The forest was silent. Not quiet—dead.
In the dream, I stood in Silverglen, but it was not the place I knew. The sky hung heavy above , dark and swirling with storm clouds that bled ash instead of rain. The trees around were leafless, their twisted limbs blackened as though burned from within. The land moaned. The earth cracked beneath my feet.
I could not breathe.
I turned in every direction and saw only ruin. The cottages were in pieces. The stream had dried into a hollow scar. And where there had once been laughter, firelight, and the scent of wild herbs, there was only silence and smoke.
And blood.
I took a step forward and heard the crunch of bones beneath .
Then, the voice returned.
It ca like wind, like echo, like shadow. Neither male nor female, and yet sohow both.
"You see what was stolen. What they took from ."
I spun around, searching for the speaker. "Who are you? Why are you showing this?"
"The land rembers, child. The land bleeds because it was cursed."
A figure stepped from the dead trees. Cloaked in gray, a hood covering its face, but I knew it was not mortal. Not anymore.
It raised a hand and the wind howled through the branches. Fire lit in the distance, racing along the forest floor like a predator.
"He was a seer," the voice continued. "A guardian of balance. A wizard before ti counted itself. When the first wolves took their form, he blessed them with strength. With dominion. But they betrayed him. They chose power over peace."
The flas crept closer, but I was frozen in place.
"What betrayal?" I asked. "Who betrayed him?"
"Your bloodline."
The words hit like a strike to the chest.
"No. That can’t be."
The figure moved closer. I still couldn’t see a face, but the weight of its gaze pinned in place.
"Luciana of Thornridge. Descendant of the first traitors. Carrier of the dual fla. Mother to the second-born."
My breath caught.
"The curse was bound to blood. It sleeps, but it is waking. The child you fear is the key. The second-born shall bear the mark. Only they can walk into the Vale of Ancients and lift what was damned."
I shook my head. "I don’t understand. What is the Vale of Ancients?"
The figure raised its hand again.
And suddenly, I was sowhere else.
Mountains rose like giants. Valleys dipped in shadow. A single path wound between stone pillars carved with forgotten runes. I saw a silver mist, and in the center of it all, a gate of bone and root, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"It is the place where the curse was bound. Where the wizard’s sorrow fed the soil. The Vale lies beyond the edge of mory."
The image vanished. I was back in the ruins of Silverglen. The figure stood in front of once more.
"Enter the Vale," the voice commanded. "Or all will perish."
Suddenly, I saw them.
Darius, bloodied and broken.
Erya, crying in my arms, but her body fading to ash.
Our wolves, fallen. Our new ho, burning.
"Stop!" I cried. "I’ll go! Just tell where to find it!"
But the figure was already turning to mist.
"Follow the moon to the forgotten lake. There, the path begins."
The earth opened beneath . I fell, screaming, into blackness.
And then I woke.
---
My body jolted upright, slick with sweat. I was in our den. The fire had gone out. Erya whimpered in her sleep nearby. Darius stirred beside .
"Luciana?" he mumbled.
I couldn’t speak.
I rose from the furs, wrapped a blanket around , and stepped outside into the cold night.
The stars burned above, sharp and unforgiving. The trees swayed, whispering secrets. I held my hands to my chest, still shaking.
I knew what I had to do.
Darius joined monts later. He didn’t speak, just wrapped his arms around from behind. His warmth helped breathe again.
"Another dream?" he asked softly.
"Yes."
I leaned back into him.
"I saw the curse. The wizard who cast it. The ruin it will bring. And the place we must go."
He didn’t ask if I was sure. He just held tighter.
"Tell everything," he whispered.
And so I did.
When I finished, the first hints of dawn were coloring the horizon.
Darius turned gently to face him.
"Then we prepare. We find the Vale. And we end this."
I nodded, my heart heavy but sure.
Because now I knew what haunted my dreams.
And I would face it.
Even if it ant walking into the dark alone.
----
I stood at the edge of the river that cut through Silverglen like a silver ribbon. The water rushed past my boots, steady and calm, as if it didn’t carry the weight of the decision pressing on my chest.
The dream had co again. The sa chilling whisper, the sa images of darkness swallowing the land, of wolves falling one by one. Erya crying. Darius bleeding. And that voice—so old it cracked like dry leaves—telling what must be done.
"Enter the Vale of Ancients. Train for twenty-one days. Or lose them all."
I wrapped my arms around myself and looked up at the sky. Pale blue, streaked with hints of pink. A peaceful morning. It mocked .
Behind , the house buzzed softly. Erya’s tiny giggles echoed through the trees, followed by Darius’s warm laugh. Their sounds were sunlight. But the dream—the prophecy—was a storm cloud waiting to break.
I couldn’t tell him.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
If I told Darius, he would never let go alone. He would argue, fight, maybe even follow . But the prophecy was clear.
*Go alone.*
The Vale of Ancients wasn’t just a place. It was a test. A place of brutal training, ancient spirits, and trials of the soul. My wolf stirred inside , uncertain. Even she was scared. But the vision wouldn’t stop. The warnings were growing louder.
I turned back toward the house, forcing my face into a calm expression. I wasn’t ready to tell him. I wasn’t even ready to say it out loud.
"Luciana!" Darius called from the porch, holding Erya in one arm. "You’ve been out here a while."
"Just thinking," I said, joining them with a weak smile.
Erya reached for . I took her in my arms, breathing in her scent—earthy, new, and full of hope. She had no idea what shadows hovered above us.
"Thinking about what?" he asked.
I hesitated. "Just... the land. Making sure we’re settled. That nothing’s off."
He frowned slightly. "Still worrying about the food going bad?"
I nodded. "Yes. It’s odd."
He stepped closer, eyes gentle. "You don’t have to carry it alone, you know."
*If only you knew what I really carry.*
I kissed Erya’s forehead and passed her back to him. "I know."
But I didn’t tell him.
That night, sleep didn’t co. I tossed, turned, got up, paced. Darius slept beside , calm and unaware.
Finally, I walked outside. The moon was full and silver, casting shadows that seed to move on their own.
I whispered to it. "Why ?"
No answer ca. Only wind.
The next day, I t Mayla near the lake. She had stayed in the village with her mate but visited often.
"You look tired," she said.
"I haven’t been sleeping well," I replied.
She studied . "Dreams?"
I froze. "What do you an?"
"I’ve had them, too," she whispered. "Darkness. Screams. The land crying."
My heart pounded. "Do you think they an sothing?"
Mayla nodded. "I think the land is calling to soone. Soone chosen."
I didn’t reply. My chest felt heavy. I wanted to tell her. But even then, I couldn’t.
Not yet.
Later that afternoon, Darius surprised .
"We should have another child," he said simply.
I dropped the cup I was holding. It shattered on the stone floor.
He rushed to help clean it up. "I didn’t an to startle you."
"No, it’s okay," I said quickly, kneeling beside him. "Just... not what I expected."
He looked at . "I just thought... things are better. And Erya would love a sibling."
I nodded slowly, but inside, I was shaking.
Now was the worst ti to grow our family. The dream warned : if I didn’t go, I would lose them all. That included any future child.
I had to go. But I couldn’t say that.
"Let’s talk about it later," I said, kissing his cheek.
That night, I cried alone in the woods.
Every ti I tried to make sense of it all, I hit a wall of fear. What if I went and never ca back? What if it was a trap? But what if I stayed... and lost everyone?
My wolf urged forward. She believed in the prophecy. She believed we could survive it. She whispered that it was our duty.
I made my decision that night.
I would go.
Not now. But soon. Quietly. Alone.
The next day, I began preparing. Gathering small items I might need—herbs, dried at, flint. I buried them beneath a hollow tree near the river.
Erya found there once. "What’s that, Mama?"
"Just saving things," I told her. "For later."
She smiled. "You’re always saving things."
*If only you knew what I’m trying to save now.*
Days passed. Darius kept talking about the future. Expanding the house. Teaching Erya how to shift when the ti ca. I nodded and smiled, but inside, I was slipping further from him.
We made love once that week, and I almost broke down in the middle of it. His touch, his warmth—it all reminded of what I stood to lose. I almost told him right then. But I bit my tongue.
One morning, I took a walk into the forest alone. I found a circle of stones I had never seen before, moss-covered and warm under my touch. I sat there, closed my eyes, and listened.
Voices.
Soft, ancient.
I heard the sa whisper again.
*"Ti grows short. The Vale waits."*
I returned ho shaking.
That night, I wrote a letter. I didn’t know when I’d give it to Darius. Maybe I never would. But if sothing happened to ... if I never returned... he deserved to know why I left.
In the letter, I told him everything. The dream. The vision. The prophecy. My choice.
I sealed it and hid it in the bottom of my old cloak, the one I never wore anymore.
The days blurred after that.
I watched Erya play. I laughed with her, brushed her hair, sang to her at night. I held Darius longer when he hugged . I morized the lines of his face, the way his hand felt in mine, the sound of his breathing when he slept.
I was saying goodbye in silence.
And no one knew.
One night, I dread again.
But this ti, the voice was softer.
*"You are the key. You are the fla. Co before the moon wanes."*
That gave my tiline. I had until the next waning moon. Two weeks.
I started training harder. Running faster, longer. Practicing my shifts, my endurance. Darius noticed.
"You’ve been restless lately," he said one night.
I shrugged. "Just trying to stay strong."
He smiled and kissed . "You’re always strong."
He didn’t know I was breaking inside.
One day, I found Mayla waiting at my door.
"I had the dream again," she said. "But this ti, I saw your face in it."
I froze. "What?"
She nodded. "You were in a place I’ve never seen. Gray skies. Old stones. You were alone."
My chest tightened.
"You’re going sowhere," she whispered. "Aren’t you?"
I looked away. "Please don’t tell anyone."
She stepped back. "I won’t. But be careful, Luciana. So paths can’t be walked twice."
I nodded, tears in my eyes. "I know."
That night, I lay awake beside Darius, watching the moonlight spill through our window.
Two weeks.
Fourteen days.
I would go. I had no choice. The land needed . My family needed . Even if they didn’t know it yet.
I reached over and touched Darius’s face gently. He stirred but didn’t wake.
"I love you," I whispered. "Enough to leave you. Just for a while."
And with that, I closed my eyes, heart heavy with the hidden choice I had made.
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