The growl rolled through the clearing like distant thunder, deep enough to rattle the cabin's loose windowpanes. Dust drifted from the rafters above as everyone inside froze.
Noah's voice was barely a breath. "Emerald… what exactly did you summon?"
Emerald shook her head, her chest tight. "Not me. The beacon. The beacon did it."
Sam pressed herself flat to the wall beside the window, knife gripped tight. She peeked through a crack in the wood. Her face went pale.
"Okay," she whispered. "Not to alarm anyone, but… that thing is huge."
Sara pulled Emerald closer, her voice trembling. "What kind of guardian is it?"
"The kind that protects the throne," Emerald said. "Even if that means killing the heir."
Everyone stared at her.
"You left that part out," Sam hissed.
"Because I didn't think it would respond," Emerald shot back. "Guardians haven't walked the human realm in centuries."
The Sentinel stepped forward, voice calm but taut with readiness. "We must not stay inside. This structure will not withstand its attack."
As if on cue, a heavy, dragging sound scraped across the outer wall.
Sara yelped.
Noah tightened his grip on the axe. "It already found us?"
"No," the Sentinel said. "It is assessing us."
"Assessing?" Sam snapped. "Like what, sniffing the place to decide which of us is snack-sized?"
Emerald's pulse hammered. "It's searching for me."
The scraping stopped.
Silence stretched... unnatural, weighted.
Then.....
BOOM.
The cabin shuddered as something massive slammed into the far wall. A few dishes fell from a shelf and shattered on the floor. The wooden paneling splintered inward, small cracks radiating like spiderwebs.
Sara flinched. "It's going to break through!"
The Sentinel lifted both arms, runes blazing. "Prepare yourselves. It is bound to test the wards."
The guardian struck again.
BOOM.
This time, the boards bowed inward, dust exploding from the impact. The entire cabin tilted ever so slightly, groaning in protest.
Sam cursed. "The wards aren't doing a damn thing!"
"They were made by humans," the Sentinel replied. "They will not withstand a creature bred to hunt across realms."
"Then what will stop it?" Noah demanded.
Emerald swallowed. The answer pulsed inside her like a heartbeat she didn't want to acknowledge.
"Me."
Sara grabbed her hand instantly. "No. Absolutely not."
Emerald squeezed it. "I don't have a choice. It's here because of me."
BOOM.
The third hit knocked Sam to her knees and sent Noah crashing into the table. A lantern toppled, rolled across the floor, and smashed against the hearthstone.
The cabin wasn't going to last.
Emerald moved toward the door.
Sara lunged, grabbing her arm. "Emerald, you don't even know what you can do. What if the magic takes over again?"
Emerald's voice shook. "Then I'll deal with that when it happens. But if I don't go out there, that thing will tear through all of you first."
Noah got to his feet, wiping blood from his forehead. "We're not letting you go alone."
"You aren't stopping it," Emerald said softly. "But maybe I can… distract it. Keep it from hurting you."
Sam rose, knife trembling in her hand. "Emerald..."
Emerald met her eyes. "Please trust me."
Sam's jaw clenched. "I hate this so much."
The Sentinel stepped between Emerald and the door. "I will accompany you."
Emerald shook her head. "No. It senses you. It'll see you as a threat, not me. I need it to recognize my aura first."
The Sentinel hesitated. "I am sworn to guard you."
"Then guard them," Emerald said.
The creature struck the cabin again.
BOOM
This time shattering one of the rear windows. A thick, clawed limb punched through the frame, groping blindly for purchase.
Sara screamed.
Noah swung the axe, hacking at the limb. Sparks flew. The blade barely scratched the creature's hide.
Emerald's decision crystalized in an instant.
She reached for the doorknob.
"Emerald, wait!" Sara cried.
Emerald pressed her forehead to Sara's briefly. "I'll come back. I promise."
She didn't know if it was true.
But Sara needed to hear it.
Emerald stepped outside.
The night was cold enough to bite.
The clearing was bathed in silvery moonlight and there, crouched beside the cabin like a predator ready to pounce, was the guardian.
It was larger than she remembered from stories.
Its body was shaped vaguely like a wolf if wolves were large enough to flatten trucks and made entirely of obsidian plates and glowing cracks of violet energy. Six eyes burned like lanterns in the dark. Its jaws dripped with black ichor that hissed as it hit the ground.
Its growl rumbled through the trees.
Slowly, it turned its head toward Emerald.
Those six burning eyes fixed on her.
Recognition.
The creature lowered itself to the ground not in submission, but in readiness.
A hunter acknowledging its target.
Emerald's heart slammed painfully against her ribs, but she forced her hands open.
"I'm here," she whispered.
The guardian let out a low, churning growl that vibrated through her bones.
Behind Emerald, she felt the cabin door open, Sara's breath hitching, Noah whispering her name, Sam muttering something sharp and desperate.
Emerald didn't look back.
"Guardian of the old realm," she said, voice trembling. "I am Emerald Kaelis Renn. Heir of..."
Her throat caught.
She had never said the words aloud. Never claimed the bloodline Kaela wanted her to kneel beneath.
The guardian's eyes narrowed.
It waited.
Emerald inhaled, lifted her chin, and forced the truth into existence.
"…heir of the forbidden line."
The forest stirred. Magic crackled in the air.
The guardian rose to its full height, towering over the trees.
And it spoke, or something like speaking. A voice of stone cracking, of mountains shifting, of something old and hungry waking.
"Blood of the First Queen.
Awakened child.
You have been called."
Emerald's pulse stuttered.
"Called… by who?"
The creature's eyes flared blinding bright.
"By the one who broke the sky.
Your mother."
The world tilted.
Emerald's breath vanished.
Behind her, she heard the sharp intake of her friends' breaths, the Sentinel's armor crackling, Sara whispering a stunned, "What…?"
Emerald could barely speak.
"My mother is dead."
The guardian lowered its head. The violet energy in its cracks pulsed, mournful and violent all at once.
"You were deceived.
She is alive.
And she summons you home."
Emerald staggered back a step.
Noah's voice emerged behind her, shaking. "Emerald...what does that mean?"
Emerald couldn't answer.
The guardian did.
Its six eyes burned brighter, violent with intent.
"The Queen awaits.
And the realms will burn
until her daughter returns."
The trees shuddered. The earth trembled.
Emerald's knees nearly gave out.
Her mother was alive.
And calling her.
Across the clearing, the Sentinels' runes blazed in alarm.
"Emerald," it said urgently, "this changes everything."
Emerald's whisper barely escaped her lips.
"I know."