LOGINAdele
We rode hard until the purple light of the compound was only a glow behind the trees.
Harl led us along the silver thread to a low ridge where the snow had drifted deep against a wall of black rock. A narrow opening hid under the drift. We had to dismount and lead the horses one by one. Inside, the cave opened just enough for five people and the animals. The wind could not reach us. Nei
No one touched the black crystal at first.Darius felt it, just the way he does all his stuff with his psychic energy. Bram muttered under his breath that he did not trust rocks that arrived without knocking.Lira suggested putting it in a bucket of salt and sitting on the lid. In the end we left it on the sill under a clear glass bowl so everyone could see it and no one would be tempted to pocket it.Mira stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. “Breakfast is ready everyone! The stew is hot and the bread is only slightly burned.”Bram brightened at once. “Slightly burned is my favorite kind.”I looked out through the window slit at the high sky. The Blood Moon would rise over the eastern ridge tonight. Our pack would eat its meal this morning as if the sky would not turn to fire. A welcome event that could be auspicious or spell doom but for now we eat.We moved to the long tables in the great hall because the side room was too small for everyone who needed to sit together.Fr
AdeleThe gold tint filled my sight now.I felt the change the way a person feels a fever break: sudden, heavy, and not entirely their own. The second presence that had waited behind a door in my mind stepped closer. It did not push me out. It simply stood in the same space, watching through the gold.Rowan’s face was the first thing I saw clearly. His own eyes had gone bright with answering gold. The bond between us stretched tight, two bloodlines recognizing each other whether we willed it or not.Rowan said my name. Only my name.I answered immediately and my voice sounded like mine. That mattered. “I am here. I am still here.” I replied.Darius moved as close as his broken w
RowanWe did not run toward the steps.We prepared.Bram dispatched swift runners to double the watches along the outer walls. Prince Talon’s riders secured the icy ridge roads. Sarlen returned to the high north tower with Mira, promising to keep his mind grounded and conscious.Darius placed the defensive wards his old magic still trusted at the well-stair threshold: crushed salt, old silver dust, and three words in a language much older than the stone fortress.Lira stood firm on Adele’s opposite side, her iron talons ready for a fight. I kept my arm firmly under Adele’s shoulder guards. Her weight felt heavier than it should against my chest.The silver void had briefly left her eyes, but the toll of the surge was evident: fresh blood on her lip, her strength completely drained, and the second ancient presence quietly waiting behind a door in her mind.I had instructed her to keep her mind above the rungs. She had defied that command.She whispered, “This happened because of my blo
The silver haze in my sight was unstable.It arrived in waves. One moment, the room appeared as it always did: Rowan’s face nearby, the dark outline of the bed, the cold hearth.The next moment, everything's edges glimmered with a strange light that no lamp could produce.Memories that weren't mine pressed against my mind: a ridge beneath a red moon, a tall man burdened by grief, the decision to embrace sleep to prevent the world from burning.I clung to what was truly mine.I said through clenched teeth, "Blue cup. Chipped. Burn mark on the table. Bread that burned when we were happy."Rowan’s hands framed my face, his palms warm. The bond between us carried both his
Rowan and I climbed back to the upper halls in silence. Bram and Darius met us at the top of the well stair. One look at our faces told them enough.Bram asked, “Well?”I said, “One fact. The First Alpha’s violence began after the Sovereign vanished. Not before. The voice said to look for any cruelty written before that night.”Darius’s brows rose. He said, “I read the oldest chronicles as a boy. I remember none. The books are gone, so my memory is all I can offer. It is a start.”Rowan said, “Then we test the rest. We put the pieces on the table.”We went to the side room near the kitchens: Sarlen, Lira, Darius, Rowan, and me. The children slept under double watch.
Jorren’s words followed us out of the side room.The days between the discovery were entirely filled with grueling pack work.The last of the silver-eyed wolves were manually freed by my own power frequency. The dark servant tunnels were sealed with packed earth, and the outer fortress walls were properly secured.Prince Talon’s riders found a layer of fresh frost on the northern road, and those heavy iron-wheel tracks that ended abruptly at the mountain’s foot and went no further into the snow.Our scouts found no living soul at the end of the lines; sparking a bit of uncertainty but we moved on, preparing.The Blood Moon was close now. Darius had finally said only a little bit he was willing to say a







