Chapter Two: Shadows That Breathe

When the light died, it didn't just disappear; it shattered, leaving her blinking spots from her vision.

Liora blinked against the blinding aftermath. Her ears were ringing, and her heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of her chest. Ash stood in front of her, his body tense, that black dagger raised.

Meanwhile, across the chamber, Kael hadn’t moved an inch. Smoke curled from his fingers, and the air crackled around him like broken static.

"What the hell just happened? What did you do?" Liora asked, her voice shaky.

Ash didn’t answer right away. He was staring at Kael as if seeing a ghost he had failed to bury.

"You always were a show-off. Was that dramatic entrance really necessary?" Ash said tightly, his eyes narrowed.

Kael smiled coldly. "You always were naive. Still think you can save everyone? Still pretend you can protect her? She’ll be the death of you. Again."

"Okay, timeout.” Liora stepped forward; the journal in her bag practically vibrating against her hip. "Someone needs to start explaining. Now."

Ash didn’t take his eyes off Kael. "He’s my brother. Or he was, once, before he decided to throw his lot in with the people trying to wipe out your bloodline. He betrayed everything we swore to guard."

“Oh, come on," Kael chuckled. "Says the loyal dog, still licking divine boots. Don’t make me sound like the villain here. Let me guess: you didn’t tell her the whole truth, did you?"

Liora stepped between them, heart pounding. "What truth?"

Ash cursed under his breath. "Kael isn't just my brother; he's the reason the Bloodmoon line was hunted into extinction."

Kael gave a mock bow. "Guilty as charged. And she is the last flame, burning too brightly for her own good."

Ash shoved Liora behind him. Then Kael moved. He didn't run or attack. He just disappeared in a blur of shadow and heat.

Liora had never seen anything move that fast. One second he was across the room, the next he was dropping from the ceiling like some kind of nightmare spider.

Suddenly, Kael reappeared above them, dropping from the ceiling. Liora backed into the altar, breath locked in her throat.

"Ash!" she shouted.

Kael flicked his wrist casually, and Ash went flying across the room as if he weighed nothing. Before Liora could even blink, Kael was in front of her.

"You have her eyes. You look just like her," he murmured, tilting her chin up with a clawed finger; his nail was way too sharp to be human. "Serelai’s soul lives in you, but you're not her. Not yet."

Liora reached for the journal, she opened it instinctively. Pages flipped on their own, stopping at a symbol drawn in moonlight. Her sigil pulsed as light poured out of the book.

Kael hissed, his hood fell back, revealing a face that was angular and inhuman, both beautiful and terrifying, with glowing violet eyes and a scar that split his lips.

"The blood remembers, but it doesn’t forgive,” his voice sounded different now.

Ash was back on his feet, dagger drawn again. "Get away from her."

Kael smiled faintly. "She'll come to me willingly when she learns what you truly are."

Ash lunged forward, but Kael was gone, swallowed by shadow. The chamber fell silent again, except for Liora's ragged breathing.

She turned to Ash, furious and trembling. "What was that?!" she demanded.

Ash rubbed his jaw. "A warning."

"You lied to me."

"I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you everything."

"Same thing."

He looked into her eyes. "You wouldn't have believed me,” he said.

"Try me."

He stepped closer, his voice low. "I wasn't just bound to your bloodline, to Serelai. I was her protector, her guardian, her…” He stopped. "I was once Serelai's blade."

Liora felt her pulse race. "Her what?"

He looked into her eyes. "Her mate." The room tilted.

"You?"

"It wasn’t just a duty for me. It was a bond that was divine and unbreakable. When she died, a part of me did too, but her line lived on and is in you."

She shook her head, tears threatening. "That’s not possible. That's not how this works. It sounds like... like fate."

"It is."

She turned away, "This isn’t happening.. My name is Liora. I work at the library. I'm not some mystical goddess person, I don’t want to be her!" she screamed.

He walked up behind her, not touching her, just close enough for her to feel his presence.

"You already are. I see her in you more every moment."

She spun, eyes fierce. "What if I don’t want this bond?"

He swallowed. "Then I'll walk away. I will break myself before I ever chain you to it."

They stared at each other. A beat passed, then another. The silence stretched between them, charged with something raw and ancient, heavy with things neither of them knew how to say.

Finally, Liora the girl, not Serelai the goddess, took a step toward him. Her hand lifted to his chest, right over his heart.

Then tell me, she whispered. "Who was I?"

Ash inhaled sharply, his voice nearly a whisper. "You were a force, a reckoning. The wolves howled for you; the night bowed to you and you loved fiercely."

"What happened to her? To me?”

He placed his hand over hers. "There was a war, you broke the world to save mine. You tried to save everyone, and it broke you." His voice got very quiet. Their lips nearly touched. Then the ceiling cracked.

Flames erupted from the altar, all those symbols carved into the walls started glowing red. The temperature in the room spiked, and the walls began to burn crimson.

Liora stumbled back. "What now?!"

Ash looked around, grim. "The journal. It's not just a book; it's a key. And you just unlocked something that should have stayed buried. You just woke something up."

From the flames, a shape began to rise: a woman, but bigger and more terrible.

A voice echoed: "You dare awaken me without my command?"

Pain shot through Liora's body like lightning. Liora fell to her knees, clutching the journal; her veins burned with light.

Ash looked at her, panicked. "You’re channeling her. You need to let go of the book."

But she couldn’t. The journal was stuck to her hands like glue. It pulled at her soul. In the flames, she saw herself not as she was. She was crowned in light, dripping with blood, eyes glowing silver.

Serelai.

She screamed.

Ash grabbed her and yanked her away from the altar, breaking whatever connection she'd made. The flames vanished, and the room went back to its normal creepy blue lighting.

Liora collapsed into his arms, shaking.

Ash held her very tight. "We’re out of time," he said. "The past is waking; She's trying to come back through you and if she succeeds…"

Above them, a howl pierced the ceiling.

"Kael brought f

riends," Ash muttered.

Liora looked up at him, still dizzy. "How many friends?"

The howling got louder.

"Too many.”