The council hall reeked of incense and secrets. It wasn't just a place of rulings; it was a graveyard of forgotten betrayals dressed in gold and silence. Raina stepped through the massive obsidian doors, the mark on her wrist pulsing with quiet rage. Lucien moved beside her, tall and composed, but every line of his body was coiled ready to defend, ready to bleed.
Torches flickered along the high, curved walls. At the center of the room sat the Council of the Bound Moon a half-circle of shadow-cloaked figures whose faces hid behind silver masks etched with runes older than the mountains. None of them spoke as Raina and Lucien approached. But their silence was not passive; it was watching, judging.
Elias stood before them, a familiar stranger cloaked in formality. In his hand, he held a crystal vial that shimmered with violet light. The liquid inside swirled as though it were alive.
"This," Elias began, voice even, "is a severance elixir. Brewed from phoenix ash, basilisk venom, and the tears of the first Huntress. It will break the bond between them. Free her from the bloodline curse. Free him from its consequences."
Lucien's jaw tightened. Raina felt his fingers twitch.
"And if I refuse?" she asked, her voice calm but edged with steel.
The High Elder shifted. His voice was like stone splitting. "Then the Rite proceeds. You remain bound. And should your power spiral again, the council has been granted authority to intervene."
Lucien stepped forward. "You mean execute. Say the word."
The Elder didn't answer.
Raina turned to Elias. Her heart thudded like war drums. "Why would you do this to me?"
His expression faltered. "I didn't do it to you. I did it for you. Raina, you are not just a weapon. But that's what they'll make you if you don't act now."
Maeva's voice cracked from the shadows. "So you betray her to protect her? Typical."
Raina held up her hand. Silence fell.
She stepped toward the council and lifted her sleeve. The mark glowed like fire pressed beneath her skin. "I will take your test. I will prove control. But if any of you try to touch this bond without my consent, I will remind you why the Huntress line nearly burned this world down."
The flames on the torches roared in response. The council didn't move.
They knew she meant it.
Back at the estate, Raina sat in her chamber with her knees pulled to her chest. The fire crackled in the hearth, but its warmth did not reach her. Lucien sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his thighs, head bowed.
"You would've drunk it, wouldn't you?" she asked softly.
He didn't look at her. "If it meant keeping you alive, yes. Even if it meant forgetting what we are."
She crossed the room and sat beside him. Her fingers laced with his.
"Don't ever sacrifice yourself for me again without asking. We're past that now. We decide together."
Lucien looked up, his silver eyes raw. "Even if the price is everything?"
She kissed his forehead. "Especially then."
Later that night, the knock came.
Elias.
Uninvited. Unarmed. Unforgiven.
He stood in the doorway, shoulders squared, but something fragile clung to the corners of his mouth. Regret, maybe. Or fear.
Lucien rose first. "You have five seconds to state your reason or I throw you down the stairs."
"I didn't come to fight," Elias said. "I came to deliver something. And to warn you."
Raina stepped between them. "Say it."
Elias unrolled a weathered scroll, its wax seal cracked, the parchment so old it crumbled at the edges.
"It's a map," he said. "To the first Huntress temple. Buried beyond the Blackridge mountains. There's a prophecy there. One even the council fears."
Lucien raised a brow. "And why give this to us now?"
Elias lowered his voice. "Because I finally understand. You're not the danger. They are. And if they can't control you, they'll destroy you."
Raina stared at the map. Symbols she didn't recognize stirred something deep in her blood.
The temple was calling.
They left before dawn.
Raina. Lucien. Maeva. Two guards with wolf blood in their veins.
The journey took six days through frozen river paths, haunted woods, and high ridges crowned in mist. The map pulsed warm against Raina's chest, tucked beneath her armor like a secret heart.
On the fourth night, Raina woke breathless. The bond ached. Her skin glowed.
Lucien stirred. "The mark. It's flaring."
She reached for him. "Then hold me."
Their kiss was slow, unhurried the kind that spoke in silence. Lucien's hands were reverent; her body, a temple he refused to rush. They made love in the hush of pine trees and moonlight, the world holding its breath around them.
Afterward, Lucien pressed his lips to her shoulder. "No matter what we find in that temple I'm with you."
She closed her eyes. "Even if I'm not me anymore?"
His grip tightened. "Then I'll learn the new you. All over again."
The temple was a wound in the mountain: cracked stone laced with silver moss, vines with thorns sharp enough to draw blood. And at its center, a door that opened not with touch but with the mark.
When Raina stepped forward, the runes ignited. The door melted into mist.
Inside, time folded.
Ancient murals covered the walls Huntresses with wings of ash, gods with broken halos. Statues lined the path, and at the center stood an altar cradling a blade carved of moonstone and bone.
As Raina approached, the mark on her arm seared. She collapsed to her knees.
Visions devoured her.
Lucien dying. A child in chains. Her own reflection with eyes of gold and teeth of shadow.
Maeva caught her before she fell fully.
Lucien shouted, rushing forward.
Raina's voice was barely a whisper. "I saw the end. It begins with me."
Lucien knelt beside her. "What does it mean?"
She looked at the altar, blood running from her nose.
"I'm not just a Huntress," she said. "I'm the lock. And the key."
They returned to the estate a week later.
But peace was dead.
The council chambers were empty.
The skies burned orange every dusk.
And in Raina's dreams, she saw herself crowned in flame, holding a blade that could end the world.
The prophecy had been set in motion.
And this time, war hadn't come knocking.
It had torn the door off its hinges.