The Ancient Night That Did Not Belong to Them
The world is collapsing.
Or perhaps it is simply unraveling, thread by thread, like an old piece of fabric being torn apart.
Lunaya doesn't even have time to scream.
She only feels an icy pressure around her skull, like wings closing in on her.
Then the light goes out.
Everything goes black.
But not an empty black.
A black... inhabited.
A voice echoes.
Not Erynd's.
Not Kael's.
A voice without a body, without age.
"Remember what does not belong to you."
A gray light suddenly pierces the darkness.
And the world reforms.
Another forest. Another time. Another her.
Lunaya (or what is her in this vision) opens her eyes to a clearing she does not recognize.
The air is heavy with ancient, almost primitive magic.
The trees are taller, the moon larger, and the night seems to breathe.
A figure stands before her.
Not Kael.
Not Dravik.
Not Sahr.
Him.
Erynd.
But not the Erynd of today.
His face is younger, his feathers darker, and his eyes...
his eyes are filled with a light she does not know:
grief did not yet exist in them.
He approaches.
"You shouldn't be here," he says.
His voice is deep, but alive.
And Lunaya realizes something:
he looks at her as someone looks at...
her person.
She responds, finally, the woman she is in this vision responds, in a soft, firm voice:
"Then where should I be, Erynd?"
The name falls round and natural.
As if she had said it hundreds of times before.
Erynd lowers his eyes.
"Away from me."
He says it with a pain she doesn't yet understand.
Lunaya steps forward.
She places a hand, her own, but not her own, against young Corbin's cheek.
He shivers.
Not from cold.
From fear.
"I don't fear you."
He closes his eyes for a second, his breathing broken.
"That's the problem."
The vision speeds up.
Other images appear.
A stone room.
Circles engraved on the floor.
Corbins gathered together, their black feathers vibrating with ancient power.
A ritual.
A prophecy.
And she...
at the center of it all.
Tied down.
No.
Held by magic.
They speak of her as a "catalyst."
A "vector."
A "bridge."
A male voice rises:
"If she lives, the future collapses.
If she dies, it too disappears.
The cursed Raven must never find her."
Erynd bursts into the room, still young, still brave, still broken.
"She is not a prophecy. She is a person."
The elders stare at him in horror.
"Erynd... you are bound to her.
You feel it.
You hear it.
And that is why we must erase that bond."
The ground shakes.
Shadows stretch out, alive.
A power too great is unleashed.
And Lunaya finally understands.
Something has been erased.
Something has been torn away.
Not a memory.
A thread.
The vision changes again.
She is now in the arms of Erynd, the one from before, and he is crying.
Not loud sobs.
Silent tears falling on her hair.
"I'm sorry," he whispers.
If I keep you... the world burns.
If I lose you... I burn myself."
He rests his forehead against hers.
A gesture so gentle that it breaks her heart.
"So I'm making the only choice I have left."
He kisses her.
Slowly.
Like a farewell.
And in that kiss, Lunaya feels everything:
His terror.
His love.
His resignation.
His sacrifice.
A circle closes around them.
A white flash.
A silent scream.
And everything fades away.
A brutal return.
Lunaya opens her eyes, gasping for breath.
And the first thing she sees is Kael, panicked,
leaning over her, holding her by the shoulders.
"Lunaya! Lunaya, look at me!
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?!"
His golden eyes are wide, his hands are shaking, his voice is broken with fear.
"Answer me, please... I won't let you go..."
She grabs his hand, a pure reflex.
"Kael... I'm here."
He closes his eyes for a moment, overwhelmed with relief.
But behind Kael...
Erynd.
Standing.
Motionless.
Silent tears streaming down his cheeks.
He whispers:
"Do you remember..."
Kael straightens up, his throat tight.
"What did you do to her?!"
Erynd slowly shakes his head.
"Nothing she didn't already have inside her."
Kael steps between them, ready to kill, breathing furiously:
"Don't you ever go near her again. Ever."
Erynd looks at him with a sadness that is not human.
"She has to choose, Wolf.
Not you.
Not me.
Her."
Lunaya feels her heart racing.
Kael on one side.
Erynd on the other.
Two lives.
Two echoes.
Two truths.
And she...
at the center of it all.
"Lunaya, Kael whispers, taking her hand.
Stay with me."
Erynd bows his head.
"Or come and understand who you really are."
The choice has not yet been made.
But the world is already holding its breath.