Chapter 47 Found her

Chapter 47 Found her
Chapter 48
A memory hit her before anyone could speak.
Not a vision.
Not fragments.
A memory.
Real.
Sharp.
Painfully real.
Rain.
Cold rain.
Darkness.
Mud beneath small trembling feet.
A little girl running through a forest.
Alone.
Terrified.
Crying.
Branches scratched her arms.
Roots snagged her shoes.
Her lungs burned.
But she kept running.
Because something was chasing her.
The memory lurched.
Shifted.
A flash of silver.
A scream.
A voice yelling her name.
Then—
Gone.
Lena staggered.
A sharp breath escaped her lips.
The ruins returned.
The moonlight.
The broken palace.
Caleb.
Everyone was staring at her.
"What did you see?"
The question came from Caelum.
Lena ignored him.
Her eyes remained locked on Caleb.
"You found me."
Caleb nodded once.
Slowly.
The movement seemed to cost him something.
"Yes."
The answer felt heavier than it should have.
Lena folded her arms.
Waiting.
If there was one thing she'd learned tonight, it was that silence usually meant people hoped she wouldn't ask follow up questions.
Unfortunately for them, she absolutely would.
"And?"
Caleb sighed.
Jacob immediately whispered to one of the students.
"He's doing the thing."
"The thing?"
"The dramatic pause thing."
Lena almost laughed.
Almost.
Caleb shot Jacob a look.
Jacob pretended to examine a nearby rock.
Very intensely.
Then Caleb looked back at Lena.
"When I found you..."
His voice had changed.
Quieter.
Older somehow.
"You weren't alone."
The words settled heavily across the ruins.
Lena frowned.
"What does that mean?"
No answer.
Just another pause.
Lena was beginning to understand why people wanted to punch him.
Then finally—
"There was someone with you."
The mark on her wrist burned.
A pulse.
One sharp pulse.
Gone.
A memory flickered.
A hand holding hers.
Warm.
Protective.
A boy's voice.
"Don't let go."
The image vanished.
Lena's stomach tightened.
The voice sounded familiar.
Painfully familiar.
"Who?"
Caleb looked away.
That alone terrified her.
Because Caleb almost never looked away.
"Your brother."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The world seemed to narrow.
Just those two words.
Your brother.
Alive.
Real.
There.
The memory returned immediately.
A boy standing between her and something in the darkness.
Silver eyes.
Dark hair.
Blood on his face.
Fear in his expression.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for her.
Then the memory shattered.
Lena's chest tightened.
Something about it hurt.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like touching a bruise she didn't know existed.
Then another thought struck her.
A terrible thought.
"If he was with me..."
She looked directly at Caleb.
"Then where did he go?"
Nobody moved.
Nobody answered.
And suddenly she knew she wasn't going to like the answer.
Caleb's jaw tightened.
The guilt returned.
Stronger this time.
"We got separated."
The words landed like stones.
Lena stared.
"Separated how?"
The silence stretched.
Too long.
Far too long.
Then Caleb finally answered.
"There was an attack."
The ruins became still.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Caleb's gaze drifted toward the forest.
Toward old memories.
Toward regrets.
"I was trying to get both of you out."
His voice remained calm.
But barely.
"There were too many."
Lena felt her pulse quicken.
The pieces weren't fitting together.
Not yet.
But they were getting closer.
Then Seraphine quietly spoke.
"It wasn't his fault."
Everyone looked at her.
Including Caleb.
The queen's silver eyes softened slightly.
"Nobody expected that night."
The statement sounded simple.
But there was something underneath it.
Something important.
Lena noticed immediately.
"What happened that night?"
Nobody answered.
Again.
Jacob threw both hands into the air.
"Oh come on."
Several students nodded.
Honestly, they had a point.
The entire night had been one giant collection of incomplete answers.
Then, unexpectedly, Lyra spoke.
"People died."
The ruins fell silent.
The casual humor vanished immediately.
The Ash Court leader wasn't smiling anymore.
Wasn't joking anymore.
"Lots of them."
Her gaze moved across the ruined palace.
The broken pillars.
The shattered throne.
The remnants of history.
"There was panic."
"Fear."
"Chaos."
Then her expression darkened.
"And something else."
That got everyone's attention.
Especially Caelum's.
The king immediately looked wary.
Lena noticed.
Very interesting.
"What?"
Lyra looked toward the forest.
Toward the darkness beyond the ruins.
For the first time since arriving, she seemed genuinely uncomfortable.
Not frightened.
Uncomfortable.
Like she was remembering something she'd rather forget.
Then she quietly said:
"There was a fourth side."
The words hit the ruins like thunder.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody interrupted.
Caelum's expression hardened instantly.
Orion cursed.
Seraphine closed her eyes.
And suddenly Lena understood.
This mattered.
A lot.
"The three courts."
She counted them.
"Moon."
"Wolf."
"Ash."
Then she looked at Lyra.
"What's the fourth side?"
Silence.
The question lingered.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Then Caelum answered.
Not Lyra.
Not Seraphine.
The king.
His voice sounded colder than before.
Older.
"We don't know."
Lena blinked.
"What?"
"We never knew."
The answer sent a chill through the ruins.
Caelum stared toward the shattered throne.
Toward memories only he could see.
"They appeared suddenly."
His jaw tightened.
"No banners."
"No court."
"No allegiance."
"No names."
The atmosphere grew heavier.
Every person present listened carefully.
Even Jacob.
Even the rescued students.
Then Caelum spoke the words that made Lena's blood run cold.
"They were the ones hunting you."
The mark on her wrist exploded with silver light.
A memory slammed into her mind.
Running.
Rain.
Darkness.
A boy gripping her hand.
Fear.
Screams behind them.
And far away...
Shapes.
Watching.
Following.
Waiting.
Not human.
Never human.
The memory shattered.
Lena gasped.
Her knees nearly buckled.
Caleb caught her.
Instinctively.
Immediately.
For a second neither moved.
Neither spoke.
Then Lena looked up.
And saw something she'd never noticed before.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Real fear.
Then a sound echoed through the ruins.
A distant horn.
Low.
Ancient.
Impossible.
Everyone froze.
Every single person.
The sound came again.
Closer.
This time Lena noticed the reaction.
Caelum had gone pale.
Seraphine looked horrified.
Orion's eyes widened.
Even Lyra swore.
And that terrified Lena more than the horn itself.
Because if all of them were scared...
Then whatever was coming wasn't part of the old war.
It was something worse.
Much worse.
Then Caelum whispered three words.
Three words nobody in the ruins ever wanted to hear again.
"They found her."