Chapter 11: Bonds of Blood and Shadow

The Hollow Fang Tavern's UV lanterns flickered like dying stars, their light leaching the warmth from Lira's hands as she traced the chalice's obsidian rim. It hummed faintly, a sound that vibrated in her molars. Let me in it whispered, though Ryen, sharpening his silver dagger across the room, heard nothing.

"We move at dawn" Kael growled, slamming a rusted map of the Eclipse Wilds onto the bar. His scarred throat flexed as he glared at Vesper, who leaned against the cellar door picking dirt from her hybrid claws. "Assuming the traitor doesn't sell us out first."

Vesper smirked. "You'd miss me Wolf King."

Ryen stood, his shadow stretching over the map. "Enough. We need the Fringe slummers and the Howling Quarter rogues if we're breaching Orion's lab. Lira…" He hesitated, his gaze snagging on the chalice. "You sure about this?"

She curled her fingers around the relic, its heat seeping into her bones. "We don't have a choice."

Nina's pencil scratched across her sketchpad a wolf and vampire bound by thorned vines. Jax peered over her shoulder. "Cheery."

The Eclipse Wilds

Dawn bled gray through the claw-like trees. The forest breathed rot and ozone, its shadows pooling like ink. Lira led, the chalice tucked in her coat, its weight a silent promise.

"Stay sharp" Kael muttered, kicking a half-buried skull. "Orion's eyes are everywhere."

Vesper snorted. "His failures are everywhere." She nodded to a feral hybrid impaled on a thorned branch, its silver-and-gold eyes milky in death.

The attack came at midday.

Three hybrids dropped from the canopy, talons slashing. Ryen fired, silver rounds punching through flesh, but the creatures didn't stagger. Orion's new stock Lira realized, dread coiling in her gut.

Kael lunged, his dagger finding a hybrid's heart. "Eyes! Aim for the…"

A talon raked his arm. Vesper leapt, her claws severing the hybrid's spine. "You're welcome" she sneered, wiping gore on her pants.

Lira unholstered the chalice. Light erupted, purging the shadows. The hybrids shrieked, disintegrating to ash.

Ryen grabbed her wrist. "You're burning through yourself."

She yanked free. "I'm fine."

The Fringe Slums

The slums festered beneath Eclipsion's grime, a maze of shanties and bloodwine stalls. Humans huddled around trash fires, their eyes narrowing as the group passed.

"They'll never trust us" Mira murmured, adjusting her wolfsbane satchel.

Lira stepped forward, hood lowered. "We're here for the Iron Covenant."

A man emerged, his face scarred by vampire claws. "You bring monsters to our gates hybrid."

"I bring a way to kill them." She tossed him a UV grenade. "Orion's army won't stop with us. Help us and we'll gut his lab."

The man turned the grenade in his hands. "And what do you want in return?"

"Guns. Bodies. Distraction."

He spat. "Bring us Selene's head and we'll talk."

The Howling Quarter

Rusted factories loomed, their walls scarred by old battles. The rogue werewolves circled, their alpha a wiry woman with Kael's russet eyes.

"Traitor" she snarled at Ryen. "You left us to die for her."

Ryen's jaw tightened. "I'm here now."

Kael stepped forward, his voice raw. "The pack's gone. But the war isn't. Stand with us or die when Orion comes."

The alpha laughed. "And why trust you?"

"Because I'm done being a king." He bared his throat, the scar pale in the moonlight. "Now I'm just a soldier."

The rogues exchanged glances. The alpha spat at his feet. "You get one chance."

Orion's Lab

The hybrid knelt, flawless and still, its face a mirror of Lira's.

"Eclipse" Orion purred, stroking its cheek. "You are perfection."

Its eyes opened crimson and gold but hollow. "I live to serve."

"Find her. Bring her alive."

Eclipse tilted its head. "And the others?"

Orion smiled. "Crush them."

Campfire Confessions

The group camped in a hollow, the fire casting jagged shadows. Vesper sharpened her claws, watching Lira. "That chalice is eating you alive."

Lira ignored her, scrubbing blood from the relic.

Ryen sat beside her, his shoulder brushing hers. "Talk to me."

She exhaled. "Every time I use it I feel… less human. Less me."

He cupped her face, his thumb tracing her silver-streaked hair. "You're still here. That's enough."

Across the fire Kael cleaned his dagger, Nina's sketch crumpled in his pocket a tavern in flames.

Eclipse came at midnight.

It moved like liquid, its claws shredding Jax's UV lanterns. The rogues fell first, throats torn. Kael roared, tackling the hybrid, but it threw him like paper.

Lira raised the chalice. Light surged

Eclipse caught her wrist, its grip freezing. "Father says hello."

Ryen's silver dagger pierced its side. It hissed, retreating into the dark.

"It looked like you" Ryen panted.

Lira stared at her trembling hands. "Worse. It felt like me."

Orion watched the campfire via Eclipse's eyes.

"Soon daughter" he whispered.