chapter 7

When Memory Bleeds

Lyra's breath caught.

Between Malric's golden stare and Caelum's tense posture, she felt the weight of a lifetime pressing against her chest — a lifetime she didn't remember… yet.

> "You both knew me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"And yet I know nothing."

Caelum's gaze softened.

Malric's fingers twitched, as if resisting the urge to reach for her.

The book in Lyra's hand pulsed.

Then—

A scream tore through the sky.

Not human.

Not animal.

The sound of a thousand dying stars.

---

From the shattered trees came shadows — the Veyr.

Twisted. Hooded. Eyes like cold suns.

One raised a skeletal hand, and the runes in the ruins lit up — burning violet.

> "The Second Soul must fall!" it shrieked.

Malric stepped in front of her, hands raised. Shadows coiled around his arms.

Caelum unsheathed his second blade.

> "We can't fight them all," he hissed.

"Not here. Not like this."

Lyra's heart raced. The ground cracked beneath her feet.

Suddenly, the book she held glowed blinding white.

And before she could think—

Magic exploded from her chest.

---

Flash.

She saw fire in her palms again — not destruction, but creation.

An entire kingdom rising from her touch.

A phoenix flying above her crown.

And Malric, kneeling before her, whispering:

> "You are the fire and the light, Lyra. Without you, we are ash."

---

Back in the present — the explosion of light blasted the Veyr backward.

Some screeched.

Others simply… vanished.

Lyra fell to her knees, gasping. The air still shimmered.

Caelum ran to her side, holding her steady.

Malric stood silent — his shadows pulled tight around him, but his eyes… wide with awe.

> "You've awakened more than just memory," he said.

"You've awakened your lineage."

> "What... am I?" Lyra breathed.

Caelum answered first.

> "You are Moonfire-born. A daughter of Elarion's flame."

> "And the last of your kind," Malric added.

"That's why they hunt you."

---

Above them, the two moons flared with eerie brilliance.

Lyra looked from one man to the other.

One she once loved.

One who stood by her now.

And both holding secrets.

> "No more lies," she said, rising slowly.

"If I'm to fight… I want the truth. All of it."

The silence that followed was heavier than the magic in the air.

Caelum and Malric exchanged a look — old enemies, bound now by fate.

And far away, in a cold obsidian tower, a figure cloaked in bone smiled.

> "Let them gather," it whispered.

"Let them remember.

The end still waits beneath the Third Moon."

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To be continued...

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