The First Manifestation

“...AHH…!”

Anastasia jolted upright.

A terrified cry tore from her throat before she could stop it.

For several seconds, she couldn't move.

Her small body remained rigid beneath the sheets, drenched in sweat. Her fingers clutched the blankets tightly as she stared into the darkness of her room, her chest heaving with uneven breaths.

But she wasn't truly seeing her bedroom. She was still there… Still trapped inside the nightmare.

The images burned behind her eyes with terrifying clarity.

Kingdoms were burning.

Entire cities had been reduced to ruins, their towers collapsing beneath skies choked with black smoke. Flames stretched across the horizon, turning the night into a horrifying sea of orange and red.

Then came the wolves.

Massive wolves tore across blood-soaked battlefields, their enormous bodies moving through the chaos with terrifying speed. Their claws ripped through armor. Their jaws snapped around screaming warriors. Their vicious snarls rolled across the battlefield like thunder.

Everywhere Anastasia looked, there was destruction.

Bodies lay scattered across the earth.

Some were motionless… Others still crawled desperately through the mud, reaching for anyone who might save them.

There was no one coming.

Blood flowed between the broken stones, gathering in dark rivers beneath the burning ruins.

Smoke filled the air… Ash drifted endlessly from the sky. And beneath it all…

The screams! God… The screams.

They came from everywhere.

Men screaming… Women crying… Children calling for their parents… Voices pleading for mercy… Voices begging for help.

Some screams were so raw with agony that they barely sounded human anymore.

They echoed across the ruined battlefield, overlapping until they became one unbearable symphony of suffering.

Anastasia wanted to cover her ears… She couldn't. She wanted to run… She couldn't.

She could only stand there and watch as the nightmare unfolded around her.

The screams grew louder… Until it felt as though every terrified voice was screaming directly into her ears.

But that wasn't the worst part.

No! The worst part was what stood above it all.

Enormous black wings stretched across the blood-red sky.

They were impossibly vast, spreading from one end of the horizon to the other, blotting out the burning sky until even the flames below seemed small beneath them.

They weren't feathers… They weren't flesh either. They looked like darkness itself had taken shape. A living darkness that should never have existed.

And they were far worse than death. Because death felt final… This thing didn't. This felt like the kind of horror death itself would obey. Like if death had a master…

This was it.

Anastasia stared upwards, unable to tear her eyes away.

She didn't know what she was looking at. She only knew that it was wrong… Terribly wrong.

And beneath those monstrous wings… Something was watching. Not the burning kingdoms or the battlefield. But..

Her… Anastasia.

Its gaze was fixed on her.

It didn't feel like the distant stare of something observing the destruction around it.

It felt deliberate… Personal. As if everything else in the nightmare had ceased to matter the moment it noticed her.

Anastasia tried to move… Nothing happened!

She tried to scream… No sound came!

The darkness seemed to stretch towards her.

Closer… Closer…

And that unseen gaze never left her.

Even now, awake in the safety of her room, Anastasia could still feel it.

That terrible presence… That invisible gaze. Watching her from somewhere beyond the nightmare.

Her breath hitched.

Then suddenly, she scrambled out of bed.

Fear sent her racing across the cold floor.

“Mother!”

Her frightened voice cracked through the darkness.

“Father!”

The hallway seemed endless.

Every shadow stretched across the walls, making the nightmare feel dangerously close.

A terrifying thought crept into her mind.

Whatever had been watching her might have followed her out of the dream.

Anastasia reached her parents' chamber and pushed the doors open.

Both Lucien and Anana were already awake.

The moment they saw her face, every trace of sleep disappeared.

“Anastasia.”

She rushed towards them.

Lucien barely had time to sit upright before she climbed hurriedly onto the bed and threw herself against him.

His arms immediately wrapped around her.

One hand moved to the back of her head, holding her securely against his chest.

“You're alright,” he murmured.

His voice remained calm, but concern sharpened beneath it.

“Easy, little wolf. Breathe.”

Anastasia clung tightly to his shirt.

Her fingers refused to let go.

Anana immediately moved closer, wrapping her arms around them both.

“Oh, my angel,” she whispered, gently brushing Anastasia's hair away from her face.

“What happened?”

Anastasia swallowed.

For a moment, she couldn't answer.

The images were still too clear… Still too real.

“I saw...”

Her voice shook.

“Burning kingdoms.”

Lucien's hand slowed against her back.

Anastasia's fingers tightened around his shirt.

“Wolves... tearing through battlefields.”

Anana's expression changed slightly.

“Rivers of blood beneath broken skies.”

Anastasia swallowed again.

“And screams.”

Her voice dropped.

“There were screams everywhere.”

Silence filled the room.

Anastasia slowly lifted her eyes.

“There was smoke...”

Her breathing hitched.

“And giant black wings in the sky.”

The words faded into a frightened whisper.

Neither of her parents spoke.

For one brief moment, the silence felt heavier than the nightmare itself.

Anana immediately pulled Anastasia closer.

“Oh, my sweet girl.”

She pressed a kiss against her forehead.

“Nothing is going to hurt you.”

Lucien lowered his head, pressing his lips gently against Anastasia's hair.

“You're safe.”

His voice was quiet.

“No nightmare can reach you here.”

Anastasia remained between them.

Slowly, Anana's fingers moved through her hair while Lucien's hand continued moving gently along her back.

The warmth of her parents surrounded her.

Little by little, her breathing steadied. The nightmare began to loosen its grip.

Eventually, exhaustion won.

Anastasia's fingers remained curled into Lucien's shirt as she fell asleep between them.

The room became quiet… Only her soft breathing remained.

For several moments, neither Lucien nor Anana spoke.

Then Lucien slowly lifted his gaze. Anana was already looking at him.

Neither needed to explain what they were thinking… They had both understood.

The moment Anastasia described what she had seen.

“This was her first manifestation,” Anana whispered.

Her fingers continued moving gently through Anastasia's hair.

“But she's only ten.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“It's too early.”

Lucien's gaze lowered to their sleeping daughter.

Every supernatural child manifested at thirteen… Anastasia had manifested three years early.

The silence that followed was different now… Heavier, more uncertain.

Lucien remained quiet for several seconds.

Then finally, he spoke.

“It's unexpected… Yes.”

Anana looked at him.

Lucien's expression remained calm, though his eyes had settled on Anastasia with quiet thoughtfulness.

“But Anastasia was never meant to be ordinary.”

A faint silence passed.

“Not when she's our child.”

Anana looked back down at their daughter.

Lucien's hand moved gently across Anastasia's back.

“She was born with power in her blood.”

His gaze darkened slightly.

“And now that power has begun to awaken.”

Anana's fingers stopped briefly in Anastasia's hair.

A quiet understanding passed between them.

Then she whispered…

“It's time.”

Lucien didn't immediately answer. His gaze remained fixed on Anastasia.

She looked so small… So peaceful. Completely unaware that something inside her had already begun to change.

“She’s still so little, Lucien.”

“I know.”

“But if her manifestation has already begun...”

Anana's voice lowered.

“Then her training has to begin too.”

Lucien's arm tightened slightly around Anastasia.

“She needs control.”

His eyes remained fixed on his sleeping daughter.

“Before her power grows beyond her.”

Silence settled over the room once more.

Then Anana finally spoke.

“The academy.”

Lucien looked at her.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then he nodded.

“Yes.”

Outside the chamber, the night remained silent. But far away from the warmth of Anastasia's parents… 

Something unseen seemed to stir within the darkness. And somewhere beneath that endless night…

Something remembered her.