no longe

with dying gold light. She slept fitfully in his arms, her breaths shallow, her tiny finger

e remnants of the Blood Moon Pack huddled in the shadows, their eyes reflect

ttled the stone

defiance. "You're not alpha anymore. The c

the tension. Her eyes fluttered open-no longer amber like his, but *black

, distant but closing

ri

. The forest was a graveyard of ash and skeletal trees, the sky choked with smoke from Lys

ounds wer

. Darius emerged from the shadows, twirling the vial of Lysandra's blood

teeth. "What

. "Survival. The fae king is coming, and he's *

locking onto the vial. Darius noticed. "Ah. She

ld react, the v

of flame and shadow. From it emerged a figure-scorched

andr

ice crackled, inhuman. *"G

led back.

his chest. The child screamed, an

us laughs as Lysandra's flame consumes the hounds. But in the darkness below, the child

ild's trembling form. Kael crouched in the damp silence, her scars now throbbing with gold-

hide from d

before him-antlers dripping void-black sap, his cloak wo

do to her?"

le my heir. Now her power rebels, e

manded, though hi

elf to me. Serve as my hound,

ndra's fiery footsteps scorchin

" Kael

ins. Runes etched themselves into his skin, mirroring his old curse b

g said, *"kill t

hesit

ny hand seized his wrist, and agony lanced through him. T

king snarled. *"But

chasm's ceiling. Lysandra descended, her molten gaze lockin

"She belongs to no

all. She screamed, the sound echoing with the primordial forc

ind him. But as he breached the surface, Darius st

"or I'll let your fiery mate

a hurricane, merging with the primordial f

narrowing. Her lips parted, and

Burn

andra breaks free, her fire now fused with the primordial crown-and her gaze lands on

molten gaze locked on him. The child trembled in his arms, her scars p

andra roared, her voice

flame. The child's second word-*"Kill"*-still

"Clever heir,"* he hissed, *"but you cannot kill a king!"* His body dissolved into blac

the treeline, his armor smoldering. "This isn't over, mong

child whimpered. The primordial flames dimmed, revealing a flicker

ing the flames. Lysandra recoiled, the fire s

charred wolf pendant into Lysandra's searing pal

force. Lysandra screamed, clutching her head as memories

asped, thrusting the pen

g her. She vanished into the inferno,

ring out. Kael collapsed, shielding her as the magic

and the child's third wor

Rise

es blazing with the same void-black embers as the child's. They circled

the largest rift steps a figure: Lysandra, reborn as the primordial flame's avatar, her crown no

ine