FAZER LOGINDeadPOV: LioraThe council hall had never felt this cold before.Not even during war meetings.Not when accusations flew across stone tables or when blood debts were argued beneath the authority of ancient law.Tonight, the cold came from something else entirely.Memory.The moment I stepped through the massive doors beside Kael, every instinct in my body tightened painfully. The chamber was already full. Nightbane commanders lined the outer walls while council elders sat rigidly at the lower benches, their expressions drawn tight with unease. Even the air itself felt strained, heavy with the kind of silence that existed before disaster revealed itself.And at the center of the room…..stood Elias.For one impossible second, the world blurred around me.He looked older.That was my first thought.It wasn't weaker or broken but older.Silver threaded through the dark hair at his temples now, and the hard lines in his face had deepened with time, but there was no mistaking him. The sa
POV: LioraThe mountain did not sleep.Even in darkness, the ancient city breathed around us.I could hear it in the distant crack of steel against steel far below the lower terraces, in the echo of hurried footsteps through stone corridors older than most kingdoms, in the low chanting of priests somewhere deep inside the temple halls where the old rites were still being prepared.War had swallowed everything.I wasn't just talking about nightbane and the Silver Creek, but everything.The ancient world hidden beneath centuries of silence had finally awakened, and now every pack that carried even a drop of royal blood was being dragged toward the same inevitable collision.Toward the throne, the crown and the power that should have remained buried.I stood alone on the eastern balcony overlooking the cliffs, my hands braced against cold stone while icy wind tore through my hair. Far below, torchlight moved like rivers through the lower mountain paths where warriors gathered for battle
POV: LioraThe world disappeared in silver light.One moment I stood inside the throne chamber with Kael beside me, the mountain shaking beneath our feet while Matthias drew power from the ancient seal. The next, the stone floor vanished entirely, ripped away beneath a flood of memory so overwhelming it stole the air from my lungs.I staggered instinctively.But there was nowhere to fall.No mountain, no fortress or even battlefield.Only silver mist stretching endlessly around me beneath a dark sky filled with unfamiliar stars.My pulse hammered violently against my ribs.“Kael?”No answer.Fear hit instantly.Not the sharp fear of battle.Something deeper.The kind that settles in your bones when the one person you reach for is suddenly gone.I turned quickly, searching through the endless silver haze surrounding me.Nothing.Then footsteps echoed somewhere behind me.I spun toward the sound.And froze.The woman standing several feet away wore silver armor stained dark with blood.
POV: KaelThe descent back into the fortress felt like walking toward the mouth of something ancient and hungry.Nightbane was collapsing around us.Smoke rolled across the lower courtyards in thick waves while warriors dragged the wounded toward the inner walls. The eastern towers burned openly now, flames climbing high enough to stain the storm-dark sky above the mountain. Everywhere I looked, battle and chaos had replaced the home I had spent my entire life protecting.Yet the deeper we moved beneath the fortress, the quieter the world became.As though the mountain itself was holding its breath.Liora walked beside me without speaking, her expression unreadable beneath the flickering torchlight. Blood still stained the side of her tunic from the arrow wound she had barely survived days earlier, though she carried herself with the same dangerous steadiness that had unsettled me from the moment she entered my territory.Only now I understood why.She had never merely survived Silver
POV: KaelThe moment Matthias’s voice echoed across the valley, every wolf on the battlefield froze.It wasn't from fear but from force.The power pouring from beneath the fortress was unlike anything I had ever felt. It moved through the air like a living thing, ancient and violent, pressing against instinct itself. Warriors dropped to one knee across the blood-soaked grounds below while even shifted wolves whimpered beneath the pressure.And beside me…..Liora cried out softly.I caught her before she collapsed completely.Her body trembled against mine, one hand clutching the front of my shirt while the other pressed hard against her chest as though she could physically hold herself together.“Liora.”Her breathing came unevenly.“I can feel it,” she whispered.Panic surged through me instantly.“What’s happening?”She shook her head once, eyes wide and unfocused.“It’s called blood.”Seris stepped toward us sharply, her face drained of color.“That’s impossible.”But even as she s
POV: KaelThe moment Matthias’s voice echoed across the valley, every wolf on the battlefield froze.It wasn't from fear but from force.The power pouring from beneath the fortress was unlike anything I had ever felt. It moved through the air like a living thing, ancient and violent, pressing against instinct itself. Warriors dropped to one knee across the blood-soaked grounds below while even shifted wolves whimpered beneath the pressure.And beside me…..Liora cried out softly.I caught her before she collapsed completely.Her body trembled against mine, one hand clutching the front of my shirt while the other pressed hard against her chest as though she could physically hold herself together.“Liora.”Her breathing came unevenly.“I can feel it,” she whispered.Panic surged through me instantly.“What’s happening?”She shook her head once, eyes wide and unfocused.“It’s called blood.”Seris stepped toward us sharply, her face drained of color.“That’s impossible.”But even as she s







