They traveled deeper into the forest, where sunlight barely reached the moss-covered floor. Birds no longer sang. Even the wind held its breath.
Kael walked beside her in silence, his golden eyes ever scanning the trees. Melissa—no, Eris—still struggled to accept the name. But the weight of it had begun to settle across her shoulders like an old cloak rediscovered.
Ahead, the trees parted into a clearing where a towering stone gate stood—cracked but standing. Two figures waited.
The first was a tall woman clad in armor black as obsidian, a double-bladed spear strapped to her back. Her eyes, silver as starlight, narrowed when she saw them.
"You brought her," she said to Kael. "Finally."
"And you're still dramatic, Selene," Kael replied dryly.
The woman stepped forward. "Eris," she said slowly, like tasting a word on her tongue. "I didn't think you'd return."
"I'm still figuring that out," Melissa said.
Selene smirked. "You always did hate ceremonies. But we're out of time." She turned to the second figure, a much younger man cloaked in green and brown, his face streaked with dirt and moss.
"This is Ash," Selene said. "A tracker from the outer clans. He found something."
Ash stepped forward and bowed slightly. "The Revenant's army is on the move. They've begun summoning the old beasts. Creatures from the time before your fall."
Kael's jaw clenched. "How many?"
Ash's voice was low. "Too many. And worse—they've taken the Hollow Path. They'll be here in days."
Melissa looked between them. "What are the Hollow Paths?"
Selene glanced at her. "Old, forgotten trails beneath the earth. Cursed tunnels from the First War. No one sane travels them."
"They do," Ash added, "because something's guiding them. Someone who knows this land too well."
Kael's eyes darkened. "The traitor."
A chill wrapped around Melissa's spine.
"We need to call the Council," Selene said. "The other clans must choose where they stand. If we wait, we'll be outnumbered."
Melissa stepped forward. "Then call them."
Selene raised a brow. "And if they don't listen? They only followed Eris. They won't follow Melissa Moore."
Melissa drew in a breath. She could feel the fire beneath her skin now—the thing that had awakened in her the night the wolves attacked. "Then I'll become Eris again."
Silence followed.
Then Selene smiled, sharp and dangerous. "There she is."
---
That night, beneath the twin moons, a circle of fire was lit in the heart of the forest. From every corner of the land, they came—wolves cloaked in human skin, eyes glowing with old magic. The five remaining clans of the ancient pack.
Melissa stood in the center, dressed in black, her hair tied back, the dream stone hanging from her neck. Kael stood at her right. Selene at her left.
A ripple of silence fell as an old man stepped into the circle. His skin was wrinkled like bark, his staff carved with ancient runes.
"You are no queen to us," he said coldly.
"She will be," Selene answered.
The old man's eyes narrowed. "Not all of us want her return. Eris brought war before. Fire. Death. What makes you think she won't do it again?"
Kael's voice was like a growl. "Because this time, she wasn't the one who started it."
Another voice chimed in—silken, mocking. A young woman with dark curls and lips like poison. "But perhaps she'll end it the same way… by burning us all."
Melissa's pulse jumped. Something in the girl's voice was familiar. Too familiar.
She stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The girl's smile was slow and cruel. "Don't you remember your sister?"
The circle erupted in gasps.
Melissa staggered back. "No. That's not possible."
"It is," the girl whispered. "You left me behind, Eris. You forgot me. But I didn't forget you."
Kael stepped in front of Melissa protectively.
The girl's eyes glowed red for a second. "The Revenant isn't your only threat, sister."
Then she vanished—shifting into smoke, gone before anyone could react.
The council fell into chaos.
And Melissa—Eris—stood in the center of it all, shaken.
She wasn't just facing a war.
She was facing a family she didn't remember… and a betrayal that ran deeper than blood.
The fire still burned at the center of the circle, casting flickering shadows on the stunned faces surrounding it. The words "your sister" hung in the air like a curse, poisoning the silence.
Melissa's hands trembled at her sides. She wanted to scream. To demand answers. But all she could do was whisper, "I don't have a sister."
Kael's voice was low. "You did. Her name was Lyra."
The name sparked something—an image, just for a flash. A girl with dark curls laughing under a blood-red sky. Then, the memory vanished like smoke.
Selene's voice cut in. "Lyra was believed dead after the fall. No one saw her again."
"No one except the Revenant," Ash said grimly.
Kael looked at the fire. "If Lyra's aligned herself with him… we're in more danger than we thought."
"Then we hunt her," someone from the Council snarled.
"No," Melissa said sharply, surprising even herself. "We found her. But not to kill her—at least not until I know the truth."
An elder woman stood. Her long braid shimmered with silver. "Even if she's corrupt? Even if she brings war?"
Melissa met her gaze. "Especially then."
The Council murmured among themselves, divided.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew out part of the fire.
Then came the scent—iron, sharp and unmistakable.
Blood.
Ash dropped to a crouch, eyes scanning the woods. "They're here."
A moment later, a piercing howl rang out—twisted, unnatural.
The Revenant's beasts had arrived.
The clearing exploded into chaos. Wolves shifted mid-air, blades were drawn, spells cast. Selene shouted orders as Kael grabbed Melissa and pushed her behind a fallen tree.
"Stay low!" he barked.
But Melissa didn't cower. Not this time.
She stood and raised her hands. The dream stone pulsed with heat. A golden wave of energy surged from her palms, cutting through the black fog spilling from the trees. It lit the battlefield for a moment—long enough to see what was coming.
Dozens of twisted creatures—half-wolf, half-shadow—charged from the forest.
And leading them was Lyra.
She stood tall in armor of bone and black silk, her eyes glowing crimson. At her side stalked a monstrous hound with three heads, each snarling with unnatural hunger.
Lyra saw her, and smiled.
"You remembered me, sister," she called. "Good. I'd hate to kill a stranger."
Melissa stepped forward, her voice clear and steady. "You don't have to do this."
"I do," Lyra hissed. "Because you left me."
Then she raised her hand.
The hound lunged.
Before it could reach her, Kael shifted—his golden form colliding with the beast mid-air in a violent clash of fur and fang.
Selene hurled her spear, taking down two more shadow-wolves. Ash moved like lightning, slashing through the enemy lines.
Melissa's power surged again. This time, she didn't hold back.
Energy burst from her like wildfire, sweeping the clearing, forcing the shadow-creatures back.
Lyra shielded herself with a wave of dark magic, but her smile faltered.
"You're stronger than before," she said, almost admiringly. "But still too late."
And then—she vanished again.
The creatures retreated into the darkness, as suddenly as they had come.
The clearing was left smoking, blood-soaked, and silent.
Melissa collapsed to her knees, drained but alive.
Kael returned to her side, wounded but breathing. "You held your ground."
Melissa looked at the sky, where smoke now covered the moons.
"She's coming," she said. "And she hates me more than I can understand."
Selene walked over, wiping blood from her blade. "We need answers. And fast."
Ash nodded. "We start with the old records. If Lyra was taken… maybe we can find out how."
Melissa's voice was hoarse, but resolute. "I'll find her. And I'll end this."
Because now it wasn't just about remembering who she had been.
It was about who she was willing to become to protect everything she loved—even if it meant facing the sister who wanted her dead.