Chapter 2 2

Scene one : The Healer's Chamber, Silverpine Pack

The scent of burnt herbs and moonroot was the smell that welcomed you into the healer's lodge. It was thick and cloying, as though it wanted to erase the fever burning through the girl's skin. Aeryn tossed it on the pallet; her silver-blonde hair was matted to her forehead with sweat. Her lips were moving restlessly as she whispered inarticulate words that filled the air.

Kael stood by the doorway, his arms were crossed, and his muscles were coiled tight. He had not moved in an hour. He had not spoken to anyone since he brought her in. Even when Siva tried to suggest that the girl should be placed on guard, he kept mute.

"She is dangerous, Alpha," Siva had said. You don't even know who she really is!!

Kael had only growled dangerously, the sound was so raw and cold that the younger wolf had backed down.

Now, Kael just watched her.

"She has been unconscious for nearly a day," muttered Mira, the healer, as he grinded a root between stones. "But her body is fighting something... old."

Kael frowned. "Poison?"

"No. This is deeper than poison. It is also deeper than infection. Something is inside her, dreaming, maybe it is even waking."

Suddenly, Aeryn let out a sharp gasp due to her arching back. At that moment, her eyes flew open. It was violet and wild. The sigil of flame and moon still burned faintly on her skin.

"Kael," she whispered his name once again.

He stepped forward immediately; his voice was low and rough. I am here.

She did not see him due to the fact that her eyes were not in the room, they were elsewhere. At another time.

"Fire... silver moon... the blade, no don't you trust her... Kael... Kael, run..."

Kael knelt beside her. Aeryn, he softly told her, listen to me, you are safe.

She gripped his arm like it was a lifeline, her skin was too hot, almost searing him, and in her palm, Kael saw the faint outline of a scar which was curved like a crescent, with three slashes through it.

His breath caught. I have seen this before...

Aeryn's eyes snapped at him, then they became focused, and at the same time frightened.

"Where am I? She whispered. "Who... who am I?"

Kael hesitated. "You crossed into Silverpine territory, then you collapsed at the border where I found you."

"I don't remember." Her voice cracked because it was raw from fever and confusion. "I dreamed that I had gotten burnt, and I could feel my skin melt. The moon was silver, and someone... betrayed me.

Her fingers tightened on his sleeve. There was blood.

Kael's voice was gravel. "What else?"

"I saw you," she whispered. In the fire, but... you looked different. It was like, she looked into his eyes. "Like I have known you forever."

Kael swallowed hard, his jaw was clenched. He stared down at the scar on her palm.

"I have seen this mark before," he muttered. "It is carved into the stone altar in the Temple of Stone."

Aeryn blinked rapidly, breathing faster. "What does it mean?"

Kael stood slowly, the answer was heavy in his chest.

"I intend to find out."

Scene 2 : The Temple of Stone, Silverpine Territory

The Temple was older than the forest that shrouded it. It was built by moonlight and carved with blood rites; its obsidian walls had the appearance of centuries on it. Vines coiled around ancient symbols, but at the center of the temple, its altar remained untouched by time.

Kael's boots echoed through the cold chamber as he entered. Torches registered his presence, flames were souring in the air.

The altar stood proudly in the center, where faded prophetic runes were lined in the stone. He remembered visiting once as a boy when the runes were nothing more than pale etchings, their magic was long dormant.

But now they were burning gold and red, and pulsing with life.

And one line shone brightest of all:

"When fire remembers love, and ashes yearn for blood, the Hollow shall rise."

Kael stared at the words, his heart was thudding. His wolf stirred restlessly inside him, as if it was pacing.

"'The Hollow shall rise,'" Kael murmured. "They mean me."

"Yes," came Maelin's voice from the doorway. "And maybe it is not just you."

Kael did not turn. "The girl. Aeryn."

Maelin stepped closer, his robes were shining. "There are no coincidences in prophecy, Kael. Only signs that are misread."

Kael's voice hardened. She spoke my name before she woke. She dreams of fire, of betrayal. To cap it all, she bears the mark on her palm.

"And yet she does not remember who she is," Maelin said. "That is what worries me."

Kael turned now, his eyes were dark. Do you think that she is a threat?

"I think that she is very important," Maelin said carefully. But importance is not always salvation. Sometimes, it is destruction in disguise.

Kael looked back at the prophecy. "Do you believe that she is a part of this?

"I believe she is this."

Kael's jaw worked. "What do the runes mean, Maelin? 'Fire remembers love'? Is she the fire?"

Maelin was silent for a moment, then he said, "There was an old tale that was buried even before the fall of the Crimson Age, about a girl who was born from moonfire. Not of a mother, but of a rite. She will be burned alive beneath the silver moon and reborn by flame. The Seared Maiden, they called her.

Kael's breath caught.

Maelin continued, his voice is distant. "She was meant to bring balance, or ruin. Depending on who reached her heart first.

Kael's voice was hoarse. "You are saying that she is that girl?"

"I am saying that we should tread carefully."

Kael turned toward the black mirror that was mounted behind the altar. An ancient artifact, its surface did not reflect light, rather it absorbed it. They said it was used by the old Moon Priests to glimpse the truth that is buried beneath the skin.

Kael stepped before it, staring into the dark.

And for a moment, it showed only his own reflection. It was a weathered and haunted one. A man that is emptied by loss.

But then the surface rippled.

Kael staggered back a step as the image warped.

Behind him in the reflection was a massive wolf that stood cloaked in fire. Its fur burned like it were coals, its eyes were golden suns. And from its shoulders spread great plumes of smoke, forming wings.

Kael whipped around, but there was nothing there.

The temple was silent, but the reflection still smoldered in the glass.

Maelin stepped beside him, his breath was sharp. "You saw it too."

Kael nodded once.

"I think," Maelin said grimly, "the Hollow is no longer empty."

Kael stared into the mirror.

No longer hollow... but it was burning.

Outside the temple, the wind howled.

And far away, in the forest which was near the border, Aeryn sat up in her bed with a gasp, clutching her chest.

A strange word burned on her tongue, but it was not her name.

It was someone else's name.

"Lilith," she whispered.

And from somewhere that is deep beneath the earth, a voice answered.

"I am coming back."