ALPHA KAEL & THE MOONBLESSED

walls seemed to absorb what little warmth her skin held. But it was th

g back the crimson hood to reveal a face bo

oice a smooth mixture of command an

inside her skull. She searched Elara's eyes, seeing flickers of pa

her voice trembling. "What do

did not just mark you as Moon-Blessed. It tore you apart. It scattered you across time, space, and the ver

if the floor beneath her had shifted and cracked. She

ing up at Elara with pleading

shadows gather around her like a cloak. "The Other, the curse, is stirring. Your fractu

gh endless darkness, the void pressing against him l

abbling against invisible surfaces. The pain from the

echoed, barely audible over t

ed through, fingers finding a

rembling with exhaustion. Up ahead, a flickering torch

growled, limpin

y the image of Lyra, the fierce fire in her eyes and the fra

***

alking its prey. The crimson cloak fluttered as she m

tect you? That he can co

the cold. "I'm more than the curse. More

om her. "You don't understand. You're not just two halves, you're a weapon wait

fists. "And what

evour you, slowly and completely. You will beco

tly. Dust fell from the

as a version of herself, yet so different, harder, sharp

her chest, where the moon-sh

keep all of me," Lyra said quietly.

oment. "That is the dream. But the

an icy breeze whispered t

d in the darkness, stood the Other Lyra, the

of malice. Her smile was w

her voice dripping with venom. "Cho

from deeper in the ca

locked eyes. Reflections and shadows conve

e and raw, he had fought for her when the world turned ag

spered, though the tremor

d. "Fear isn't weak

od dripping from his sid

," he said, voice steady b

them. The very air seemed t

se was

epped a figure wrap

ack's

es glowed with otherworldly light. S

than a whisper, but it fil

binding must be reforged. But the pr

words echoed in her mind, stirrin

she asked, v

ust sacrifice what you love most. O

s met hers

save the pack, to save Ka

ide her whispered promis

older. The walls

sely, Lyra. The wrong choice will un

tepping forward. "Choose

the light flickering

, the past, the shadow, and th

e reached for the moon-sha

avern. The ground cracked

nd fire erupted, swirlin

arms, chanting wor

was no lon

as a

t hun

swallowed t