The ruins were quiet when I woke, but not peaceful. The hum beneath the ground was stronger now, thrumming in my bones like a second heartbeat. The shard was still pressed to my chest, its cold weight anchoring me to the ruins… and to Aria's curse.
I shoved it away and forced myself upright, every muscle heavy, every breath sharp. The veins from the shard had spread farther while I was out—thin black lines running down my arm, curling over my ribs. I didn't need a healer to tell me what that meant. The tether wasn't just tying me to Aria. It was changing me.
The memory of her voice, sharp and desperate, cut through the haze: Find me before the full moon. Or the Veil will consume me.
I staggered to my feet, my claws sliding free with a sound that didn't feel entirely natural. They were longer, sharper, faintly black at the tips. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, stronger than usual. But it didn't feel like my wolf alone.
A low growl escaped my throat, unbidden. I clenched my fists, forcing the sound back down. I couldn't lose control—not now.
The scent of blood hit me before I heard them. Three Shadowfang elites, circling the ruins. Not scouts—these were heavier, their bodies lined with faint glowing runes just like the ones that had absorbed Aria's power. They were here to finish what Lyra started.
I didn't wait for them to strike. Something in me snapped, the tether pulling tight, and I lunged first. My speed was unnatural, faster than I'd ever moved, my claws cutting through the first elite before it could even raise its guard.
The second one slashed across my ribs, deep enough to sting, but the pain barely registered. The shard's cold burned through the wound, numbing it. My body moved on instinct alone, feral and precise.
The last elite hesitated for the first time, his runes flaring bright as if to warn the others. I caught his throat before he could retreat, slamming him into the cracked pillar until the glow faded from his eyes.
When the ruins were silent again, I stood over their bodies, chest heaving. My claws were slick with blood, my vision tinged faintly red at the edges.
For a moment, I didn't feel like myself. The hum beneath the ground wasn't just in the ruins anymore—it was in me.
I dropped to my knees, digging my claws into the dirt as I tried to steady my breathing. The tether wasn't just draining me anymore. It was feeding me something. Power. Rage. And something far older than either.
"Kael."
The voice wasn't Aria's. It came from nowhere and everywhere, a low whisper threading through the ruins like smoke.
"You are the anchor. But anchors can break. Or… become the chain."
The ground beneath me shifted, a faint ripple moving through the glowing veins. For a moment, I saw something in my mind's eye—a vast black gate, pulsing faintly, with Aria chained before it. The full moon loomed behind her, impossibly large, casting everything in silver and shadow.
My claws sank deeper into the dirt. "Where is she?"
The whisper didn't answer. It just lingered, curling around my thoughts like a hand closing into a fist.
I forced myself up, shaking off the voice as best I could. I didn't care what the tether was doing to me, or what this place wanted. Lyra had Aria, and the full moon was only days away.
The ruins pulsed once more, as if acknowledging my resolve, and the shard embedded faintly into my chest glowed. For the first time, it didn't feel like it was pulling me under. It felt like it was waiting—ready to be used.
I turned toward the dark trail where Lyra's elites had gone. My claws flexed, the black at their tips spreading faintly down my fingers.
If I had to burn myself out to bring Aria back, so be it.
The wolf inside me growled low, almost approvingly.
And for the first time, I didn't push it down.