He dreamt of her again.
Not the girl they whispered about now—the vessel. But Selene. The goddess. His goddess.
Brutus stood in the place of their last memory. The sky was silver, the ground endless mist. Selene walked toward him barefoot, trailing stardust.
"Why did you do it?" he asked. His voice was thick, heavy with centuries of silence.
She stopped before him. Her face was radiant and sad.
"Because I loved them all."
He stepped forward, fists clenched. "You loved me."
"I did," she whispered. "And I still do. But I had to become more than love."
Brutus's roar shattered the dreamscape.
When he woke, the stone walls of the tower trembled.
Chains rattled. Dust fell from the ceiling like ash.
"Selene..." he rasped. "You left me in a world of echoes."
He pulled against the chains again. Each link glowed with ancient wards—runes carved by gods long dead. But one of them… was cracked.
He stared at it.
It pulsed faintly, like it remembered the heat of his rage.
The voice in his mind—the only companion he had for over a thousand years—spoke again.
"She is near."
Brutus's chest rose slowly. "I know."
"She does not remember you."
"I know."
"But you remember her."
Brutus smiled, a terrible, beautiful thing. "Every breath."
---
In Moonwatch, Kael pressed a bloodied cloth to his ribs as he stumbled into the eastern chamber.
He'd survived the shadow beast Sabrina unleashed, but barely. His right side felt shattered. The poison still lingered in his veins, clouding his vision.
He reached for the library wall and slid down against it, panting.
The room spun.
"Sheila… if you can hear me..." he muttered, "I need to warn you."
But no raven flew. No bond remained. Whatever connection he'd once had with Sheila—it was fractured, scattered like dust.
He closed his eyes and let the darkness in.
---
In Silverstone, Sheila sat on a moss-covered rock, knees pulled to her chest.
The forest felt... quieter today. As if something ancient held its breath.
"I don't know who I am anymore," she said aloud.
Emery sat beside her, not close, but near enough to listen.
"You're still Sheila. The broken girl. The survivor. The vessel."
"That last one terrifies me."
Emery nodded. "It should."
Sheila looked up at the canopy. "Sometimes, I feel her heartbeat in mine. Sometimes, I think thoughts that aren't mine. But sometimes... I see him."
Emery stilled. "Brutus."
"Yes. Not as a monster. As a man. A king."
Emery hesitated. "Selene and Brutus weren't just gods. They were the first myth. Before wolves. Before witches. Before the sky knew the moon's name."
Sheila blinked at her. "How do you know all this?"
Emery smiled faintly. "Because I was raised in the old faith. Before the Elders outlawed it. We kept the stories hidden, whispered under blood moons."
Sheila's voice dropped. "Tell me everything."
Emery reached into her satchel and pulled out a scroll. It unrolled with a soft rustle, revealing faded ink and images painted in wolf's blood.
She pointed. "Brutus was made of flesh and fire. Selene of light and shadow. They ruled not by might, but by balance. He was the fury. She, the grace."
Sheila ran her fingers across the scroll. "So what happened?"
Emery tapped a section where the moon split into two. "She saw a future where all life ended. A darkness too old to name. She knew her power alone wouldn't be enough. So she broke it."
"Into two souls," Sheila whispered. "Me… and?"
"We don't know," Emery said. "Some say the other half is lost. Some say it sleeps in the void."
"And Brutus?"
Emery's gaze darkened. "He begged her not to split her soul. Said it would shatter the divine bond between them. That without her whole, he would go mad."
Sheila's chest ached. "So she left him."
"She chose everyone," Emery said. "But in doing so, she broke him."
---
In the tower, Brutus pulled once more.
A sound rang through the stone.
One of the chains shattered.
Dust swirled. The wolves of the forest howled in unison.
Brutus exhaled. "Soon."
A raven landed at his window. Its feathers shimmered violet.
It croaked.
He reached for it. The bird did not flee.
He whispered, "Fly to her."
The raven turned and soared into the red-tinted sky.
---
That night, Sheila stood at the mirror again.
She'd been avoiding it.
But tonight, something pulled her back.
Her reflection shimmered. Just for a second, she didn't see herself.
She saw Selene.
Then, a vision—her body surrounded by fire, her hands holding two swords: one of silver light, the other of shadow.
She whispered something in the vision.
"I choose death."
Sheila stumbled back. The mirror cracked.
Emery burst in moments later. "What happened?"
Sheila pointed. "I saw… I think I saw the end."
Emery touched the mirror. "This is just the beginning."
---
Somewhere deep in the woods, a hunter crept through the mist.
He was one of the spies from Moonwatch—sent to find Sheila and end her before the prophecy could unfold.
He never made it back.
The last thing he saw was a towering wolf with glowing red eyes and a crown of bone.
The wolf spoke.
In a voice not of this world:
"She is not yours to claim."
The spy screamed.
Then silence.
---
Back in her chambers, Sheila sat by the window. The stars shimmered, but her eyes stayed on the forest.
"I'm not ready," she whispered.
From the trees, the raven landed on her sill.
It dropped a feather.
A single black plume… lined with silver.
She picked it up—and heard his voice again.
"I remember your light."
She looked up sharply.
A pair of eyes stared from the trees.
Not Sabrina's. Not Emery's.
Eyes like stormlight.
Burning with memory. With madness. With love.
Brutus.