Broken Spirits

Broken Spirits

Elara's POV
I screamed as visions crashed into my mind like waves. Orion's huge shadow form towered over us, but I wasn't just seeing what was in front of me. Past, present, and future all mixed together in my head.
"Elara, focus!" Thorne's voice seemed far away as he stood beside me in his golden wolf form.
The thing with Orion's face roared, making the ground shake. But in my mind, I saw more. I saw Orion as a baby, taken from me at birth. I saw him growing up alone, filled with hate and fear. I saw possible paths branching out like lightning—some where we fought, others where we joined forces.
"She's having a vision," Lyra shouted, grabbing my shoulders. "Elara, come back to us!"
The pressure in my head was too much. I fell to my knees, hands pressed against my temples. "Make it stop!"
Suddenly, everything went quiet. The forest, the barking wolves, the monster with my brother's face—all of it froze in place like someone had hit pause on the world.
A woman stood before me, with long dark hair and eyes exactly like mine. I knew her instantly.
"Mother?" My voice came out small, like a child's.
The witch queen knelt in front of me, her face sad but kind. "My girl. My beautiful girl."
"You're not really here," I whispered. "This is just another vision."
"Yes and no." She reached out, her fingers almost touching my cheek but stopping just shy. "I left pieces of myself behind, echoes that would find you when you needed guidance most."
"Why?" Anger bubbled up inside me. "Why did you make me this way? Why hide me among humans?"
"To protect you from what's coming through that door." She pointed at the frozen monster. "That's not your brother. It's something else wearing his face, using his body. The same thing that's been turning our kinds against each other for ages."
"What is it?" I asked.
"We called it the Void. An old entity that feeds on conflict and hate." She looked over at Thorne's frozen golden form. "The Davidsyn boy—he's found his true form. The golden coat returns."
"His family hunted yours," I said, still trying to understand everything.
"No," she corrected me. "The Void twisted us all. Jonathan Davidsyn didn't kill me—the Void did, using a puppet among my own group. I didn't curse his family—the Void did, using my name to spread more hate."
My head spun with this new information. "But why make me? Why mix the three bloodlines?"
"Because only a bridge between all three races can close the door the Void is coming through." Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry for the burden I put on you. I wanted to raise you myself, to explain everything when you were ready."
The world around us began to flash, the freeze beginning to thaw.
"I'm not strong enough," I said, panicked. "I don't know how to control these visions—these powers."
"You are stronger than you know." My mother's form started to fade. "Find your brother's true self. The Void cannot be destroyed, only controlled. And only the two of you together can do it."
"Wait!" I reached for her. "Don't go!"
"I've always been with you," she whispered as she disappeared. "In your blood, in your dreams."
The world rushed back into motion. Thorne was nudging me with his golden snout, worry in his wolf eyes.
"Elara?" Lyra was still holding my shoulders. "What did you see?"
I stood shakily, new clarity filling me despite my fear. "It's not Orion—not really. Something is controlling him. Something called the Void."
The massive shadow thing roared again, pushing through the trees toward us. The Silver Fang dogs formed a protective circle, but their growls seemed tiny against this monster.
"The Void," Sebastian repeated, his eyes widening. "There are old vampire texts that mention it. A being older than any of our kinds."
"My mother just told me," I said, watching their shocked faces. "In a picture. She said Orion and I are the only ones who can close the door it's coming through."
"Your mother is dead," Thorne's grandfather growled, still in wolf form.
"But she left pieces of herself behind," Lyra explained quickly. "Magical sounds. Serena was always thinking ten steps ahead."
The shadow thing stopped at the edge of the clearing, its massive form twisting unnaturally. Orion's face twisted on its surface, like he was trying to break free from inside.
"Help... me..." His voice came through, choked and weak.
My heart twisted. Despite everything, he was still my brother. "Orion, fight it!"
"Can't... too strong..." His eyes, the same color as mine, briefly cleared before darkness swallowed them again.
I stepped forward, dismissing Thorne's attempt to block my path with his golden body.
"I know what to do," I said, more firmly than I felt.
"Elara, no," Sebastian warned. "You don't have control of your powers yet."
"I don't need control." I raised my hands, feeling power rush through my veins. "I just need to believe."
The witch blood in me linked to the magic in the air. The werewolf blood gave me strength. The vampire blood gave me focus. For the first time, all three parts of me worked together in perfect balance.
I reached out mentally for my brother, looking for his true self inside that twisted shadow.
"Orion, take my hand," I called, both aloud and with my mind.
The shadow thing writhed, fighting against itself. Slowly, terribly, a human hand emerged from the darkness, reaching toward mine.
"That's it," I urged. "Fight it!"
Lyra moved to stand beside me, adding her power to mine. "The daughter of the witch queen calls you, Orion. Answer her."
Sebastian joined us on my other side. "The blood knows its own. Return to us, brother of Elara."
Thorne pressed his golden fur against my leg, his wolf eyes fixed on the fighting form before us.
Time seemed to slow as Orion's hand inched closer to mine. Around us, the Silver Fang wolves watched in amazed silence.
Just as our fingertips were about to touch, the shadow rippled wildly. Orion's face contorted in pain.
"NO!" The sound that came from him wasn't his—it was ancient and full of hate. "HE IS MINE!"
The shadow pulled Orion back inside itself. Then without warning, it lunged forward—not at me, but at Thorne.
Before anyone could respond, the shadow engulfed Thorne's golden form. His howl of pain cut through the night as the darkness swallowed him fully.
"THORNE!" I screamed, throwing myself forward, but Sebastian caught me around the waist.
"Don't!" he warned. "It will take you too!"
The shadow creature, now with Thorne stuck inside, began to retreat into the forest. I could see Thorne's golden fur slightly glowing within the darkness, struggling against the Void's grip.
"Let him go!" I ordered, power crackling around me.
The creature stopped. Then a voice that was neither Orion's nor the old Void's spoke—it was Thorne's, but wrong somehow.
"Two wolves," it said with Thorne's mouth. "Gold and silver. Two witches, mother and daughter. Two vampires, maker and child. All the pairs I need. The door opens fully at midnight."
Then it was gone, taking both my brother and my love with it.
I fell to my knees, heartbroken but determined. "What did it mean?"
Lyra's face had gone deathly pale. "The Void doesn't just want to come through—it wants to bring its full realm with it. And it needs sacrifices to do it."
"Three pairs," Sebastian said grimly. "Representing each race."
I stood, hands curled into fists as tears streamed down my face. "Then we have until midnight to stop it."
"How?" asked Thorne's grandpa, his voice heavy with grief. "It has my grandson."
I looked at the spot where the shadow had disappeared, feeling a new drive rise within me.
"It has the people I love," I said. "But it doesn't know what I'm becoming."
My hands began to glow with three different kinds of light—green for witch, red for vampire, and gold for werewolf.
"And neither do I."