The night bled silver.
It wasn't the ordinary glow of a full moon or the soft gleam of stars above the trees. No—this light moved like breath, rippling in the air, painting everything it touched with a luminous sheen. The forest was hushed, every leaf frozen in suspense.
Elira stood at the threshold between the known and the unknown.
At the edge of the Veil.
And beyond it… a tear in the very fabric of reality.
It shimmered faintly like heat mirage, vertical and silent, humming a song no ear could hear. The Rift had opened again.
And this time—it was calling to her.
---
Theron appeared at her side, as if summoned by the same pull. His eyes glowed faintly under the moonlight, shadow magic stirring restlessly under his skin.
"You heard it?" he asked.
Elira nodded without looking at him. "More than that. I felt it."
There was no scent.
No emotion.
Just resonance—like a tuning fork humming in their bones.
Like recognition.
---
They stood in silence for a moment, the Rift reflecting in their irises.
A low pulse came through it then—neither light nor sound, but something in between. It touched their minds like a forgotten word whispered in sleep.
> Child of light… child of shadow…
Elira gasped softly, hand reaching toward the tear.
Theron stepped forward instinctively. "Careful—"
But the Rift didn't burn.
It didn't repel.
Instead, it… welcomed them.
---
Back at camp, Selene bolted upright in her bedroll, heart pounding, a metallic taste in her mouth. She didn't know what woke her—only that something had changed.
Kael stirred beside her, immediately alert. "What is it?"
She didn't answer.
She was already on her feet, running toward the forest.
---
By the time Selene and Kael reached the Veil's edge, Naeria was already there, tracing runes in the air with glowing fingertips.
Rowan stood nearby, silent and tense. His blade was unsheathed.
And before them…
The Rift.
Now wider.
Now brighter.
Selene's breath caught.
Inside the glow, she could just make out figures.
Her children.
---
"Elira!" Selene called.
The girl turned.
And in her eyes was something ancient. Something other.
"We're okay," Elira said softly, as though the words were meant to soothe more than inform.
Theron stood behind her, shadows drifting lazily from his fingertips, unfazed.
Kael stepped forward. "Come away from it."
But Elira didn't move.
Neither did Theron.
---
Naeria's eyes widened. "It's not hurting them. The Rift—it's responding to them."
Selene looked at her. "Why them?"
Naeria turned pale. "Because they're not just wolf. Or even Starborn. They're Riftborn. Children of the ancient blood… born after the seal broke."
Rowan's voice was gravel. "That would make them the first of their kind."
Kael clenched his fists. "Or the last."
---
The Rift pulsed again.
A breeze swept over them—not from the forest, but from inside the tear. It smelled of old starlight and scorched stone. And underneath that—
Something older.
A memory.
---
Elira stepped closer, and the Rift responded.
Suddenly, her vision split.
She was standing in a black sky.
Stars raged like storms above her.
A vast hall stretched into forever—pillars of crystal and bone, lit by a molten river of light.
At the center: a throne of silence.
And on it, a figure cloaked in robes woven from dusk.
Eyes like twin eclipses opened—and looked straight at her.
> You have returned.
She staggered, falling to her knees.
"Where is this?" she whispered.
> This is your memory. Buried. Preserved. Until now.
---
Theron's vision struck him with force.
He stood in a corridor of mirrors, each reflecting not his face—but a different version of him. Some bore wings. Others had no eyes. One looked entirely made of night.
Each Theron spoke in his voice.
> You are the door.
> You are the key.
> You are the mistake.
He fell back, gasping, as if air had become stone.
---
Outside the Rift, Selene cried out and rushed forward—but Naeria grabbed her arm.
"No!" she warned. "If you go in now, it will not be the same. This is theirs. A trial only they can walk."
Selene's chest rose and fell with fury. "They're just children!"
Naeria's expression twisted. "Not anymore."
---
Inside, Elira and Theron stood again—this time side by side.
They were no longer afraid.
The Rift closed behind them, yet they felt no panic.
Only clarity.
---
A being emerged before them—neither man nor woman, clothed in flickering constellations, eyes blank yet watchful.
"You have heard the call," it said, voice layered with hundreds of tones.
"You have come not as wolves, but as balance."
Elira whispered, "What are we?"
The being stepped closer.
"You are what came before names. Before gods. Before war."
Theron's voice was hoarse. "Why now?"
"Because the Veil is weakening. And the world has forgotten what it owes the stars."
---
They were shown more.
A library made of song.
A war that shattered galaxies.
A love that birthed a world.
And the promise of two children—twins—born beneath a broken moon, destined to awaken what slumbered beyond time.
---
The visions faded.
The Rift dimmed.
And Elira and Theron stumbled forward—through the thinning light—back into the forest.
Selene caught them both in her arms, sobbing.
"You're here—you're okay—"
Elira nodded. "We saw them. The ones who came before."
Theron whispered, "We're not just part of the prophecy."
He looked up.
"We're the reset."
---
Later that night, the Rift finally closed.
But in the stars overhead…
A new constellation appeared.
Two figures.
Bound by light and shadow.
Watching.
Waiting.
---