The storm outside roared louder than ever as blood soaked the floors of the once-mighty Wolf King’s palace. Lightning flashed across the high-arched windows, illuminating the battlefield with short bursts of white. The palace shook with each clash of claw and fang. The once-hallowed halls were now soaked with the tallic stench of death and war.
Keres stood tall amid the wreckage, her black cloak stained red, her breath steady as chaos unfolded around her. Her power pulsed with violent rhythm, darkness and rage dripping from her aura like venom.
"You’re outnumbered!" Marius growled from the far end of the throne hall. His shirt was torn, blood sared across his jaw, and a deep gash across his chest wept crimson.
Keres gave him a slow smile. "Numbers bore ."
The Wolf King stood beside her, slightly hunched, a claw wound across his ribs leaking slowly. Yet his eyes burned, silver and resolute.
"You dare drag this madness into my ho?" the Wolf King snarled.
Marius wiped his mouth and spat. "This kingdom was mine to begin with. You were a placeholder, an accident of birth. That crown is a lie!"
"You’re not worthy of the air you breathe," Keres hissed, stepping forward.
But Marius wasn’t done. His lips curled into a sick grin. "Let guess. You’re enjoying playing daddy’s little protector again? Tell , Keres, how many tis did he say he regretted throwing you to the wolves? How many nights did you cry, waiting for a rescue that never ca?"
Keres didn’t flinch, but sothing behind her eyes burned deeper. Rage. Pain. mory.
The Wolf King’s jaw clenched. "You’ve spoken enough."
Marius raised his sword and roared, "Then silence , old man!"
They clashed again. Steel t steel, claw t flesh. Keres moved through the army like a scythe, her body fluid, her every movent precise and brutal. She broke necks with flicks of her wrists, gutted wolves twice her size with vicious grace. Blood drenched her hands and face, but she didn’t stop.
The Wolf King, regal and relentless, struck with the fury of the past...his blows fueled by guilt, his defenses unshaken by age.
Marius fought well, but he bled more than he gave. Still, his army pressed forward.
Until the doors blew open again.
A shriek pierced the air...low, hollow, ethereal.
The Omnisciense.
Tall and radiant, they entered like moving stars, their armor glowing with light. Their blades sang as they entered the fray, slicing through Marius’s wolves like wind through dry grass.
Keres paused, panting, then turned to her father. "You called them?"
He nodded. "I knew Marius would betray the council sooner or later."
"I could’ve handled it."
"You shouldn’t have to."
That mont hung between them...a rare flicker of humanity in the storm of war.
Down in the courtyard, Marius’s forces broke. The combined wrath of Keres, the Wolf King, and the Omnisciense proved too much. Bodies fell. Screams filled the air. Bones cracked beneath claws and steel.
Marius staggered back, clutching his side. One of the Omnisciense slashed him across the face, and he fell to his knees.
"Finish it," Keres said coldly.
But before they could strike...
A blast of black energy erupted from the ground, throwing everyone back.
Nesis appeared in a cyclone of shadows, her eyes glowing with fury.
"You insufferable FOOL!" she roared, stomping toward Marius. "I told you to WAIT!"
Marius gasped, bleeding and broken. "I was... winning..."
She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the floor like a ragdoll. "You cost dozens of wolves. You’ve exposed our alliance. And for WHAT?!"
"I...I had to make a move..." he choked.
Nesis leaned in, whispering, "Then make a final one."
She snapped his neck.
The hall fell silent. Even the surviving wolves backed away.
Nesis dropped the corpse. "Anyone else want to die today?"
She turned to Keres.
"You’re stronger than I expected."
"You’re dumber than I hoped," Keres replied.
Nesis smiled. "This isn’t over."
She vanished into smoke.
Keres turned back to the Wolf King. He was breathing heavily, leaning on his sword.
"You okay?"
He nodded once. "You still fight like your mother."
"I still hate you."
"I deserve that."
They stared at each other. The silence was more painful than any wound.
Finally, Keres looked away. "Let’s clean this ss up."
Far from the palace, Tiago Frost leaned against the rusted gate of the forgotten chapel.
He hadn’t been seen in months. Everyone assud Arthur killed him.
Good.
His face was leaner now, older, but his eyes were colder. Sharper.
He stared at the letter in his hand...an invitation.
Nesis had reached out.
And he was going to reply.
"Ti to finish what I started," he whispered.
He looked up at the stars.
"Archer. Artemis. You took everything from ."
He walked into the chapel, into the darkness.
"Now I take everything from you."
"He’s been distant ever since," Haelyn whispered, her fingers brushing through the wisps of her son’s hair. The infant cooed gently, nestled in the crook of her arm, innocent to the weight pressing down on his mother’s chest.
Marlyil sat across from her, her fingers knitting together anxiously. The soft hum of the night outside the cabin was deceiving...it felt calm, almost too calm.
"Archer and Artemis have always had differences," Marlyil said carefully. "But this... this is sothing else. It’s like sothing inside him snapped."
Haelyn sighed, resting her chin gently against her son’s soft curls. "I don’t know what’s happening to him. I know he’s hurting. But the way he looked at Archer, like he wanted him dead..."
The door creaked open, and Seraphis entered, her long robes flowing behind her like the echo of ancient whispers. Her face was grim.
"Nesis is playing a ga far more intricate than any of us anticipated," she said without preamble.
Haelyn raised her eyes. "What do you an?"
Seraphis stepped further in, her eyes narrowing slightly. "The rift between Archer and Artemis...it’s not just past wounds. Nesis is fanning those flas. She’s whispering, distorting... turning pain into fury."
"How?" Marlyil asked. "We’ve been protecting the boundaries, warding the grounds. How is she getting through?"
"Through the cracks already there," Seraphis replied. "The wounds they’ve never healed. The guilt. The resentnt. She doesn’t need to break through wards when their own hearts are wide open."
Haelyn looked down at her son, suddenly uneasy. "She wants sothing. From them. From us."
"She wants power," Seraphis confird. "And she knows that nothing breaks the strong faster than betrayal."
The room was still for a mont.
Then Haelyn stood, carefully placing her child into Marlyil’s arms. Her spine straightened, her voice like tempered steel. "Then we won’t let her win. Not this way. I’ll speak to Artemis myself."
Seraphis nodded. "Good. But not just as Haelyn. You may need to call upon Keres."
Haelyn hesitated. The thought of Keres surfacing again...of surrendering that part of herself...was always a weight. But this ti, maybe it was necessary.
Outside, the winds began to pick up. Leaves rustled against the wooden fra of the small house, whispering ancient warnings.
Across the woods, Artemis paced along the river’s edge, shirtless and damp from the fight, blood smudged across his chest. His claws still hadn’t fully receded.
He growled low, the frustration surging like wildfire under his skin.
"She’ll never look at you the way she looks at him."
Nesis’s voice slithered in from the trees.
"You again," Artemis muttered, jaw clenched.
She appeared, draped in black and shadow. " again," she smiled. "Still pretending you’re the hero? Even after she chose him. Again."
Artemis didn’t respond.
Nesis stepped closer, circling him like a predator. "She doesn’t see the pain you carry. Not the way I do. She’ll never understand the burden of watching soone else get everything you bled for."
"Leave ," Artemis snarled, his voice shaking.
Nesis tilted her head. "All I ask is one thing...bring the child, and I’ll give you what you’ve always wanted. Her. Not in passing. Not in silence. But truly yours."
Artemis hesitated, just for a second.
And that second was enough.
Later that night, Haelyn found Artemis where the river t the edge of the cliff. He stood shirtless, staring at the moon.
"You always liked this spot," she said quietly.
He didn’t turn.
"I need to ask you sothing, Artemis," she said, voice trembling with the storm she held back. "What are you becoming?"
He finally turned to face her. His face was hardened, older sohow.
"What I should have been a long ti ago."
"I don’t believe that," she whispered.
"Don’t pretend you don’t feel it too," he stepped forward. "There’s sothing between us. There always was. Even before you knew what Archer ant to you."
Haelyn’s eyes shimred. "Artemis... you’re my friend. You’re Archer’s brother."
"And still second-best," he spat.
Haelyn looked away. "You’re more than that. You’ve always been more. But if you let Nesis twist you..."
"Is it twisting," he cut in, "if it’s already broken inside ?"
She stepped forward, placing her hand on his chest. "You are not broken. Not beyond repair. But you have to fight it. For yourself. For us. For Ezra."
His gaze flicked to hers. Sothing cracked in him. Sothing old and bitter.
And then...
A shriek tore through the night.
Seraphis burst through the clearing. "They’re attacking. Tiago’s wolves...they’ve joined forces with Nesis. They’re headed straight for the Moonstone Keep."
Haelyn’s eyes went wide. "Ezra."
Artemis didn’t hesitate. "Go. I’ll hold them off."
"You’ll die."
"Then let die doing sothing right."
He shifted before she could argue, his wolf exploding through his skin like fire.
And the war began again, beneath the bleeding moon.
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