Lyra POV:
I run toward the northern gate with my staff already glowing.
"Move!" I shout to the soldiers rushing past me.
One of them gasps, "Something huge is coming from the forest!"
Kael appears beside me, fastening the straps of his armor.
"You feel that?" he asks.
The air hums with magic.
"Yes."
We reach the top of the gate wall. The soldiers fall silent. Something enormous moves through the trees. Then it steps into the open.
A giant ice elemental rises from the forest, taller than the city walls. Its body burns with blue frost light.
"The Blood Moon," Kael says quietly.
The creature roars. Ice erupts from the ground as it starts marching toward the gate.
"Archers!" a captain yells.
Arrows fly. They shatter harmlessly against its frozen body.
I lift my staff.
"Barrier!"
A massive shield spreads across the gate as the elemental slams its fist against the wall.
The impact shakes the stone. Cracks spread across the barrier.
"Lyra!" Kael shouts.
"I see it!"
I thrust my staff forward.
"Lunar fire!"
Blue flames crash into the elemental's chest. It staggers but keeps moving. Kael leaps from the wall.
"Kael!" I shout.
He lands directly in front of the giant. Its arm swings down toward him. He slides under the strike and drives his sword into the creature's leg.
The blade glows with strange energy. The ice cracks instantly. I stare.
I've never seen a sword break frost magic like that.
"Again!" he shouts.
I aim my staff at the crack.
"Break!"
My spell slams into the weakened ice. The elemental roars as its leg fractures.
It swings wildly. The force knocks me backward. The wall beneath my feet collapses. For one terrifying second, I fall.
Strong arms catch me. Kael pulls me against him as he lands on the lower platform.
"You need to stop falling off walls," he says.
I stare up at him.
"You need to stop jumping into giants."
The elemental roars again.
"Later," he says.
We run forward together. He attacks the elemental's legs again while I blast the cracks open with magic.
"Right side!" he calls.
I fire another spell. The giant stumbles. Kael jumps and drives his sword into the creature's chest.
"Lyra!"
I lift my staff with both hands.
"Shatter!"
A massive wave of lunar fire bursts forward. The elemental explodes into a storm of ice shards. Silence spreads across the battlefield.
Soldiers cheer from the walls. Kael exhales slowly. Then his knees buckle. I grab his arm.
"You're weakening again."
"The curse," he says quietly.
"You can barely stand."
"I'll manage."
"Barely."
We return to the palace. Inside the library, scrolls cover every table. I slam another ancient text open.
"There has to be another way," I say.
Kael stands nearby, arms crossed.
"There isn't."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
I glare at him.
"You're not even trying to survive."
He doesn't answer.
Orion enters the room.
"More creatures have been seen near the eastern gate," he says.
Princess Seraphine follows him. Her emerald eyes land on Kael immediately.
"So this is the knight everyone is whispering about."
Kael bows slightly. Seraphine turns to me.
"Lyra, the kingdom needs your focus."
"I am focused."
She gestures toward Kael.
"Then do not lose it because of him."
"I'm protecting the city."
"With him," she says carefully.
Orion interrupts.
"The prophecy remains clear."
I slam the scroll shut.
"We are not discussing sacrifice while the city is under attack."
Seraphine studies me for a moment. Then she nods.
"Very well."
Another horn blasts outside.
"Eastern gate," Orion says.
Kael grabs his sword.
"Let's go."
The eastern gate is already under attack. Ice wolves swarm the streets while shadow creatures crawl over the walls.
"Citizens first!" I shout.
I raise my staff.
"Shield!"
A dome of silver light spreads over a group of trapped civilians. Kael cuts through three wolves before they reach the barrier.
Another creature leaps from a rooftop. He turns and strikes it down instantly.
"Behind you!" I shout.
A shadow beast lunges toward him. I blast it apart with a fire ring. More wolves charge the gate. Kael runs straight into them.
His blade glows again. Every strike disrupts their frost magic.
"Lyra!" he calls.
"Now!"
I channel my power into his sword. Blue light wraps around the blade. He swings once. The entire pack shatters like glass.
The soldiers stare in shock. Orion watches from the wall above. His eyes narrow as Kael's sword glows brighter.
"Interesting," he mutters.
The last creature falls. Silence returns again. Kael breathes heavily.
"You just amplified my power."
"I didn't know it would work," I admit.
"It did."
Orion approaches slowly.
"That combination of energy…" he says.
His gaze shifts between us.
"It shouldn't exist."
Kael wipes frost from his blade.
"But it does."
Later that night, the battlefield finally grows quiet. Kael and I stand on the palace balcony. The Blood Moon rises above the mountains.
Its red light reflects across the frozen land. Kael's aura flickers softly in the moonlight. The glow pulses with the same rhythm as the moon.
I step closer.
"You're connected to it," I say.
"Yes."
"And when it reaches its peak?"
He doesn't answer immediately.
"The curse will reach its peak too."
I stare at the moon.
"So the prophecy is real."
"Yes."
My hand moves before I think. I reach for his hand. For a moment he hesitates. Then he lets me hold it.
His hand is warm despite the freezing air. We stand like that for a few seconds. Quiet. Then Kael gently pulls his hand away.
"You shouldn't get attached to me," he says.
I look at him sharply.
"That's not your decision."
The Blood Moon rises higher. Its light grows stronger. Across the city, frost spreads over rooftops like creeping vines.
More horns begin to sound in the distance. Kael turns toward the gates.
"The curse is accelerating."
I tighten my grip on my staff.
"Then we fight harder."
He looks at me for a long moment. Then he nods.
But as the Blood Moon reaches its highest point in the sky, one truth becomes impossible to ignore.
The closer we grow… The closer Kael moves toward the moment he is meant to die.