The golden glow of the moon faded into the shadows of dawn.
Rhea stood silently at the edge of the forest, her cloak billowing in the cold morning wind. Below, the camp stirred to life wolves moving between tents, warriors sharpening blades, and scouts preparing for what would soon become the most dangerous hunt their pack had faced in generations.
She could still feel the echo of the two voices that had spoken to her the night before one dark and commanding, the other soft and familiar. One was the Forgotten King. The other… Lysandra. The witch from the Forgotten Vale. And though Lysandra's words were brief, they left behind a sliver of hope.
Rhea turned when she heard Callum approaching, his movements swift and deliberate. He was dressed for war armor fitted across his chest, twin daggers strapped to his sides, and his expression carved in steel.
"She spoke to me again," Rhea said without preamble.
Callum stilled. "Lysandra?"
Rhea nodded. "She warned me. The King is waking, but… she believes I can stop it."
Callum's jaw flexed. "Then we hunt. Before the King can rise fully, before more dark creatures cross into our lands."
"We?" Rhea tilted her head. "You're letting me come?"
"You're the one they're after," he said. "And I trust you with my life. Besides…" He stepped closer, pressing a hand to her stomach. "You carry the one thing that might turn the tide."
Rhea smiled faintly. "You're finally accepting that this child is more than a symbol."
Callum's blue eyes softened. "I'm starting to believe… she's a weapon the shadows fear."
---
The council gathered at the outer edge of the Crescent Moon Pack's lands. A map was unfurled atop a fallen tree trunk, showing markings across the forest places where the mimicry had occurred, where dark claw marks had been found, and where the spiral symbol had been etched into earth and stone.
Thorne pointed toward the northeastern ridge. "This path leads to the Hollow Crossing where the trees begin to bend unnaturally. The scouts refused to go farther. That's where the trail ends."
Marrek tapped his staff against the ground. "And where it begins."
Callum nodded. "We'll form three tracking teams. One takes the high path, one follows the ridge, and the last flanks from the river."
"And you?" Thorne asked.
Callum looked toward the woods. "I'm going straight into the heart."
Rhea stepped forward. "With me."
Several elders objected at once, voices rising in alarm.
"She's pregnant!"
"She's the Luna!"
"She should be protected, not exposed!"
But Rhea raised her hand, and silence followed.
"I am not a fragile thing to be hidden behind walls," she said. "I've seen more of this darkness than any of you. It speaks to me. It seeks me. I have to be there."
Callum's voice cut in like thunder. "And she won't go alone."
The room fell still. And then, one by one, the wolves lowered their eyes in submission.
The hunt had begun.
---
Hours later, beneath a sky of bruised clouds, Rhea and Callum walked side by side into the shadowed woods. The trees here grew unnaturally tall, their trunks smooth and pale like bone. No birds sang. No wind stirred. Just silence.
Until a whisper broke it.
"Callum…"
He froze.
Rhea touched his arm. "It's not real."
But it sounded exactly like his mother.
"Come home, my son…"
Callum stepped forward instinctively, then stopped himself.
"That's how it works," Rhea murmured. "It draws from your memories. From your guilt. That's how it gets inside."
He turned to her. "And what does it take from you?"
She swallowed. "My hope. It makes me doubt. Doubt that this child will be born free. Doubt that we'll survive."
Callum took her hand. "Then let's prove it wrong."
They continued.
---
The deeper they ventured, the colder it grew.
Soon, they came upon ruins remnants of an old temple, long devoured by ivy and decay. At its center stood a stone arch, cracked and crooked, etched with the spiral rune.
"This is it," Rhea whispered. "The Hollow Gate."
Callum reached for his dagger. Then that means
A shriek split the air, high and piercing.
Something moved in the shadows.
Rhea stepped back instinctively as figures emerged from the trees.
They looked like wolves, but… wrong. Their limbs were elongated, their fur matted and dripping with shadow. Eyes like empty voids. And mouths that didn't snarl but whispered.
Rhea felt a chill crawl up her spine.
One of them spoke. "You should not be here, Luna. You carry light in a place meant for dark."
Callum moved in front of her. "Come any closer, and I'll carve the darkness from your bones."
The shadow-creatures didn't flinch.
"We are the Hollowborn," another rasped. "The first servants of the Forgotten King. And you… are trespassing."
Rhea's hands clenched. "Then it's time to remind your king what it means to face the Crescent Moon."
Callum lunged before the creatures could reply, blades flashing silver. The Hollow born shrieked and countered, moving unnaturally fast but not fast enough.
Rhea held out her hands, and a pulse of light burst from her palms, blinding the first three creatures instantly. They wailed as their forms dissolved into shadow mist.
Callum took down two more with brutal precision.
One of the remaining Hollow born charged at Rhea, but she raised her hand and the unborn child within her seemed to awaken, pulsing with golden fire. The air shimmered, and the creature was thrown backward, screaming as it ignited in midair.
When the forest fell silent again, only the arch remained unchanged, yet pulsing faintly with dark energy.
---
Callum and Rhea stood before it.
"This is a doorway," she said. "But it hasn't opened… yet."
Callum stepped closer, inspecting the runes. "Maybe it opens with blood. Or with sacrifice."
Rhea shook her head. "No. It opens with intent. With a promise made in shadow."
Callum's gaze sharpened. "Then someone's already made one."
She nodded. "And we need to find out who."
From behind them, a voice spoke.
"You already know."
They turned to see a figure stepping from the trees.
It was Lysandra.
But she was different. Her cloak shimmered with starfire, and her eyes now held a strange mix of sorrow and power.
"You said I'd know you," Rhea whispered.
"And now you do."
Callum narrowed his eyes. "Why show yourself now?"
"Because the Hunt is only the beginning," Lysandra replied. "The gate is opening. But not from this side."
Rhea's breath caught. You mean
"Yes," the witch said. "Someone within your pack… has already crossed into the Vale."