Chapter 5- Awaken

Lyra

As Lyra rushed through the village, smoke’s acrid bite stung her nostrils. Homes smoldered. Everything was in ruins.

She scrambled through collapsing buildings looking for signs of life. But the streets were vacant, eerie silence weaving through the heat. Then, a faint cry near the old well drew her attention. 

Aunt Maris lay on the ground. Blood stained her clothes. When she heard Lyra approach, her eyes fluttered open. Maris smiled weakly as she kneeled beside her.

The cold, damp ground sent a shiver through her, the metallic scent of blood making her stomach twist. Warmth faded from Maris’s hand as Lyra gripped it in her own.

“Aunt Maris!” She blurted, trying to stop the bleeding pooling beneath her.

Maris’s chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths. Lips tinged blue. 

“Lyra…” Maris gasped, her dull gaze filled with love.

Lyra’s heart throbbed in anguish. “Don’t talk. Save your strength,” she pleaded. 

Maris’s fingers twitched in Lyra’s grasp. “They took them…” she sputtered, “Your father… Selene and Seraphina... They’re prisoners now.”

Prisoners? Images of her father’s stern face, Selene’s cold eyes, and Seraphina’s cruel smirk flashed through her head. Lyra sighed, a knot releasing in her chest. 

Relief? Am I really relieved?

Maris coughed weakly and blood spurted up from her mouth. “I… I’m not long for this world.”

“No!” Lyra cried, her voice cracking with desperation. She stood. “I’ll find help!” She spun around, calling, “Someone—anyone! Help!”

But Maris spoke weakly. “No time... little wolf...”

Lyra froze. Little wolf. It was her aunts’ affectionate term for her. But it felt like so much more now. What did Maris see? Could she ever live up to it? 

“It’s up to you, Only you…” Maris's hoarse whisper faded as a cold sweat broke out across Lyra’s back.

Me? Her heart thudded in her chest, shaking her head in disbelief. I am nothing. An exile.

Maris’s breath grew more ragged, her body convulsed. She grimaced. 

“Kyline…” Maris whispered. “She’s… she’s with Alpha Veyron. You must find her.” 

The words didn’t make sense. Kyline... with him? He led the attack—why would she...?”

“What does that mean?” Lyra asked.

Maris’s grip tightened. “She’ll help you,” Maris rasped, “But the Alpha… you’ll need him… You have to save them, Lyra.”

“Save who?” Lyra asked. “My family?” 

Her heart beat heavier, enveloping her in panic. She had no power, no pack—only her broken heart and Maris’s dying plea. How could she face an army with nothing?

“You have to. The moon… wanes... goddess awakens...” 

“I don’t understand,” Lyra’s voice cracked, each syllable harder to form as tears ran down her cheeks.

Maris barely nodded, her grip weak but insistent. “The power… it’s in you, Lyra. The world… chaos, rebirth.”

Lyra trembled as she cupped her aunt’s face, slick with tears. 

“I wish I could’ve done more for you, Lyra…” Maris’s smile grew faint. “You’re braver than me... You’ll need that strength.” 

“Don’t go. Please, don’t leave me.” 

She pressed her forehead to Maris’s, trying to hold on to what little was left of her. Maris’s body grew unnaturally cold, and her breathing ceased. Lyra screamed, her misery echoing through the desolation. 

****

Lyra rushed through the forest, worn boots crushing emerald moss and scattering wildflowers. Bird song faded into the hum of insects.

She had to go. Had to find Kyline. 

At the edge of a crumbling outpost, stones veined with moss, Lyra stopped to breathe.There was something ancient about this place that she couldn't explain. 

Voices carried through the trees. Alpha Veyron’s patrols. Heart racing, she darted into the shadows of the ruin, pushing against the cold stone wall, as their footsteps grew closer.

The soldiers would attack first and ask questions later. They wouldn’t listen. She was a threat to be eliminated. 

Lyra grazed the rough-hewn stones, finding irregular grooves etched into its surface. She turned to look.

Faded sigils were carved, words half-obscured by time, but still legible enough to send chills down her spine.

When the moon grows dark, the Luna Stone bound to its heart, the goddess shall awaken…

The goddess awakens... Maris’s last words haunted her.

It reminded her of fairy tales Kyline would tell her at bedtime. Just Fantasy. Right?

Lyra followed the words with her palm, feeling an arcane pulse beneath the surface.

... a new age will begin...

What did it mean? She brushed the moss aside to read the next line, so faint she could barely make any of it out:

...time of chaos… or ruin… She shall decide… Destroy the world.

She gasped as the words ran through her mind, “The power… it’s in you, Lyra. The world… chaos, rebirth...”

Goosebumps tingled along her arms, and she jerked her hand back.

An end, a beginning... and a power tied to her. 

She stumbled back, and collided into something solid and unmoving. Molten panic ran through her veins as she whipped around. A patrolman loomed over her, eyes wide with surprise. 

Everything blurred. With a final, desperate inhale, her vision went black, and she crumpled into unconsciousness.