Chapter 75: The Crimson River

Chapter 75: The Crimson River
SCARLETT'S POV

It wasn’t just the silence that followed John’s disappearance it was deeper, like the land itself was holding its breath. The trees bent inward as I walked, their branches twisted toward me, whispering secrets through the wind. Every shadow felt alive. Every root pulsed faintly beneath the soil, carrying whispers of the Moon’s fading light.

I walked until my boots were soaked in dew and my heart felt raw. My wolf stirred inside me, restless and half-awake. The bond between Kael and me pulsed faintly, a heartbeat made of gold, flickering like a candle that refused to die.

But his warmth was faint so faint it terrified me.

Kael, I whispered into the link. Nothing. Only the distant hum of energy, like a voice caught behind glass.

The Seer of Ashvale was the only name left to me now. The forest stretched endlessly before me, but somewhere beyond these cursed trees lay the crimson river the first marker on the Seer’s path.

And I could feel it calling me.

The air grew heavier as I descended into the valley. The sky above had turned a bruised purple, and the moon hung low, dimmed and trembling. My power crackled beneath my skin, reacting to the pull ahead a pull that felt ancient, wrong, and yet familiar.

The trees parted suddenly, and there it was.

The Crimson River.

Its waters glowed faintly red under the dying light, rippling like veins of molten blood. The scent hit me instantly metallic, sharp, and old. This wasn’t water. It was power, raw and ancient, seeping through the earth from the old wars that once split the goddess’s realm in two.

I knelt by the edge, dipping my fingers in. Warm. Too warm.

The instant my skin touched the surface, visions flooded my mind flashes of wolves screaming under a blood moon, of hands bound in silver chains, of the Moon Goddess herself weeping as she tore her own reflection apart.

I yanked my hand back, panting. “What the hell was that…”

“You’ve finally come.”

The voice came from behind me high, soft, but not human.

I spun, my claws extending before I could think. A figure stood just beyond the trees a girl, maybe ten years old, barefoot, her eyes entirely white. Her dress was tattered, her hair tangled with leaves, and yet she stood perfectly still, as though the world bent around her.

“Who are you?” I demanded, lowering my stance.

She tilted her head. “The Seer has many faces. Sometimes she wears one you’ll trust.”

I stared at her. “You’re the Seer?”

She smiled faintly. “A fragment. A voice that walks ahead of her. The river told me you were coming.”

I took a slow step closer. “Then tell me how to cross.”

Her smile vanished. “The Crimson River doesn’t let you cross. It lets you prove.”

The ground trembled underfoot. The water began to swirl violently, waves forming without wind. I could feel its energy pulling at me, recognizing the power in my blood the fusion of silver and gold, light and shadow.

“Prove what?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“That you are still yourself,” the girl whispered.

Before I could react, the river exploded upward a wall of red mist enveloping me in a blinding flash.

When my vision cleared, the world was gone.

I was standing in an endless plain of silver ash. The moon hung shattered above me, its pieces floating like dying embers. And across from me stood… me.

Or rather, something wearing my face.

Her eyes glowed pure gold, her skin threaded with veins of black and silver. Power radiated off her in violent waves. “You’re weak,” she said, her voice echoing through the void. “You’ve always been weak.”

I stared back at her, breathing hard. “Who are you?”

“I’m what’s left when you stop pretending to be good.”

My doppelgänger stepped closer, her smile cruel. “You’ve been torn between two powers Kael’s light, John’s shadow. You think you can balance them both? You can’t. You’ll break, and when you do, I’ll be what remains.”

The ground cracked beneath her feet. I could feel the pull the temptation. This version of me didn’t tremble, didn’t fear, didn’t bleed. She was unstoppable.

“You’re not real,” I said. “You’re what the river wants me to see.”

She laughed. “Then why are you afraid of me?”

The ash around us turned to flame. The air shimmered with heat as she lunged at me, her claws like shards of molten glass. I barely dodged, rolling across the ground. My power flared instinctively silver threads whipping through the air.

But she matched me, move for move. Every strike I made, she mirrored. Every burst of light, she countered with darkness. It was like fighting my own reflection a reflection that knew all my weaknesses.

“You can’t win,” she hissed, pinning me down. Her hand pressed against my chest, and I felt her energy surging into me. “You’re fading. Let me take your place. Let me finish this.”

“No,” I gasped, pushing against her with everything I had. “You’re not me.”

She smiled sharp and cold. “Then who are you, Scarlett?”

The question struck like lightning. My power faltered, my body trembling under the weight of it. For a split second, I saw flashes of everything I’d lost my pack, my family, the mate who rejected me, the faces of those I’d failed to protect.

“I am—” The words caught in my throat.

Then another voice broke through low and fierce, echoing inside me. You are the one who survived.

Kael’s voice.

Something inside me snapped. I threw my arm upward, light bursting from my palm like an explosion. The shadow-me screamed, her body fracturing into a thousand pieces of silver dust that vanished into the air.

The world fell silent.

The next thing I knew, I was kneeling by the river again. My hands were shaking, but the water around me had calmed. It was clear now the red had faded, replaced by silver reflections that shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

The little girl stood nearby, smiling faintly. “You passed,” she said simply.

“What was that?” I asked, panting.

“The river doesn’t test your strength,” she said. “It tests your truth. You faced the part of you that would destroy everything for power.”

I looked down at my reflection and froze.

The mark on my throat, the mate mark John had left, was glowing faintly again. But the color had changed. It wasn’t black anymore. It was gold and silver, intertwined like threads of fire and moonlight.

“What does this mean?” I whispered.

The girl tilted her head. “It means the bond isn’t broken. It’s evolving.”

I looked up sharply, but she was already fading, her voice lingering like a breath of wind. “Find the Seer before the next moon, Scarlett. Or the river will run red again with your blood.”

I stayed there, kneeling by the river as the sky darkened. The world was quiet again, but inside me, everything had changed.

Kael’s presence pulsed faintly, warm and alive. John’s shadow still lingered at the edges of my consciousness distant, watching.

And for the first time, I realized the truth the river had shown me.

The greatest enemy I’d ever face wasn’t John.
It wasn’t the Goddess. It was the part of me that could become them both.

I stood slowly, wiping the blood and silver dust from my palms. The path ahead shimmered faintly through the trees a trail of light leading deeper into the unknown.

Ashvale awaited and whatever truths it held, I was ready to face them.