Chapter 4 The Road North

The frost bit deep by morning.

Wind rolled down from the northern peaks like a living thing- cutting, cruel. I wrapped my cloak tighter, boots crunching across the brittle snowpack as I moved deeper into the trees. Thalor Ridge lay days ahead, veiled in fog and legend. The last place anyone sane would go in winter.

Which made it the perfect hiding place for the last Moonblood heir.

I'd picked up his trail near Black Hollow Pass- a small village tucked between cliffs and silence. Word was, a tall stranger passed through just before dawn three nights ago. Paid double in silver. Hooded. Alone.

Rael Valen.

I hadn't seen his face, but the way my pendant pulsed after the mention of his name told me enough.

He was close.

Too close for comfort.

The curse clawed beneath my skin again as I crested a ridge, pain blooming low across my spine. Not enough to drop me- yet. Just enough to remind me of the ticking clock buried in my blood.

Kill him or die.

Simple math.

Except nothing about this job felt simple anymore.

Not since the pendant started glowing.

Not since the dreams started dragging me back to memories that didn't belong to me.

There was something twisted in all this. Something ancient. Something the guild never told me.

I pushed through another copse of frost-hardened pines, eyes scanning for prints, sounds, anything out of place. The road narrowed ahead, winding through a rocky cleft that reeked of ambush.

I crouched low, brushing my gloved fingers over the dirt.

Fresh tracks. Barefoot. Heavy.

Not human.

Damn.

I rose slowly, unsheathing my left blade with practiced ease. My breath fogged in front of me. I took one step forward.

Then the wind shifted.

A low snarl echoed off the stone to my left.

Then another to the right.

I froze.

Feral shifters.

I smelled them before I saw them. Wet fur. Old blood. Rotting teeth. Not pack-wolves, not even loners. These were the Broken- lycans who'd lost the battle for control and descended into permanent beast form. Minds eaten by the curse, bodies stuck halfway between man and monster.

And judging by the weight of the air... there were more than two.

I spun just as one lunged.

A blur of muscle and matted fur. I ducked low, blade flashing up to meet it. Steel kissed flesh. A scream tore from its twisted maw as my blade slashed its shoulder.

It didn't fall.

It kept coming.

Claws raked across my arm- leather split, blood welled. I grit my teeth and rolled to the side, landing hard against the frozen earth. Another beast emerged from the mist, eyes wild, froth coating its muzzle.

Too fast.

Too many.

I didn't have time to count. I just moved.

Steel danced in my hands. I struck out in an arc, catching the second beast in the throat. Hot blood sprayed the snow. It staggered, choking, then collapsed with a wet thud.

A third barreled toward me, jaws wide.

I threw a dagger. It lodged deep in its eye socket. The thing shrieked and tumbled sideways, convulsing.

I turned back to the first- still standing. Still snarling.

But something had changed.

Its ears flicked backward. Head cocked. It sniffed the air- then bolted into the trees, tail tucked.

Gone.

Just like that.

Silence fell around me again, broken only by my own rasping breaths and the quiet drip of blood from my sleeve.

I waited.

Ten seconds. Twenty.

Nothing.

Whatever had scared them off wasn't me.

And that worried me more than the fight.

I wiped my blade clean and slid it back into its sheath. My hand trembled as I pressed it to my ribs, feeling the sting of shallow cuts and bruises already blooming.

The curse hadn't reacted.

No searing. No burning.

It only woke when I got close to him.

I scanned the treeline once more, then turned and started north again.

Each step felt heavier. The air seemed thicker. Like I'd crossed some invisible line in the forest. A border.

Rael was near.

I didn't know how I knew.

I just knew.

I walked until the light began to fade and my legs screamed with fatigue. Found a half-collapsed ruin- stone walls choked by ivy and frost. Probably an old watch post, long forgotten. I dragged myself inside and braced the doorway with a broken timber. Lit a fire with shaking fingers.

The heat barely touched the chill in my bones.

I dug out my flask and took a swig of bitter tonic. The sting helped clear my head. My mother's journal lay in the bottom of my pack, still unopened since the last time.

I pulled it out.

This time, I didn't flip to the middle.

I turned to the very first page.

If you're reading this, Kaela, it means you've gone looking for him. Just like I did. Maybe you had no choice. Or maybe you felt the call like I did. Either way, I'm sorry.

There are things I didn't tell you. Things no mother should ever have to pass on. But you were born with his blood. And that means you carry the curse.

The gods bound us with silver and shame. Only one line survives. Moonblood or Red Dagger. One to rule. One to destroy. But there is a way to break it.

Find the other half.

My throat tightened.

This wasn't just a contract anymore.

This was legacy.

I stared into the fire for a long time, the flames licking the edge of reason.

What if Rael wasn't the villain?

What if I wasn't the weapon?

What if the real enemy was something far older?

My fingers drifted to the pendant. It was warm again. Just faintly.

Like it knew he was close.

I didn't know if I wanted to kill him anymore.

But I had to find him.

Tomorrow, I'd reach Thalor Ridge. The path split into old trails then- no maps, just instinct and whispers.

I banked the fire low and curled against the wall, blade under my hand.

Sleep, when it came, was shallow and cruel.

Wolves howled through the night.

And somewhere in the dark...

Something howled back.