Chapter Nine: Beneath The War's Ashes

"I heard you," she whispered. "When I was almost…gone."

He brushed his thumb across her cheek. "I meant every word."

She rose slowly, face inches from his, and for once- there was no magic flaring, no prophecy whispering. Just breath. Just heartbeat.

"Say it again," she said.

Jedrek smiled. "I love you."

Her lips met his- soft, slow, steady. A kiss not born of desperation or chaos…but peace. Or the closest thing to it they had ever known.

When their lips parted, her forehead rested against his.

"I don't want to be a goddess," she whispered. "I just want to be yours."

"And I'd burn the realm to keep it that way," he murmured.

Later, they stood inside the shattered war room, only a fraction of their forces remained. Zaryn, Lucas, and the last of the Ravenord and Duskblood stood in silence as Jedrek lit a new war map across the floor.

"This is no longer a battle against Kael," Jedrek said. "That rift, whatever it brought through- it's feeding. Growing.

"We've seen things," Lucas muttered "In the shadows. Wrong things."

"They aren't Lycans," Zaryn added "They don't bleed right."

Jedrek's hand hovered over the rift symbol. "If it breaks fully, it won't just be our grounds that dies. The realm will be destroyed."

"And we have no army left," Eleanor said quietly.

Jedrek turned to her "we have something better."

She looked up, confused.

"we have you."

_ The rift hadn't vanished.

It pulsed in the sky like an open wound- ragged, swirling with black mist and tendrils of colorless flame. The battlefield had grown still, but the air wasn't clear. The light that filtered through the sky now felt fractured, unnatural.

Eleanor stood at the edge of a broken tower, wind tangling her hair, eyes fixed on the void above.

It whispered.

Not in words, but in memory- visions that weren't hers.

She saw a temple swallowed in darkness. A king kneeling before something he should never have touched. A girl screaming as her soul was pulled through stone and light.

"Eleanor," Jedrek's voice was quiet, grounding, as his hands slid around her waist from behind.

She leaned into his warmth, despite the weight in her heart. "It's not yet over."

"No," he said "But it's beginning to feel like something else entirely."

They didn't speak for a while. The ruins around them were silent, save for the low, pulsing hum that now echoed faintly through the earth- like the heartbeat of something beneath.

Something awakening.

"there's something I haven't told you yet," Jedrek said, eyes still on the rift.

Her breath hitched. "That's not exactly comforting."

He offered a half smile. "The Merge…what Kael invoked- it's not new. It was once part of our ancestral creed. Not all Lycans were born of blood and moonlight. Some were forged in something darker."

She turned to face him, "What do you mean?" Jedrek crouched, brushing aside the vines choking the floor until he found a broken stone slab etched with ancient glyphs. "The first Merge happened before any written scrolls survived. The old kings sealed the knowledge beneath sacred ruins. It was said that those who entered the rift became gods…or monsters."

"And the scrolls on how to destroy it?"

"Gone." Jedrek said. "Scattered. Destroyed. Or worse- hidden by those who feared what they'd reveal."

Eleanor felt a strange heat at the center of her chest, where the bond always seemed to burn brighter. "It's calling me, Jedrek. The rift. Like it remembers me."

He nodded. "Because you're the last of the Vale bloodline. Your ancestors sealed it once…maybe they left a way."

"But why me?"

"Because you're the only one powerful enough to open it- and maybe the only one powerful enough to end it."

Silence stretched again.

Then Jedrek's hand found hers, fingers lacing together. "come with me."

He led her beyond the ruins, past crumbled archways and moonlit paths, to a hidden lake nestled in the belly of the ancient structure. Moonlight dripped unto the water like spilled paint. The rift's glow reflected faintly across its surface, warping its color into something ethereal.

Eleanor knelt at the edge, letting her fingers drift through the cool water.

she was still trembling.

Not from fear- but from energy still humming inside her.

"You're still burning," Jedrek said, kneeling beside her.

"I can't shut it off."

"You don't have to."

He pulled his tunic over his head, revealing a sculptured torso and chest lined with battle scars and bruises that hadn't healed yet. His silver eyes met hers.

"Come in, my love..."

She hesitated- just a heartbeat.

Then she stood, shedding her torn cloak and tunic, stepping into the lake with him. The water wrapped around her body like silk, cooling the fire in her veins.

Jedrek wadded close, "You've been holding yourself together for everyone else."

She looked up at him, her voice low. "And now?"

"Now I want you to fall apart…only for me."

He pulled her into him.

Once again he delved into her mouth, their kiss wasn't rushed this time-it was slow, explanatory, unhurried. His hands trailed down from her shoulders along her spine beneath the surface to her arm, belly and thighs drawing shivers where warmth once bloomed. This was the first time he had touched her there and she moaned in his mouth as a strange sensation filled her. She wrapped her hands around him, grabbed his raven black silky hair and undulated her hips beneath him. His warm breath fanned her neck and she squirmed feeling hot in contrast to the coolness of the pool.

Her lips traced the edge of the scar on his collarbone.

His breath caught. "Eleanor…"

She pressed a hand to his chest where the bond pulsed like a second heartbeat.

"Do you feel it too?"

"Every time you breathe," he said.

Their foreheads pressed together, wet and warm, moonlight streaking across their skin.

The pool started to feel warm due to the heat emanating from their bodies.

"I want to explore more Elean…" he said sexily "…and I will…but not now, not here." Jedrek got up with a start and helped her out of the pool as they prepared for the task ahead. Unsure. Full of mysteries.