MasukKael’s POV“Now wake the King.”The voice disappeared.For several seconds, neither Lyra nor I moved.The chamber had become unnaturally quiet.Too quiet.I looked at Lyra.She was staring at the symbol glowing over her heart.A silver crown surrounded by golden flames.“Lyra…”She looked at me.“I don't know what is happening anymore.”I understood the feeling.For the first time in my life, I didn't either.Every answer we found only opened another door.Every enemy we defeated revealed something older behind it.And now something beneath the Moon Kingdom wanted me awake.I stepped toward her.“What if we don't listen?”Her eyes met mine.“What if we have no choice?”Before I could answer, pain exploded through my chest.I dropped to my knees.“Kael!”Lyra caught me.My heart began pounding violently.Not my heartbeat.Something else.Something ancient.Boom.The ground shook.Boom.The walls cracked.Boom.The silver crown mark burned across my chest.I screamed.Then the world dis
Lyra’s POV“I was inside you.”The words echoed through my mind.I couldn't move.The creature wearing my face stood only inches away.Same eyes.Same lips.Same voice.But I knew it wasn't me.Kael moved first.“Get away from her!”He lunged forward.The creature lifted one hand.Kael was thrown across the chamber.“KAEL!”He slammed into the stone wall.I ran toward him.But the creature caught my wrist.Its fingers were freezing.“Don't.”I turned.It smiled.“You've spent your entire life believing you were one person.”Its eyes darkened.“You aren't.”My heart pounded.“What are you?”“A memory.”The creature touched my chest.“A desire.”Its fingers pressed against the golden light beneath my skin.“A piece of a heart that refused to die.”I pulled away.“Then why do you look like me?”“Because I was born from you.”The answer terrified me more than anything else.The creature leaned closer.“Every time you felt the Void.”I remembered.“Every time you heard a voice.”My nightma
Lyra’s POV“Hello, Queen.”The voice was Kael’s.But the thing standing behind him wasn't Kael.I knew it immediately.Every instinct inside me screamed it.“Let him go.”The creature smiled.Its hand remained on Kael’s shoulder.Kael's body was perfectly still.Too still.His silver eyes stared at me, but there was no emotion behind them.No warmth.No recognition.Nothing.“Kael,” I whispered.His lips moved.“Lyra…”The voice sounded like him.But then the creature spoke through him.“Do you know how long I have waited?”I stepped forward.“Get out of him.”The creature laughed.“You still think this is possession.”The Queen suddenly shouted.“It isn't.”Her eyes remained fixed on Kael.“The King is not possessed.”I turned toward her.“Then what is happening?”She swallowed.“He has awakened.”A cold feeling spread through my body.“Awakened what?”The Queen looked at Kael.“The King beneath the King.”Kael suddenly screamed.His body bent forward.Black veins appeared across his
Lyra’s POVThe woman sitting on the throne looked exactly like me.Same face.Same lips.Same silver hair.Even the tiny scar beneath her left eye was there.But her smile was wrong.It carried centuries of cruelty.I stared at her.“Who are you?”She laughed softly.“You still don't remember.”The throne beneath her shifted.Black roots crawled across the stone, wrapping around her body like living shadows.“You've called me many names.”Her eyes turned silver.“Queen.”Black.“Monster.”Golden.“Mother.”My heart stopped.I took a step backward.“No.”She smiled.“Yes.”Kael was gone.Seraphine and Elyra were gone.The Queen looked around the empty chamber.“Do you know why your mother erased your memories?”“Because she wanted to protect us.”“No.”The Queen leaned forward.“She wanted to protect you from me.”I shook my head.“You're lying.”“Am I?”She lifted one hand.The room changed.Suddenly I was standing in a nursery.Moonlight poured through the windows.Three babies slept
Lyra’s POV“My heart has come home.”The voice echoed through the prison.I couldn't breathe.It sounded exactly like me.But it wasn't me.The ancient chamber trembled as another heartbeat rolled beneath our feet.Boom.The walls cracked.Boom.The silver crystals shattered.Boom.The Queen dropped to her knees.For the first time since I had seen her, she looked terrified.“What is that?” I whispered.She didn't answer.“Who is beneath us?”Her black eyes lifted toward me.“The one who should have remained dead.”Kael stepped toward me.“Lyra.”I looked at him.The crimson light inside his chest was fading, replaced by a soft silver glow.His eyes were still his.Thank the Moon.“Are you okay?” he asked.I nodded.Then the voice inside my head whispered again.Come closer.My body moved before I could stop it.One step.Then another.“Lyra!”Kael caught my wrist.I froze.The moment he touched me, the golden light beneath my skin flared.His silver heart answered.The prison suddenl
Kael’s POVThe first thing I felt was Lyra.Not her touch.Not her voice.Her heartbeat.It echoed inside my chest like a second pulse, frantic and terrified.“Kael!”I forced my eyes open.Lyra stood several feet away, surrounded by darkness.Her face was pale.There was blood on her lips.And behind her, the Moon Kingdom was dying.The silver crystals embedded in the walls were turning black one by one.The floor beneath us cracked.“Lyra…”I tried to move.The chains around my wrists tightened.Aldric stood behind me.My father.His expression was unreadable.“You shouldn't have come here,” he said.Lyra looked at him.“You said Kael was the key.”“He is.”“Then release him.”Aldric shook his head.“You still don't understand.”His eyes moved toward me.“The key was never meant to open the prison.”Silence.“Then what was he meant to do?” Lyra demanded.Aldric looked at me.“Choose who lives.”My blood ran cold.“What?”Aldric stepped closer.“The heart inside him has awakened.”I







