The Faded Bond

The Faded Bond
Lyra woke up feeling sore and confused. She was lying on a stone table with her hands and feet tied by shiny silk ropes that glowed strangely.

"You're awake," someone said softly.

Lyra turned her head and saw Nira standing nearby. She couldn't tell what Nira was thinking.

"Nira? What's happening? Why am I here?"

Nira stepped closer, her eyes reflecting the candlelight. "I didn't want to hurt you, Lyra. But I have no choice."

Lyra pulled at the ropes. "No choice for what?"

"To bring Selhara back."

Selhara was the goddess of life and death. But she's been gone for hundreds of years. What does Nira mean?

Nira started walking back and forth, moving gracefully but looking tense. "Selhara's spirit was broken apart, but a piece of her lives inside you. I can feel it."

Lyra's heart beat fast. "That's impossible."

"No, it's not," Nira said firmly. "When you came here, everything changed. The gods felt it. I felt it."

In the ancient texts, Selhara was described as a goddess who could merge with mortals to bestow her power. It was said that her return would herald a new era, one of balance and harmony.

"You're the key, Lyra," Nira said with respect in her voice. "Selhara can come back using your body as a vessel."

Lyra shook her head. "I won't let you do this."

Nira's eyes got softer. "I know you're scared. But this is bigger than both of us."

Nira raised her hands, and the room responded. The walls pulsed with energy, and old symbols on them started glowing. The air got thicker and filled with powers.

"Please, Nira," Lyra begged. "There has to be another way."

Nira paused, looking unsure for a moment. "I've been searching for years. This is the only way left."

I have to escape. I can't let her use me to bring back a goddess I don't know anything about. Lyra thought to herself.

The ritual Nira wanted to do was ancient and dangerous. Most people had banned it because merging mortal with a god could cause madness, destruction, or something worse.

Lyra's ropes got tighter as the ritual started. Symbols carved into the floor began to glow, and a low humming sound filled the room.

"I'm sorry, Lyra," Nira whispered. "But this is the only way to save our world."

As the ritual got stronger, Lyra felt something waking up inside her—something very powerful. Her vision got blurry, and the last thing she saw was Nira's face with tears before everything went dark.
\----

Few hours later.

Lyra's breath caught when she looked at her reflection in the stone mirror. The room was dim with shadows dancing on the walls, but her reflection was too clear and sharp. Her wolf eyes looked back at her, but they weren't really hers anymore.

No... she thought, shaking slightly. She leaned forward and touched the cold mirror. Her reflection copied her movements, but something was wrong. The eyes looking back weren't full of the fire that used to be there. They weren't warm or alive anymore.

Her heart beat harder, and panic started to build. Her wolf eyes were wide and didn't blink, but there was no recognition, no fighting spirit, no loyalty, or even sadness. There was just nothing.

Her breathing got faster and more frantic as she realized what was happening.

Selhara.
She thought again, shuddering. The goddess. The ancient being that had slowly grown inside her—the one whose power had been feeding on her, changing her very soul. Lyra could feel her now, a cold presence pulling at her spirit, eating away at her mind.

I'm losing myself, Lyra realized, feeling cold fear crawl up her back. She's taking me.

The empty eyes in the reflection blinked once, slowly, but with no feeling behind them. Her wolf eyes should have been full of life—her stubbornness, her strength. But now there was nothing except hunger. Selhara's hunger, feeding on her, eating her up.

Lyra stumbled backward, gasping. Her heart pounded too fast. She felt like she was suffocating, drowning in the emptiness of her own reflection.

"No." Her voice was barely a whisper, shaking in the quiet room. She stepped back, the cold stone under her feet feeling strange. Her own body—her own mind—felt strange. Her fingers shook as she pressed them against her eyes, trying to make the terrible sight go away. This can't be real.

But the empty eyes stayed. The reflection didn't change. Her hands shook harder, and her heart beat so loud she could hear it.

Kael...

Thinking of him hit her like a wave. She desperately needed him there, needed him to pull her out of this nightmare. His touch and presence had always kept her grounded. She'd never needed anything more than him. But now... even that was slipping away.

Her mind raced, but her thoughts felt far away. She felt disconnected from herself.

"Lyra?"

The voice came from the doorway, sharp and sudden. Nira. Lyra's head snapped toward the sound. Her wolf eyes focused on the older woman. Nira stood in the doorway, outlined by dim light from the hall. There was a cruel shine in her eyes, a twisted satisfaction that Lyra could feel even from across the room.

Lyra's breath caught.

"Do you see it now?" Nira's voice was smooth, almost gentle, like she was talking to a child.

"The reflection, Lyra. You can feel it, can't you? The goddess is taking over. Your wolf eyes were always part of you, but now—now they belong to her."

Lyra wanted to scream and fight, but her throat felt tight. The growing presence of Selhara inside her strangled her words. It felt like her skin was being torn apart from the inside, like something was clawing at her soul.

"No," Lyra said hoarsely. "This... this isn't me. This is you—this is her. I am not you!"

The words were weak, but they were all she could manage. Her breathing was shallow as she fought the growing pressure in her chest. She wanted to fight it. She needed to fight it.

Nira stepped closer, her footsteps deliberate and cold on the stone floor.

"You've always been so sure of yourself, Lyra. So sure of your power, your connection to Kael, your connection to the wolves. But the truth is..." Her lips curved into a cruel smile. "The power was never yours. It always belonged to her. And now, Selhara will take what is hers."

Lyra felt her stomach twist and her heart tremble. No matter how much she fought, no matter how hard she tried to break free, Selhara was there. The goddess's power had already started seeping into her mind, creeping into her thoughts, and now her reflection proved what was going to happen.

Please... Lyra's mind screamed silently. Please, Kael. I need you.

Her hands shook badly, and she touched the stone mirror again. The cool surface felt like ice, but it didn't help the chill that had settled deep inside her. She wanted to scream again. She wanted to rip her soul from her body and run as far as she could. But it was too late. Selhara was too powerful, and her grip was getting tighter.

"I can't let you win," Lyra whispered, saying the words more to herself than to Nira. "I won't let you."

Nira laughed low and cruelly. "Win? Lyra, you were never meant to win. You were never meant to fight. You were meant to be a vessel for something much greater. The goddess is going to consume you whether you like it or not."

Lyra's vision blurred, and her knees buckled as the weight of the words and the power inside her pressed down. She fought to hold onto herself, but her reflection mocked her—those empty eyes, staring back, getting colder and more alien every second.

"Lyra, the wolf inside you no longer belongs to you," Nira continued meanly. "You are no longer yourself."

No. No! Lyra's heart screamed. She wasn't gone. She couldn't be.

With a final, desperate cry, Lyra reached up and clutched her throat, her fingers touching her own skin. The touch felt distant—even her own touch felt as foreign as her reflection. Her chest heaved with difficult breathing, her mind a swirl of confused thoughts and desperate need.

She wanted to tear herself free. She had to.

Then, a sound—a deep, rumbling growl—echoed in the room.

Her head snapped up. Through the haze in her mind, through the mist that seemed to cloud her vision, there was something there—a presence that did feel like hers. Something deep and primal. A connection.

The bond...

The moment she felt it, warmth and strength flooded her body. Her eyes—the wolf eyes—shifted, just for a moment, from the empty void to something more.

Kael?

With that thought, a flicker of hope broke through the darkness.

Lyra gasped as the warmth surged through her again, and she heard something—no, someone—call her name from the darkness. But before she could react, a cold hand grabbed her wrist.