Lyra's POV
Light and pain collided as the world ripped open beneath us.
It wasn't fire. It wasn't death. It was something far older, a memory that refused to die.
I tried to scream, but no sound left my throat. Kaelan's hand gripped mine, his touch the only anchor as everything else dissolved into light. For a moment, I thought we were dying.
Then the light shifted became stars.
We stood in a forest I didn't recognize. Silver trees arched over us, their leaves glowing faintly under a pale, twin moon. The air was still, too perfect, too quiet. My heartbeat echoed in my ears.
Kaelan turned slowly, eyes narrowing. "Where the hell are we?"
I shook my head, dazed. "I think… we're inside the heart."
His gaze flicked to the horizon where the two moons hung side by side one silver, one blood-red.
The Two Moons the ancient omen my father once spoke of. One for the protector. One for the destroyer.
