Chapter Sixty-Six

Merged Lands

The road beyond the temple shimmered as though it remembered the war that had just passed through it. Every stone hummed faintly beneath Selene’s feet, whispering fragments of power left behind by the Heart.

Above, the sky no longer knew which realm it belonged to. The twin suns had softened into a single sphere—half silver, half gold—and the moon drifted faintly behind it, pale and peaceful.

Selene walked between both worlds now. And everywhere she went, the land shifted to meet her step.

Kaen padded silently beside her, tail sweeping through the dust. The child followed, curiosity in every movement, its light flickering in rhythm with Selene’s own heart.

“What is this place?” it asked quietly.

Selene looked around. “A border that forgot what it was.”

In the distance, they saw figures moving—people, but not entirely human anymore. One had translucent skin that shimmered like river glass; another bore faint wolf markings that glowed under the twin light. And beside them walked shadow-creatures who no longer hid in darkness. They spoke together, traded food, built fires.

Mortals and shades, side by side.

Selene smiled faintly. “They’re changing.”

Kaen grunted, nose twitching. There was no scent of fear, only the sharp tang of newness—like rain falling on dry stone.

The child stepped forward, wonder in its eyes. “They’ve begun to merge.”

“Yes,” Selene said softly. “Balance didn’t just heal the world. It remade it.”

---

As they entered the settlement, people turned.

Some bowed. Others only stared in reverent silence. They whispered her name—Luna, Heir of the Heart.

Selene shook her head. “No more titles,” she murmured. “I’m just Selene now.”

An elder approached her—a woman with silver hair and eyes like pools of dusk. “Selene,” she greeted. “We have waited for you. The sky told us you would come.”

Selene blinked. “The sky spoke?”

The elder smiled. “When the suns merged, voices came in the wind. They told us to listen, to live as one. But not all believed.”

The warmth in Selene’s chest cooled slightly. “Not all?”

“There are some,” the woman continued, “who say the merging is a curse. They build walls of old magic to keep the realms apart.”

Kaen growled low.

Selene’s gaze darkened. “Walls don’t hold back evolution. They only wound it.”

The elder nodded. “They call themselves The Remnants. They gather in the south, near the canyon of echoes. They worship the void that once devoured the moon.”

Selene exchanged a look with the child. The being’s glow dimmed.

“They’ve felt the shadow stir again,” the child whispered. “The void learns quickly.”

Selene took a deep breath. “Then we move before it grows stronger.”

---

That night, they stayed with the villagers. Fires burned in both light and shadow—one golden, one black, neither harming the other.

Children with half-glowing eyes chased Kaen through the fields, laughing as the great wolf pretended to be caught. The child watched them, smiling softly.

“Do you see?” Selene asked. “They’re not afraid anymore. The new world has no reason to be.”

The child turned to her, expression thoughtful. “Do you think it will last?”

Selene hesitated. “If we guide it—yes.”

“And if we don’t?”

She looked into the flames. “Then the void will find the cracks we leave behind.”

The child nodded slowly. “Then we’ll fill them.”

For a while, they sat in silence, watching the twin-colored fire. Then, without warning, the wind shifted. A ripple ran through the air, and the villagers froze.

Kaen lifted his head, growling. The flames flickered, casting long shadows that twisted unnaturally.

The elder stumbled from her tent, pointing toward the horizon. “Look!”

Selene turned—and her blood ran cold.

Far away, above the southern mountains, a streak of pure darkness tore through the merged sky. It pulsed once, then spread like ink through water, devouring the stars.

The child’s glow flickered violently. “It found us.”

Selene stood, eyes narrowing. “No—it found me.”

The ground trembled underfoot. A whisper rolled through the valley, the same one that had haunted the temple: You opened the path, Luna. You gave me breath.

The villagers screamed as the shadows crept closer. Kaen barked once, defiant, his fur flaring silver.

Selene raised her hands, drawing on the Heart. “Get everyone behind the light!” she shouted.

The child stepped forward beside her, eyes blazing. “Together?”

Selene smiled grimly. “Always.”

They clasped hands. Light exploded outward, a wave of gold and black spiraling into the air. The spreading void hissed, recoiling.

But as it withdrew, Selene saw something within it—a familiar figure, tall and cloaked in moonlight and flame.

Her breath caught. “No… it can’t be.”

The voice that answered made her heart stop. You built balance on the bones of what I loved.

Lucien.

---

The world seemed to hold its breath.

Selene whispered, “He’s gone. He can’t—”

The child’s expression darkened. “Not gone. Remembered. The void is using his echo.”

Selene clenched her fists. “Then it just made a terrible mistake.”

Kaen growled once, low and ready.

Selene’s mark began to glow brighter than the fire. “Tomorrow, we go south. To the canyon.”

The child nodded. “To face what remains of him.”

Selene looked up at the sky—half gold, half silver, and bleeding faintly red once more. “No. To save what’s left of him.”

And beneath the twin suns that had become one, the three of them stood against the dark horizon—ready for the war that would decide whether balance would endure,

or begin again.