CHAPTER NO 11
The Dream of Thorns
The night after the crimson sky, Selene couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Nyra's face the look of pain behind her red eyes, the way her voice trembled when she said "You shouldn't make me feel this way."
Her heart twisted with something she couldn't name. It wasn't fear. It wasn't sadness. It was deeper something that ached and glowed at the same time.
When dawn touched the edges of the palace, she sat up, dizzy from half-sleep. But the world was strange the walls shimmered, and the air turned thick like mist. She wasn't in her room anymore.
She was dreaming.Or… maybe not.
A garden surrounded her, filled with white roses covered in thorns. Each rose bled a single drop of scarlet. The moon hung low and red, whispering her name in a voice that sounded like Nyra's.
"Selene…"
She turned and there she was.Nyra stood among the roses, her armor gone, her hair wild and black, her red eyes glowing softly. But she looked younger, almost human.
"You came," Nyra said, her voice echoing through the dream.
"I… don't know how," Selene whispered. "Where are we?"
"In my memory," Nyra replied quietly. "This place is what I see when I close my eyes."
Selene's chest tightened. "It's beautiful… but it hurts."
Nyra looked at the roses. "They bloom from my sins. Every thorn is a promise I couldn't keep."
The air shimmered again. Suddenly, one rose turned completely black and fell apart in her hand. Nyra stared at it, her expression breaking for the first time.
"You're not supposed to see this," she whispered. "The bond between us it's growing faster than it should."
Selene stepped closer. "Then let me carry some of it. Don't hide."
Their hands almost touched. Just as their fingers brushed, the roses burst into light. The dream cracked like glass and Selene woke with a gasp, her hand bleeding from a thorn that didn't exist.
Outside her window, a storm was gathering.Far away, in her own chamber, Nyra sat up at the same moment clutching her chest, the same mark blooming across her palm.
Two hearts now shared one wound.The prophecy had awakened.