The Echo in the Bone

Chapter 17: The Echo in the Bone

The Guardian of the Threshold lunged, a mass of shadow and jagged silver spikes that moved like liquid mercury. Lucas stepped forward, his claymore whistling through the air as he parried a strike from one of the creature’s bladed limbs. The impact sent a shower of sparks across the tunnel, the force of it vibrating through the floor.

"Audrey, get back!" Lucas roared, his wounded shoulder bleeding through his tunic.

But Audrey didn't move. Her gaze was locked on the spirit of the White Wolf chained to the Guardian’s back. The woman’s eyes weren't just golden; they were a mirror of Audrey’s own soul.

"Strike!" the Guardian bellowed, its voice a tectonic shift. "Strike the ancestor and claim the throne of light! Only the heart that can sever its own past is fit to lead the future!"

Audrey ignored the Guardian. She ignored the chaos of Lucas’s battle. She stepped into the reach of the creature, her hands raised, palms open.

"I am not here to sever my past," Audrey said, her voice dropping to a low, melodic resonance that seemed to quiet the roar of the beast. "I am here to reclaim it."

She reached out and touched the spirit’s hand.

The moment their skin—one of light, one of flesh—met, the Gauntlet vanished. Lucas, the Guardian, and the dark stone walls faded into a white void. Audrey stood face-to-face with the first White Wolf.

"They told you the ritual erased your memory," the spirit said. Her voice was like the humming of a hive, sweet and dangerous. "They told you the void in your mind was the price of your life."

"Isn't it?" Audrey asked, her heart racing.

"The ritual did not erase your memories, Audrey. It sequestered them," the spirit explained. She placed a shimmering hand over Audrey’s heart. "Your human father’s blood was like a poison. To save you, Selene had to hide the 'You' that was born of that poison. But your memories of Lucas? They aren't in your head. They are in the Light."

The spirit smiled, a radiant, ancient expression. "The Council wants you to think you are broken because a broken Queen is easy to control. But look inside the flame, little spark. What did you feel when he took that blade for you?"

"I felt... I felt like my soul was being torn in half," Audrey whispered.

"Because the bond is not a magical contract," the spirit said. "It is a bridge of light. Your memories of him are stored in that bridge. Reach for the bond, Audrey. Don't reach for the girl in the kitchen. Reach for the Queen who stood on the dais and gave a broken pack a new name."

In the white void, Audrey saw a vision of the night she became the Luna of the Solar Eclipse. She saw the way Lucas had looked at her with reverence. She felt the weight of the "Crown of Ashes."

Suddenly, the "hole" in her mind began to fill. It wasn't a slow trickle; it was a flood. She remembered the scent of cedar. She remembered the way Lucas’s hand felt on her waist. She remembered the vow she had made to never be a slave again.

The memory of their first kiss didn't just return; it ignited.

"I remember," Audrey gasped, her eyes snapping open. "I remember everything!"

"Then show the Council," the spirit whispered, fading into the light. "Show them that the Sun does not forget the Moon just because the clouds are heavy."

The white void shattered. Audrey was back in the Gauntlet.

The Guardian was pinning Lucas to the wall, its silver spikes inches from his throat. Lucas was gasping, his strength failing, but his eyes were still fixed on Audrey, silent pleas for her to run.

"Get away from him," Audrey said.

It wasn't a scream. It was a command.

The golden light didn't just flare this time. It solidified. A massive, spectral White Wolf—larger than the Guardian—erupted from Audrey’s body. It was made of pure, blinding celestial fire.

The spectral wolf lunged, its jaws closing around the Guardian’s throat. The creature of shadow and spikes dissolved into black smoke, unable to withstand the purity of the "Origin Flame."

Audrey didn't stop. She turned her gaze toward the ceiling—toward the arena where the Council sat watching.

"You wanted to test my purity?" Audrey’s voice was amplified by the power of the first Luna. "You wanted to see if I was a broken vessel?"

She grabbed Lucas’s hand, the golden energy flowing from her into him, knitting his wounds together instantly. He gasped as the wolfsbane was purged from his system, his silver eyes flashing with a renewed, terrifying brilliance.

"We are coming up," Audrey declared.

With a surge of power, she didn't walk the stairs. She used the light to shatter the floor of the arena from below.

The Council Arbiters scrambled back as the stone floor exploded upward. Out of the dust and rubble stepped Audrey and Lucas, their hands intertwined, a pillar of golden light rising from them into the midnight sky.

Audrey looked directly at Lady Morana, then at her trembling father and the horrified Samantha.

"The Trial is over," Audrey said, her voice ringing across the mountains. "And the verdict is mine. I am the White Wolf. I am the Luna of the Solar Eclipse. And if any of you wish to challenge my 'purity' again, you can do it in the fire."

Lady Morana stood, her violet eyes wide with a mixture of fear and reluctant awe. "The Trial... is satisfied. The White Wolf has returned."

But as the pack began to cheer, a dark shadow passed over the moon. A messenger hawk, its feathers stained with blood, landed on the Council’s table.

Morana opened the message, her face going pale.

"It seems the Trial was the least of our worries," Morana whispered. "The Northern Wastes have fallen. The Vampire Lords have broken the ancient treaty. They aren't coming for territory... they’re coming for the White Wolf’s blood."