Chapter 6 Edge of the Flame

The first time I woke up in the Moon Order's outpost, I thought I was dead. For a breathless moment, I lay there on the unfamiliar mattress, the scent of smoke and blood clinging to my skin like a second soul, my heartbeat echoing in my ears.

Then came the pain.

Everything hurts.

My ribs were bruised, my left shoulder throbbed like it had been slammed with a boulder, and my legs felt like I'd run a warpath barefoot. Which, to be fair, I nearly had.

"You're awake."

The voice was low, sharp at the edges, like steel scraped over frost. My eyes flicked toward the source.

Kade.

He sat in the corner, draped in black, arms folded, eyes like shards of winter glass tracking my every movement. Still wearing his armor. Still scowling like my existence offended him.

"You should be resting," he added flatly.

I licked my dry lips. "You say that like I had a choice."

For a second just one I thought I saw the flicker of a smirk. But it passed, and his expression hardened again.

"You almost died."

"I didn't," I whispered.

He stood, crossing the room in three long strides. "Because I carried your stubborn ass across half the mountain range after you refused to stay down. Do you know how many assassins were out there? How many traps?"

I flinched at the heat in his voice.

"I didn't ask you to come for me."

"You're my mate," he snapped. "I don't get to make that choice."

I stared at him, stunned into silence. This was the first time he'd said it acknowledged it, like the bond between us wasn't some sickness infecting his blood.

"I'll be fine," I muttered, trying to sit up. Fire lanced down my spine. "Ow. Okay. Not fine."

Kade swore and stepped in, catching me before I collapsed.

"I'm not your burden," I whispered against his chest.

His hands tightened around me. "You're not. But you are my responsibility. There's a difference."

I hated how much I wanted that to be a lie. I hated how much of me the weak parts, the broken parts ached for him to care more than he should.

I pulled back. "How long was I out?"

"Three days. The Seers say the Flame inside you is... unstable. It flared during the attack."

"Because of Lira," I said softly.

Kade's jaw flexed. "She's gathering more support. Packs that haven't pledged in generations are backing her now. She's promising a world where bonds are chosen, not forced. Where prophecy means nothing."

"Does that world sound so bad to you?"

He didn't answer.

A knock on the door saved him. Commander Thorne stepped in, his beard dusted with snow, face grim.

"She's awake," he grunted.

"She's not going anywhere," Kade snapped. "She's barely standing."

"She doesn't have to stand. Just listen. We intercepted a raven. Lira's planning a raid on the Fire Vale. That village holds the last copy of the Moon's Second Verse."

My head lifted. "The one that tells the rest of the prophecy?"

Thorne nodded. "She wants to destroy it."

Kade looked at me. "If she burns that verse, we lose the only way to understand what the Moon truly meant about you... and her."

"I'm going," I said, before he could argue.

Kade crossed his arms. "You're still healing."

"I'm not sitting here while my sister rewrites fate."

He cursed under his breath. "Fine. But we leave at nightfall."

The journey to Fire Vale was brutal. Wind sliced through our furs. The snow reached our knees. I had to bite back the pain with every step, but I didn't falter. Not once.

Elara rode beside me. She hadn't spoken much since the attack, but when she did, her words were blunt, sharp.

"You're not the girl I met in the Temple."

I glanced at her. "No?"

"You were a scared rabbit then. Always looking for someone to save you. You're changing."

"Am I changing fast enough?"

Elara looked ahead. "You better be."

We reached Fire Vale by dawn. Smoke already curled on the horizon.

Too late.

We charged in. Wolves clashed. Fire roared.

Kade vanished into the chaos, a living storm. I saw Lira near the chapel, her silver braid swinging as she darted through the smoke.

"Lira!" I screamed.

She turned.

And smiled.

"You're always too late, sister."

She dropped the torch.

The chapel exploded in flames.

I ran toward it, heart pounding.

Inside, the scrolls burned.

But something else glowed beneath the flames a mirror.

The Blood Mirror.

Lira had brought it here.

I stepped inside. The flames parted around me, drawn to my pulse.

My hand hovered over the mirror.

It showed my reflection then Kade's, behind me. Then...

A vision:

Me, standing over Lira's body. Blood. Smoke. A crown.

Then darkness.

I stumbled back.

The mirror crack'd.

Kade burst in. "Ayla, get out!"

"I saw..." I choked. "I saw me killing her."

He grabbed my arm. "That's what the mirror does. It shows the future you fear most."

"But what if it's true?"

He held my gaze. "Then we change it."

But deep down... I wasn't sure we could.

We buried the Second Verse in ash. Nothing could be salvaged. Lira vanished again, like smoke in the wind.

I spent the night outside the outpost, staring at the stars, wishing the Moon would whisper back.

It didn't.

But someone else did.

Footsteps.

I turned. Prince Dren.

"I thought you left," I said.

"I returned," he replied smoothly. "Because I know something you need to hear."

"What?"

"The prophecy never meant for one twin to die," he said, crouching beside me. "It meant one must die... to become something else."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Dren leaned closer. "There's an old spell. Hidden in the Lost Woods. One that could sever your bond to Kade... and transfer it."

My blood went cold. "Transfer it to who?"

He smiled.

"To your sister."

Kade's voice was low, raw. "Ayla, look at me."

But I couldn't. Not when the truth tasted like iron in my mouth. Not when everything I thought was solid my sister, the prophecy, my bond was crumbling beneath my feet. My hands trembled, stained red. Not blood this time... ash. The temple. Gone. Burned to nothing but smoldering memory.

And in that moment, I felt it. A pulse. Not mine. Not Kade's.

A thread tight, electric snapping.

"No," I whispered. "No, no, no"

Kade caught me just as my knees gave way. "Ayla, what is it?"

But I could barely speak.

"Lira," I gasped. "She's broken the bond."

The air crackled. The sky split with thunder. And far off, in the darkness, a howl rose haunting and hollow.

"She's coming," I said, voice shaking. "But not like my sister."

Kade went still beside me.

"She's coming as something else."