palms.
The next mural: wolves kneeling before her, silver light burning in their eyes.
Then—Selene splitting herself. Her body shattered in streaks of silver and shadow, pouring into two infant wolves lying beneath a crimson moon.
One glowed brightly.
The other... cracked.
Sheila's breath caught.
The mural that followed made her legs weaken. She reached for the wall to steady herself.
Brutus.
But not the monster everyone whispered about. Not the silent prisoner in the tower.
This Brutus knelt at Selene's feet. His eyes were filled with pleading. His hand outstretched to her, shaking. His mouth open in a silent cry.
And Selene…
She turned from him.
The final mural showed fire. Wolves torn apart. The sky split in two.
And at the center—
A dark figure with no face. Shadow stretched across the heavens, swallowing stars.
Underneath, etched in jagged silver:
**"The Devourer of Souls shall rise with her awakening."**
A voice broke the silence.
"So. You finally found it."
Sheila spun around.
Emery stood at the edge of the stairway, arms crossed.
"You knew this was here?" Sheila asked.
"I suspected. The forest has secrets, and you've always been drawn to the ones that should stay buried."
Sheila turned back to the mural. "This is me… isn't it?"
Emery didn't answer right away.
"She looks like me. But her face…" Sheila swallowed. "It's cracked."
"Because your soul is not whole."
Sheila frowned. "So I'm broken?"
"No," Emery said softly, stepping closer. "You're *incomplete.* There's a difference."
Sheila stared at the faceless shadow. "What is the Devourer?"
Emery's voice dropped. "A god that should never have existed. A hunger that even the stars feared. Selene and the others sealed it away before time had a name."
"But it's waking now," Sheila said.
"Yes," Emery nodded. "Because *you* are waking."
Sheila's voice cracked. "So if I finish awakening… it will too?"
Emery hesitated. "Only if you can't control what's inside you. Selene split her soul to keep that thing asleep. But half her light went into you. The other half…"
"Went where?"
"We don't know."
A long silence passed between them.
Sheila turned away, clutching her arms. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"I know." Emery softened. "But fate doesn't ask for permission."
Sheila's eyes traced the mural again. She saw Selene's eyes—full of sorrow, determination, and... love?
"What happened between her and Brutus?" she asked.
"They were more than lovers," Emery replied. "They were divine counterparts. Moon and Beast. Light and Fury. But when Selene chose to split her soul, Brutus begged her not to. He feared the consequences."
"He was right," Sheila murmured.
"Maybe," Emery said. "But sometimes, doing the right thing means breaking the ones we love."
---
Meanwhile, back in Moonwatch, Kael paced the cold stone floors of the western tower.
He hadn't slept in days. Not since Sabrina started whispering to herself.
Not since the birds stopped landing on the windowsills.
Not since the moon turned red.
He stared at the scroll in his hand—a forgotten prophecy dug out of the High Archive.
*"When the moon remembers her tears, and the beast breaks his silence, the false twin shall answer the call of the void."*
The false twin.
Sabrina.
Kael stormed out of the tower, his boots slamming against the floor.
He found her in the garden, standing perfectly still under the red-tinted moonlight.
"Sabrina," he said.
She didn't turn.
"You've been different. Distant. Your eyes..." He swallowed. "They're not yours anymore."
Sabrina smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You've always been so observant, Kael. That's what I liked about you."
"What have you done?" he demanded.
She turned to face him. Her skin was pale, too pale. Her irises—flickering with something not entirely human.
"What Selene refused," she said. "I accepted."
"Who are you talking to?"
Sabrina stepped forward. "Not a who. A what."
Kael reached for the dagger at his belt.
But Sabrina was faster.
Her hand lifted lazily—and the shadows beneath her surged upward, forming claws.
Kael was thrown backward, slammed against a pillar.
His vision blurred, but he heard her voice clearly.
"It's not Sheila you should fear," Sabrina whispered. "It's the part of her that wants to come home."
---
Back in Silverstone, Sheila stood frozen before the mural.
Something pulsed behind the wall—soft, rhythmic, like a second heartbeat.
She stepped closer.
"Don't," Emery warned. "That mural isn't just art. It's a seal."
But Sheila couldn't stop herself.
Her fingers brushed the cracked face of the woman carved into the wall.
The mural shimmered.
The ground shook.
A whisper coiled in her ears—low, feminine, aching with sorrow.
**"You were never meant to be alone."**
Then everything stopped.
No sound.
No wind.
Just a stillness so deep it felt like the world was holding its breath.
"Sheila," Emery said, her voice tight. "We need to go. Now."
Sheila turned to leave—
And froze.
Behind Emery, at the top of the stairs… stood a figure.
Not a witch. Not a guard.
A woman with crimson eyes and a shadow trailing like smoke.
Sabrina.
"Hello, sister," she said sweetly