Chapter 5 Love

Asher's POV

I held Morgan's hand tight. Her clothes were wet. Her lips were cold. Her eyes looked far away, like she saw something I didn't. I pulled her out of the water with all my strength. She lay still for a moment, then coughed. I sat beside her and waited for her to speak. She didn't. Not yet. I looked up the hill. Something caught my eye. A shape stood at the top. It looked like Morgan. But it wasn't. Her hair was wrong. Her face looked sharp. Her smile felt cold. I stood up fast. The shadow girl didn't move. She only stared down at us. Then she turned and walked back into the trees. Morgan sat up. She looked at me, then at the hill. Her face went pale. "She came out of the mirror," Morgan whispered. "She wants to trade places." I didn't understand. Morgan told me everything. The shadow girl had her runes, her face, and her voice-but none of her heart. She wanted the bond. She wanted the pack. She wanted me. And worse-she might not be the only one. I helped Morgan stand. She was weak, but she kept walking. We had to get back to Kaya and Thorne. We had to tell them. As we walked, I kept thinking about something. When Silas turned against us, I thought it was over. When Fenric came through the sky crack, I thought it was worse. But now, the enemy wasn't outside. It was inside. Wearing a face we knew. Back at the square, Kaya ran to us. She saw Morgan's wet clothes and brought her a blanket. Thorne sat by the fire. His eyes stayed on a scroll. He looked worried. Morgan sat beside him. She told them everything-about the mirror, the shadow, and what it said. Kaya didn't blink. She said something strange. "I've seen that mirror before." I turned to her. "You what?" Kaya stood up and walked to the back wall of the hall. She pointed at a stone. She said when she was small, her mother took her deep into the forest to a secret place. There was a mirror just like that one. Her mother called it the 'Other Door.' Morgan stood slowly. "What did it do?" Kaya looked scared now. She said her mother never let her touch it. She only watched from far away. But one day, her mother went too close. And never came back. Morgan and I looked at each other. I felt cold inside. Kaya's mother had vanished. Through the mirror. Thorne rolled up the scroll and stood. He said there was something else-something he saw in the markings. Five doors. Not just one. Five mirrors. One for each direction. One for each shadow. One was now open. And four more were waking up. Morgan said we had to stop them. We had to close the first door. Fast. We didn't know how. But we had to try. That night, we stayed in the stone hall. No one slept. The fire stayed lit. I kept watch with Thorne. Morgan rested, but I could see her eyes open again and again. She was scared. And I was too. At dawn, we left. We followed the river back to where the mirror stood. But the space was empty now. No glass. No roots. No shadow. Just grass. Morgan said it moved. It could shift, like a ghost. She placed her hand on the dirt. The bond flickered. Just a spark. But it was enough. She saw something. A name. Whispered in her head. "Lyric." I had never heard that name before. Morgan said it came from the shadow girl. The mirror girl. She had a name now. She was real. I didn't know what it meant. But I knew this: if the mirror girl had a name, she had a past. And maybe... a plan. Morgan stood. She turned to me. "We need to speak to Elira again." I nodded. But Elira didn't come when we called. Her light didn't show. The forest stayed quiet. Then, a soft sound came through the trees. A bell. Faint. Like a song from far away. We followed it. Step by step, we walked through the fog. The trees bent as we passed, like they were trying to warn us. But we didn't stop. The bell grew louder. Then we saw it. A small house. Made of white wood. No smoke. No door. Just vines covering the walls. Morgan stopped. She had seen this house before. In a dream. She walked ahead. I stayed close. She placed her hand on the vine-covered wall. The vines moved aside. A door was there now. She opened it.

We stepped in. And there, in the middle of the room... sat Elira. But something was wrong. Her hair was darker. Her face looked tired. Her hands shook. She looked up at us. Her eyes were no longer gold. They were gray. Empty. Morgan rushed to her. "Elira!" But Elira didn't move. She blinked slowly. Then he spoke. But her voice was not hers. "You are too late." Morgan froze. The room grew cold. I stepped forward. "Elira?" Her head tilted. Then she smiled. But it was not her smile. It was Lyric's. The mirror girl had found her way in. Not through Morgan. Not through me. Through Elira. I stepped in front of Morgan. Elira still sat there, but the way she moved... it wasn't her. Her body was still. Too still. Her eyes stared straight at me, wide but cold. She blinked once. Then again. Each time slower. I had seen wolves under shadow spells before. But never a goddess. I asked softly, "Is Elira still inside?" No answer. Morgan stepped beside me. Her hand touched Elira's shoulder. For a second, her runes lit up. Then the glow faded. Morgan pulled her hand back. Her breath caught in her throat. She shook her head. "She's trapped," she whispered. "I can feel her. But it's like she's locked deep inside." I clenched my fists. This wasn't just about breaking bonds anymore. This was war. Lyric had taken Elira's body. She wasn't hiding now. She was here, sitting in the old white house like she belonged. And she smiled. Slow and wide. Then she stood. She moved like water-smooth, too quiet. She looked at Morgan, then at me. "I don't want to hurt you," she said in Elira's voice. But the words felt like glass. She stepped forward. We didn't move. Morgan whispered to me, "Don't fight. Not yet." I nodded once. Lyric looked between us. Her eyes didn't blink. Then she said something that made my blood run cold. "She was too weak," Lyric said. "But you-Morgan-you were strong enough to hold me. That's why I was made from you." Morgan stiffened. I felt her heartbeat change beside me. Lyric smiled again. "But she opened the door. Not you. Elira broke the first rule. She gave her power to you. That was all I needed." I didn't know what she meant. But Morgan did. She stepped forward. Her voice shook. "You were never meant to be real." Lyric tilted her head. "No," she said. "But pain made me. And your bond brought me home." The room shook. The vines on the walls started to move. One wrapped around the window. Another curled near the floor. Lyric looked up. Her smile faded. "Someone's coming." She turned to Morgan. "I'll see you again." Then her eyes closed. She dropped to the floor. Morgan ran to her side. "Elira?" she asked. Elira's eyes opened. Gold again. But full of tears. She coughed. "I'm still here," she said. "But not for long." I dropped to my knees. "What do we do?" She grabbed Morgan's hand. Her voice was soft. "She's opening the other doors." Morgan's face went pale. Elira nodded. "She's inside now. Not just the woods. The pack. The hearts." I asked how we stop her. Elira looked at us both. "Not with strength," she said. "With truth." Then her eyes closed again. This time, not from the shadow. From pain. Real pain. Morgan stood. Her face was red. She looked at me. "She said truth," I said. Morgan nodded. "We need to find the one who let her in." I said we already did. "Silas." She shook her head. "No. Not him." I frowned. "Then who?" Morgan stepped back. Then she said it. "Kaya."