The next morning, the Silverstone woods pulsed with unease.
Birds no longer sang. The wind howled with no breeze. Trees stood eerily still, like sentinels holding their breath.
Sheila awoke in a sweat. Not from a nightmare—but from memory. Her dreams were becoming less dreamlike, more like relived moments. Real. Familiar. Terrifying.
She looked at her palm where the feather had dissolved. Only a faint shimmer remained. The voice still echoed in her chest.
"I remember your light."
Who was she now? A girl? A goddess? A weapon?
Her door creaked open. Emery walked in, her face pale. "The Oracle wants to see you. Now."
Sheila's stomach dropped. "Is something wrong?"
"The air," Emery said. "It's changing."
---
The Oracle's chamber was darker than usual. Candles flickered violently, throwing shadows across the stone floor. The Oracle stood still in the center, her blindfold tied tighter than usual, her fingers trembling.
"She's seen something," Emery whispered.
The Oracle turned toward Sheila. "The seal is cracking. Others feel it too. Vessels are stirring."
Sheila stepped forward. "Others?"
"Selene was not the only one who split," the Oracle said. "Long before memory, there were four primordial souls. Selene, the Flame, the Frost, and the Void."
Sheila's eyes widened. "You never told me this."
"You weren't ready."
"And now?"
The Oracle inhaled shakily. "You are barely ready. But time is not waiting."
A gust of wind blew through the chamber—despite no open windows.
The Oracle's voice trembled. "If you do not restore Selene's soul, the others will awaken incomplete. And what's fractured... destroys."
Sheila sat slowly. "How do I complete her?"
"Pain," the Oracle said. "Memory. Trial. Fire."
---
That afternoon, Emery led her to the edge of the sacred grove—a circle of ancient stones, each marked with moon glyphs. A training circle, older than any temple.
"I need you to learn control," Emery said. "You've been too reactive. And reactive vessels… explode."
Sheila raised an eyebrow. "You're not great at easing people into things."
Emery smirked. "Would you prefer lies?"
"No," Sheila muttered. "I've had enough of those."
They stepped into the circle. Witches ringed the outer edge, murmuring spells. A dome shimmered to life above them—magic containment.
Sheila exhaled. "What now?"
"Now," Emery said, "you learn what's inside you."
With a flick of her wrist, Emery summoned three illusions: one of Sheila's mother, one of her twin, and one of Kael.
Each of them spoke in unison:
"You were never enough."
Pain surged.
Sheila gasped, falling to her knees. "What is this?!"
"Your memories," Emery said. "Your pain. We draw them to the surface so we can cut them out."
"I can't—"
"You will."
The illusions surrounded her.
"You were always the weak one," her sister sneered.
"You disappointed me," her mother whispered.
"You never deserved me," Kael said coldly.
Power crackled at Sheila's fingertips.
Her hands trembled. Her eyes began to glow.
Emery shouted, "Control it, Sheila!"
But she didn't know how.
The ground trembled. Energy surged outward. The witches staggered back, chanting louder.
"Sheila!" Emery screamed.
A scream tore from Sheila's throat—but it wasn't her own.
It was Selene's.
The entire dome shattered.
And Sheila collapsed.
---
When she woke, she was back in her chambers. Emery sat beside her, pale and shaken.
"You nearly burned through the forest," Emery said. "You summoned a power none of us have seen since the Days of Flame."
"I lost control," Sheila said.
"No," Emery corrected. "You let Selene take control. That's the danger. You're merging."
Sheila touched her chest. "I felt her grief. It wasn't mine. But it felt so real."
Emery nodded. "Because it is. Every time you relive her past, you risk losing yourself to it."
"What happens if I do?"
Emery hesitated. "Then we lose you… and the world loses its only chance."
---
Meanwhile, deep in the Moonwatch catacombs, Sabrina stood before an altar made of bones. Her hands were soaked in blood, her eyes glowing with unnatural light.
A voice coiled around her.
"She grows stronger. We must break her before she remembers *everything.*"
Sabrina placed her palm on the altar. "Then give me what you promised."
The shadows surged. A creature slithered into view—its face shrouded in fog, its eyes infinite.
It whispered, "Unleash the Forgotten."
Sabrina grinned. "With pleasure."
---
Back in Silverstone, the witches debated.
"She's dangerous," one said.
"She's *necessary,*" Emery countered.
"She's unstable."
"She's the key."
"She might be the end."
Sheila stood outside the chamber, listening.
They were right about all of it.
---
That night, the sky cracked.
Wolves howled not in unison—but in terror.
The moon flickered. Silver… then crimson… then black.
The Oracle collapsed mid-trance.
Emery rushed to her side.
The Oracle opened her mouth—and screamed.
Then, with a voice not her own, she whispered:
"The flame stirs. The frost awakens. And the void… watches."
A tremor shook the castle walls.
And far beyond the mountains, three stars fell at once.
---
Sheila stood at her window, hand on the glass. In the distance, the trees were glowing—silver veins running through their trunks.
The ground was humming.
And at the forest's edge… the same red-eyed wolf watched.
Only this time, he stepped forward.
Out of the shadows.
Into the light.
His fur shimmered between black and silver.
Sheila's breath caught.
And then… he bowed