Awakening the pasr
The battlefield was silent.
Yna stood among the rubble, panting, magic still vibrating in her body. Selene was gone, but her presence was like poison in the air. Warlocks fled, shadow creatures vanished, but this was no victory.
Not yet.
Before her, wrapped in silver fire, stood the Forgotten Ones.
They weren’t human.
Not fully.
Their eyes were like fire stars, twinkling solid then vaporous. They glowed with power, not just magic, but something *older* than the Blood Coven.
Marcus walked beside Yna, his eyes fixed on the tallest figure, "Who are you? "
The leader stepped forward, and there was a weight in the air, he stared at Yna.
“You know us,” he said.
Yna’s pulse quickened, “I don’t.”
“You do.”
Images flashed through her mind.
Not memories—at least, not hers.
She saw battles from long ago, when wolves and warlocks had fought, a woman, much like her mother, stood in the middle, she had power like Yna's, but it was stronger.
And then she saw them.
The Forgotten Ones.
Not as enemies.
But as judges.
She staggered back, shaking her head. “No. That’s not possible.”
“It is, ” the leader said, “because your blood is our blood. ”
Marcus growled, ‘You think we’re gonna believe you’ve been hiding all this time? ’
Another came forward, a woman with hair like spun silver, and she said: ‘We were not hiding; we were watching, waiting. ’
“What for? ” Leo asked, sword at the ready. “For a chance to clean up the mess? ”
“No, ” the leader said, his eyes once more fixed on Yna, ‘For her.”
A heavy silence fell.
Liora moved closer to Yna, "What do you mean?"
The Forgotten One tilted his head and said, 'She is the key to what follows. '
Yna’s mouth felt dry.
“You mean the war,” she whispered.
The leader said nothing. ‘No, I mean the end of it. ’
The Truth of the War
They didn’t stay in the ruins.
The Forgotten Ones took them deeper into the mountains, Yna followed, driven to do so though she knew not why.
Something inside her had already changed.
When they stopped, they found a cavern behind a waterfall, and old magic hung in the air, and on the walls were ancient sigils, glowing faintly in the dim light.
The leader pointed to the markings and said: ‘This is where it all started. ’
Yna studied the carvings, they showed wolves and warlocks together, not at war.
But bonded.
Her throat constricting. ‘This is wrong. The Blood Coven started the war. ’
The silver haired woman shook her head, 'No, that's what the history books said. '
Marcus crossed his arms. “Then what’s the truth?”
The leader spoke to Yna. “The Blood Coven did not start the war; they were betrayed. ”
Yna’s breath hitched.
’They were to bring wolves and warlocks together, ’ the leader said. ‘Restore the magic-nature balance. ’ And they did, for a time. Power breeds fear, though. The old wolf pack rulers knew the end of their power was at hand. ’
Liora stiffened. “You’re saying our own ancestors started this?”
The leader’s gaze didn’t waver. “Yes.”
The words felt like a punch to the gut.
Leo snorted, ‘Supposed to believe that? That everything we’ve been told is a lie? ’
His expression was tranquil. 'It's truth that we seek, not faith. '
Yna swallowed hard, turning back to the carvings.
It made sense.
The Blood Coven tried to keep them together but got hunted for it.
And now, she carried the last remnants of their power.
"What's it got to do with me? " she said, softly.
The silver woman went up to him and said, Because you are the last of the bloodlines connecting both sides.
Yna’s pulse roared in her ears.
“You’re the only one who can finish what was started, ” she said.
You are the only one who can fixwhat was broken.
A Choice of Power
The cave fell silent.
Yna’s hands shook at her sides. “You think I’m going to just—what? Fight a war I didn’t want? ”
The leader didn’t answer right away.
Instead he raised his hand, a silver pulse of energy shot through the cave, shifting the ground.
A pedestal rose from the earth.
And at its center lay something small, glowing faintly.
A fragment.
Of the crystal.
Yna’s breath caught.
‘This is the ultimate magic your forefathers used, ’ the leader said. ‘With it, you’ll be able to do more than Selene or her warlocks can. ’
Marcus tensed. “And what’s the price?”
The leader looked at Yna, To wield this power, forget the past, become something new.
Yna didn’t move.
Because deep down, she knew—
If she took it, she would be no longer just a wolf.
She would become both.
And neither.
A bridge between the two warring sides.
Something different.
Something that had never existed before.
Liora reached out and grabbed her arm, ‘Yna... you don’t have to do this’
Yna barely heard her.
Because she could feel the fragment calling to her.
She stepped forward.
Slowly.
Marcus’s voice was low, urgent. “Yna.”
She reached out.
Her fingers brushed the fragment—
And the world shattered.
The Vision
An energy wave engulfed Yna, pulling her into another dimension.
She saw herself standing alone on a battlefield amidst fire and blood.
She saw Marcus and Liora fighting beside her, but behind them, the shadows were endless.
She saw Selene standing atop a ruined throne, smiling.
She stood before a mighty host, neither wolf nor warlock.
But something in between.
Powerful.
Untouchable.
And terrifying.
The vision snapped.
Yna gasped, startled, and stumbled away from the fragment.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She looked up at the Forgotten Ones.
“You saw it, didn’t you?” the leader said quietly.
Yna swallowed hard.
“I saw the end.”
Marcus caught her before she fell back completely. 'What do we do now? ' he asked, worried and curious at the same time.
Yna’s hands shook.
Now…
She had to decide if she was ready to be the thing that could possibly put an end to this war.
Even if it meant losing everything else.
Far away, in the depths of Selene's mighty fortress, the warlock was kneeling before her.
“She’s found the fragment,” he reported.
Selene smiled.
“Good,” she murmured. “Then she’s right where we want her.”
She turned toward the shadows.
“Prepare the final ritual.”
The war was about to begin.
For real this time.