What Remains After
Chapter 105:
The clearing was a battlefield.
Wolves–Nine, maybe ten, none of them from Lucien’s pack, lay scattered around the clearing. Their bodies twisted and burned, with eyes frozen wide open, blood pooling in the dirt around them. The scent of blood hung thick and choking in the air. Some seemed to be torn apart, others bore no marks at all, as if something had drained the life right out of them.
Her stomach twisted violently. “No,” she whispered. “No, no, no…”
Her fingers trembled as she looked down. Blood. Dried and dark on her palms, her forearms, smeared across her neck. The Rune on her skin was still glowing faintly, like embers that refused to die. She heaved at the sight of them.
“Lucien?” she called, her voice breaking. “Kael?”
Lucien stepped out of the shadows. His clothes were torn, his eyes glowing dim gold. He didn’t speak, didn’t move closer. His gaze traveled over her: her hands, her face, the faintly burned ground, and his throat bobbed once as he swallowed hard.
Kael was a few paces behind him, blade hanging limply at his side. He looked pale, blood smeared across his cheek, his gaze fixed on her like she’d become something he couldn’t recognize.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice barely audible. “I don’t remember…”
Lucien’s jaw tightened, his expression grim. “You happened.”
She blinked at him, confused. “What…Lucien.. I don't?”
He stepped closer, slowly, like he was approaching something volatile. “You blacked out. You couldn't have known.”
Her eyes flicked to the bodies, her stomach twisting. “Did I…?” she let the question hang.
“You killed them,” Kael said quietly. His voice wasn’t accusing, just hollow. “All of them.”
Aria’s knees gave way, and she sank to the ground, tears stinging her eyes. “No… I didn’t mean to. I was… I couldn’t…Lucien…” she babbled incoherently.
“I know,” he said, voice low, as he crouched in front of her. But there was something in his eyes she couldn’t name–fear? “You weren’t in control, probably too tired from all the stress and something… took over.”
She looked up at him, eyes wide, tears welling up in them. “Something in me. You mean the rune?”
The silence that followed was unbearable. Her gaze shifted to Kael, who crouched beside one of the dead rogues, studying it. His tone was flat as he spoke, “That wasn’t normal power, Aria. That was something else entirely. I mean, look at them. It’s like something drained them of every last drop of life.”
“I didn’t mean to, I wouldn’t have done that awake.” She shook her head, trembling. “It felt like… like I was somewhere else, no… like I was watching from somewhere else. Like I wasn’t me.”
Lucien’s jaw tightened. He reached out, brushing his thumb against the faint light of the rune on her arm. “It’s not supposed to do that,” she whispered. “It’s supposed to protect me, not…”
“Not kill?” Kael finished grimly.
Her throat closed. She didn’t answer.
Lucien’s hand lingered on her skin a moment longer, but his gaze shifted past her, to the lifeless wolves, to the faint scorch marks carved into the earth like symbols.
He said nothing. His gaze straying back to Aria, torn between instinct and disbelief. She’d always been powerful, yes…but this? This wasn’t power. This was devastation.
Finally, he stepped closer. The air still crackled faintly around her, the scent of burned earth and lightning clinging to her skin. “It will be fine,” he said softly.
She looked up at him, eyes red-rimmed. “And if it happens again?”
He hesitated. “Then I’ll find a way to stop it.”
Her heart cracked at the way he said it, but before she could respond, he turned away. She stared at her hands until the light beneath her skin finally faded, leaving only faint scars where the glow had been.
“We need to move,” Lucienl said quietly. “Before anyone finds this.”
Kael didn’t argue. He turned, gathering what little remained of their supplies. The air was cold, and still lingered with the scent of blood and smoke.
Aria didn’t move. “Anyone?” she echoed. Her voice cracked. “Lucien, they were rogues!”
“Rogues with marks.” Kael cut in. He crouched again, rolling one of the bodies over. “Look at this.”
Aria’s stomach churned as she followed his gaze. Burned into the skin of the rogue’s shoulder was a faint sigil, half-seared, but still visible. A crescent, intersected by a broken line.
“The same symbol from the coin,” Kael said grimly.
Lucien’s gaze darkened. “I guess they weren’t just mindless wolves after all, someone sent them...”
Aria’s throat tightened. “So… They were after me again.”
Lucien’s jaw clenched, his anger surfacing briefly before he crushed it down. “No. Not you.” His eyes flicked to the Rune faintly pulsing on her arm. “They were after that.”
She looked down at it, her breath catching. The mark glowed softly even now, as if it were alive, breathing, pulsing, aware. “I can’t control it,” she whispered. “It’s like it has a will of its own.”
Kael rose slowly. “Whatever that was, it’s growing stronger. Each time it reacts, the energy spreads further. Last time, it burned an Alpha. This time…” He gestured to the bodies. “It killed ten without making contact.”
Lucien’s gaze lingered on her, his voice quiet but edged with steel. “From now on, you don’t fight unless I tell you to. No shifting. No Rune.”
She met his eyes sharply. “You think I want to use it? You think I enjoy losing control?”
“Aria,” he said softly, dangerously, “you destroyed ten wolves without touching them.”
That silenced her. The truth in his tone stung more than the words.
Kael exhaled roughly. “We need to bury them. If any patrols come through here and see this, they’ll assume it was you.”
Lucien nodded. “Then they’ll be right.”
“Lucien,” Aria started, but he cut her off with a look.
“Help Kael,” he ordered, voice clipped.
She wanted to argue, to tell him she wasn’t a weapon, that she hadn’t chosen this, but the words got stuck in her throat. So she moved in silence, kneeling beside Kael as they pulled branches and soil over the bodies. The dirt was cold, damp, sticking to her hands.
When the last body was covered, she sat back on her heels, exhausted.