LOGINRAZEThe dead do not bother me at night.They come to me when everything is quiet and still.When the battlefield is silent, no more swords are fighting no more orders are being given, and no more blood to clean from my hands.That is when they come back to me.Every face I see is one that I remember.Every name I hear is one that I know.Every choice I made is one that I regret.I stopped counting the lives that Serena and I destroyed a time ago.I did not stop counting because there were no lives.I stopped counting because I was too ashamed to remember them.Tonight every single one of those lives came back to me.I stood alone on the balcony of the sanctuary.The mountain was behind me. The valley was below me.The darkness covered the land like an ocean.It moved across the trees slowly covering everything it touched.Somewhere under that darkness an army was waiting.The Shadow was gathering them and getting them ready.The final battle was not coming it had already started.I h
ARES War has a way of making silence. Not the calm kind. The kind that happens after much screaming. The Heart Chamber was quiet again. Soldiers moved carefully through the glowing roots taking care of the wounded with voices as if talking too loudly might break the fragile peace the Heart Tree was trying to keep. For the time in what felt like forever… No one was fighting. I leaned against one of the silver roots finally letting myself breathe. Then the pain came to me. The cut on my ribs hurt with every breath. My left shoulder was stiff. My hands were covered in dried blood—some mine, some not. I couldn’t remember the time I had slept. Maybe two days ago. Maybe three. Time had stopped making sense. Only survival mattered now. ⸻ Steps came closer. I didn’t need to turn around. “I thought I’d find you here.” Kael. He stopped next to me looking at the glowing Heart Tree. For a while… Neither of us said anything. We had been rivals for years. Now we stood toge
RAZE I used to believe revenge gave life meaning. Now, standing at the entrance of the Heart Chamber, I wasn’t sure I believed in anything anymore. The silver light spilling from the ancient roots painted long shadows across the stone floor. Warriors hurried past me, tending to the wounded and preparing for another attack, but I barely noticed them. My eyes never left Serena. She stood at the far end of the chamber, completely still. The darkness beneath her skin pulsed slowly, almost like a second heartbeat. Now and then she would flinch, as if something inside her was trying to claw its way out. She didn’t scream anymore. That frightened me more than anything. The Serena I knew would’ve fought until her last breath. This one… This one looked tired. I had seen that look before. Years ago. Before revenge became her only purpose. ⸻ “You’ve been staring at her for a long time.” The voice came from behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. Ardan. “I
LYRA The silence frightened me more than the screams. A moment ago, the sanctuary had been collapsing around us. Stone had shattered. Warriors had shouted. The mountain had groaned beneath the weight of something ancient. Now… Nothing. Not even the wind. It was as though the sanctuary itself had stopped breathing. Behind us, Serena stood in the middle of the ruined chamber. Darkness coiled around her feet like living smoke before disappearing beneath her skin. One half of her face remained the woman I had always known. The other… Thin black veins traced across her cheek and down her neck, pulsing faintly beneath her skin. Her blue eye watched me. The other had become an endless void. She smiled. It wasn’t cruel. It was… empty. As though something inside her had finally broken. “Go.” Ardan’s command echoed through the silence. “The Heart Chamber is opening.” Silver light spilled from the narrow passage ahead, washing over the broken floor. Ancient symbols awaken
LYRA The horn echoed through the sanctuary. Every conversation stopped. Every sword lowered. Every pair of eyes turned toward the shattered entrance. Commander Rowan strode forward, meeting the wounded scout before he collapsed completely. “What did you see?” Rowan demanded. The young soldier struggled to catch his breath. “The valley…” He swallowed. “It’s gone.” A heavy silence settled over the sanctuary. “What do you mean, gone?” Rowan asked. The scout looked up, terror plain on his face. “The forest…” “It disappeared.” ⸻ No one understood. Not at first. I stepped closer to the broken entrance, careful to keep Orion’s hand in mine while Fenrir stayed close to Kael. The moment I reached the opening… My breath caught. The forest outside hadn’t burned. It hadn’t been destroyed. It had simply… Stopped existing. Everything beyond the sanctuary gates was covered in darkness. Not night. Not fog. Darkness so complete that it swallowed the mountains themselves.
KAEL The mountain was coming apart at the seams. Stone was crashing around us. It was shaking the sanctuary but I did not even notice. All I could see was my sons. Fenrir was standing tall even though he was scared. He did not want to leave Orion’s side. Orion was holding Ares’ hand with one hand and reaching for Lyra with the other. He was trying to hold onto both of them at the time. My sons were afraid. They were children. Children should be playing, not standing in the middle of a war. They should be arguing over toys running around in the palace gardens and falling asleep during bedtime stories. Instead, they were in the middle of a war that should never have touched them. A war that I had helped create. I felt guilty. Every choice I made every lie I believed every moment I failed Lyra it all led to this. It led to this mountain and this nightmare. I made a promise to myself. If fate wanted another life today it would have to take mine The First Shadow let out
Serena’s POV.The runner showed up before noon, on time. He was dirty, not the dirt that makes guards suspicious.The kind they ignore.Good.I prefer smart over loyal. Loyalty gets you killed.He came in without knocking. He had already been cleared. He had already been waiting.He knelt. Pulled o
KaelI pulled up at the gate.She was on the wall.Alive.She was wearing leather. Her eyes were silver. Her hands were on her stomach.She looked round. Pregnant.My legs gave out. I fell to the dirt.“Lyra—" I choked. "I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.”She looked down at me. Her face was emp
AresShe didn’t look back. She should have. Kings aren’t used to being walked away from. My wolves, who had been silently watching as we spoke, weren’t used to it either. Three of them at the tree line shifted, growling low, asking why I let a banished Omega dismiss their king. Because she wasn’t an
Lyra The baby… it just reacted to him. My hand stayed on my stomach, and my fingers pressed there like I was trying to hold it still.“What… what was that…” I whispered, and the warmth faded slowly but not fully; it lingered, like a memory, like something alive that had just gone quiet again. My h







