A shape dropped lifeless just as the warning began to blare.
A shape crashed into the broken east gate, pupils lit by a strange purple fire, blood vessels stained dark from witchcraft. Silence held his throat tight. Not one pause touched his steps.
Forward he charged, aiming right at Lyra.
Footsteps carried him before thought could catch up.
Out of nowhere, he pushed Lyra backward just as his body began to twist between steps. Cracks snapped through his frame, sharp and loud, while dark fur ripped upward through splitting skin. A huge black wolf lunged forward instead, hitting the hunter like a falling tree - impact rang out, bodies slamming hard against unyielding rock.
Hold tight near the guards! Kael shouted along the link.
Footsteps faltered, pulse racing while everything spun into madness nearby.
Out of the shadows came wolves, their claws gleaming under moonlight. Flesh met blast after spell struck home. Night split open with screaming. Fangs shone just before impact.
Through everything, their presence pressed against her skin.
The hunters.
Her thoughts spun close, each one waiting. One drifted left, another pressed near, the third held back but watched. They did not speak, yet moved together - tightening.
A whisper curled through her mind, soft like smoke. Home, it murmured, come back.
"You were never meant to be free."
A sharp burst of agony cracked through her skull.
Footsteps faltered when Lyra cried out, bones giving way just as the animal inside her threw itself at invisible barriers. The wolf - trapped, thrashing - not knowing escape, only fear driving motion.
"No - no - no - "
Her body started to move without her consent.
Faster than breath, silver fire slid along her back. The world snapped clear - pulse dropping to a crawl.
The Moon Reaper was waking.
Kael ripped through the hunter's neck, then twisted fast - Lyra was shifting her stance. A heartbeat late, yet he caught it.
Something about her eyes didn't sit right.
Empty. Cold. Focused.
Fangs bared, he roared her name, crimson streaking down his muzzle.
Her eyes met his. He stood there, silent under her gaze.
It was the first moment since they met that his presence slipped away from her senses.
The silence started where the bond once spoke.
Fear unlike anything before hit hard in his chest.
"No," he snarled. "Not you too."
Foot by foot, Lyra moved ahead, stiff as a puppet, climbing past lifeless forms while strands of magic wound tight around her, cold and clinging.
A whisper came from the group. The target was found.
"Phase Two initiated."
Frozen, her eyes held Kael fast.
"Injure. Do not kill."
Her hands trembled.
A scream rose within her. It wasn't loud - just sharp, deep, tearing through quiet like glass cracking under pressure.
This isn't me.
This isn't me.
Flesh melted into shape, sudden and wet, Kael standing there drenched in red. His breath punched out hard, ribs shuddering beneath streaked skin.
"If you can hear me," he said hoarsely, stepping toward her, "then fight."
Her fingers lifted into the air.
Power surged.
A heavy wave of magic struck Kael full force, hurling him backward. The impact with the stone column was sharp, a harsh sound splitting the air. Blood splattered outward, staining the earth beneath.
"KAEL!" someone screamed.
Lyra's breath caught.
Her vision fractured.
Footsteps faltered as dread ripped through the haze.
"I - I didn't mean - "
Last time," the group snapped firmly.
Up went her arm once more.
Floor cold beneath his palms, Kael rose - crimson streaking his ribs without pause.
"Do it," he growled. "If that's the only way they'll stop hurting you."
A shriek ripped through darkness. Night split wide open.
"No!"
A noise split through her mind then. It wasn't loud - just sharp, like glass breaking under snow.
Back came the bond - fierce, burning, impossible to ignore.
Her wolf howled.
Down she fell, onto her knees, hands gripping tight around her skull when the training broke apart.
Truth arrived sudden - no tricks, no stories whispered through candlelight. Her thoughts filled up anyway.
A figure named Kael holds ground where flames flicker and a young voice cries out. The fire crackles behind him while fear shouts ahead.
A Blackmoor wolf dragging survivors to safety.
Run. Her mother's voice was soft, urgent. A breath against her ear.
It hurt beyond words.
Down she fell, chest heaving, breath jagged. Tears came hard, voice broken between each one.
He moved unsteady on his feet, closing the distance without a word about the wound. The fight behind him cracked like thunder yet he paid it no mind.
Down he went, onto his knees, drawing her close when the final hunter hit the ground.
Silence crashed down.
Fingers dug into fabric, Lyra trembling hard against Kael's chest.
"I hurt you," she sobbed. "I hurt you - I can't - "
Kael leaned in, their foreheads touching, air uneven between them.
"You fought it," he said fiercely. "That's all that matters."
Her eyes fluttered.
"I saw," she whispered. "I saw the truth."
His breath stilled.
"They lied to me," she continued. "About everything."
"Yeah," Kael murmured. They really had.
A fire lit her gaze as she stared his way - no hollowness there, no strings pulling her moves.
Awake.
"What was Phase Two?" she asked.
Kael's jaw tightened.
A hush fell just before the sound came. From the shattered wards rose a quiet chuckle, slow and deep. It rolled through the air like something waking.
Out from the dark came a shape wrapped in glowing symbols, touched by pale light. A hush followed its slow approach, each step silent on stone. Moonbeams clung to the edges of its long coverings like dew. Runes flickered faintly, pulsing as if breathing. It stood still, yet seemed already moving beyond sight.
"Well done," the woman purred. "You broke faster than expected."
Lyra froze.
Her voice came out soft. Elder Seraphine, she said between breaths.
A slow grin spread across her face.
"Phase Two," Seraphine said softly, eyes gleaming, "was never about control."
Up went her hand.
"It was about awakening."
The ground trembled.
Magic roared.
A scream tore from Lyra when an old, awful presence responded to her summons.