LILY POV
The Ancient Ones attacked all at once.
Not physically - that would have been too easy. Instead, they launched something far more dangerous: pure memory. Thousands of years of disappointment, betrayal, and heartbreak from watching the supernatural world they'd helped build fall apart.
The emotional attack hit me like a tidal wave. I felt their pain as vampires turned from defenders into predators. Their fury as werewolves forgot their link to nature and became territorial beasts. Their despair as witches abandoned knowledge for power.
"Lily!" Caleb shouted, reaching for me as I doubled over on the Balance chair. "What's happening?"
"They're showing me everything," I gasped, struggling to understand centuries of accumulated grief. "All the ways we've failed them. All the mistakes we've made."
