LOGINLyra I found out who he was two days later.Not from him.From whispers that followed him without permission.Cassian Blackthorne.Son of Alpha Darius Blackthorne.Heir to Thorneveil.It explained everything.The way people moved around him without realizing it. The way the library attendant had smiled. The way Miranda had said his name like it already belonged to her. And just like that… the book wasn’t just a book anymore.The next time I saw him, I tried to avoid him.It didn’t work.Fiona had taken me out that afternoon, insisting I needed “fresh air that didn’t smell like books,” and somehow we ended up in one of the larger stores near the city center. I had drifted toward the study materials section without thinking, scanning through stacks of notebooks I didn’t need.Then I saw him.He was standing a few aisles away.I turned immediately.“Lyra.”I stopped.“What?” I asked, not turning fully.He hesitated for a second before stepping closer. “I owe you an apology.”I glanced
Lyra When I woke up, nothing felt familiar.The room was too bright. Too clean. The sharp scent of antiseptic stung my nose, and machines hummed softly somewhere beside me.My head hurt.I tried to sit up, but the pain forced me back down with a sharp wince.“Oh—hey, easy,” a woman’s voice said gently.I turned toward the sound, my vision still blurry, trying to make sense of her face—but there was no recognition. “You’re alright,” she continued softly.A man stepped into the room just then, holding a small bag. He paused when he saw me awake.“She’s up,” he said quietly as he moved closer.They stood beside me, watching me carefully.“What’s your name?” the woman asked.Panic stirred faintly in my chest as I tried to answer. Then a voice echoed in my mind, faint and distant—like it didn’t belong to me.“…Lyra,” I whispered.Relief washed over her face.“That’s a beautiful name,” she said softly. After a brief pause, she asked, “Do you remember your parents?”I frowned, trying to th
Lyra“Lyra… run!”I didn’t.My feet stayed where they were, like the ground had decided to hold me there.Slowly, I turned.A man stood a few steps behind me—someone I had never seen before. Everything about him felt wrong. The way he stood. The way he looked at me. The weapon in his hand was pointed directly at me.“I have eyes on the girl,” he said into the device in his ear.The words didn’t make sense at first.Then they did.A scream tore out of me as I spun to run, but I didn’t get far. His hand shot out, catching my arm and dragging me back hard enough to hurt.“Let go of me!” I cried, struggling against him. “Mommy!”She was there almost instantly.“Let her go.”Her voice was quiet—but it carried something that made even me go still. The soldier hesitated, just for a second. And then everything shifted.A figure emerged from the smoke and flames behind him, dragging someone across the ground.My breath caught.“Dad—!”He was thrown forward like he weighed nothing, hitting the
LyraFor a few days, things felt… different.I didn’t know how to explain it properly, but I could feel it. My father had been leaving more often, called away for meetings that lasted longer than usual. Sometimes he returned late, and other times not until the next morning.When I asked my mother about it, she only smiled and brushed it aside, telling me he simply had more responsibilities to attend to.But it didn’t feel that simple to me.The whispers had started too.What happened at school didn’t stay at school. It spread—fast. Faster than anything I had ever seen. By the next day, everyone seemed to know.Some said my eyes had turned silver because I had been touched by the moon itself. Others said I had done something worse—that I had gotten inside the minds of the children and changed them somehow.And then there were the ones who suddenly wanted to be close to me, who watched me with wide, curious eyes like I was something fascinating instead of someone they used to ignore.E
LyraWarmth was the first thing I felt.It wrapped around me gently, like a blanket I didn’t remember pulling over myself, soft and familiar in a way that made me want to stay exactly where I was. For a few seconds, I didn’t open my eyes. I just lay there, breathing slowly, holding onto that feeling.But something in my head hurt… a dull, heavy ache that made my face scrunch in discomfort.I blinked my eyes open.The ceiling above me came into focus slowly, and recognition settled in.My room.I pushed myself up, but the moment I did, my head throbbed harder.“Ow…” My voice came out small.Why did it hurt so much?Carefully, I slid off the bed and made my way toward the door, my steps slow and uneven as I tried to ignore the throbbing in my head. I was almost there when a soft knock sounded.“Lyra?” a voice called gently from the other side. “Are you awake, little pup?”My chest tightened immediately.I knew that voice. I hurried forward and pulled the door open.“Mommy…”Concern soft
MirandaThe chime of my phone cut through the silence, sharp enough to draw my attention but not enough to rush me.“Mission failed.The girl still lives.”The message sat there, blunt and unimpressive.I lifted the teacup slowly, the warmth pressing into my fingers while thin strands of steam curled upward, delicate and unbothered by the shift in atmosphere.Then the cup left my hand.It struck the wall with a violent crack, scattered across the floor as tea streaked downward in uneven lines. The sound echoed briefly before silence returned.The Longbow unit had never failed a mission, not once, not under any circumstance. And yet a single girl had undone them?!Another chime followed.I picked up the phone and opened the message immediately.“The Veil Guards were present.”My gaze dropped to the file attached beneath it, and after a brief pause, I pressed play. The footage trembled at first before stabilizing enough to reveal her. Lyra Blackwood stood at the center of it, the chao
LyraI was halfway down the stairs when I realized I was running late.Again.My backpack bounced against my shoulder as I hurried, fingers fumbling with the strap while I descended the familiar curve of the staircase, its polished wood cool beneath my palm. Sunlight spilled through the tall window
Unknown Victor’s voice cut through the room like a blade dragged across stone.“Who?” he demanded. “Who dared use my pass?”I didn’t look at him immediately.The Operations Chamber was designed for control—low ceilings reinforced with alloy ribs, walls layered with screens that pulsed faintly with
LyraMurmurs rippled through the training grounds long before the first strike was thrown.They moved like a living thing—soft at first, curious, then swelling as soldiers noticed who stood at the center of the field. Weapons were lowered. Sharpening stones paused mid-stroke. Conversations thinned
LyraWe didn’t leave the yard.Not really.Our bodies stayed there but our minds were already somewhere else, stretching toward a city that shouldn’t exist and somehow did.Kael was the first to move.He crossed to the low table near the perimeter wall, shoving aside a crate of spare parts to clear







