Amber_Glint

Lila Harper never believed in magic until a glowing, winged creature lured her into the hidden world of Arcanwyn Academy, a school concealed deep within an ancient, living forest. At Arcanwyn, magic isn’t just taught, it breathes, grows, and sometimes breaks the rules.

When forbidden creatures begin vanishing and dark magic awakens beneath the academy’s roots, Lila discovers a prophecy tied to her bloodline. As secrets unravel and powerful forces collide, she must decide whether to protect the ancient bond that keeps the magical world safe or risk everything to unleash what has long been caged.

Magic chose her. But the truth might destroy her.

Whispers of the Forbidden Creatures

Chapter 36: Threads of the Forgotten

The chamber of ancient records known only to the oldest of the Arcanwyn professors was hidden deep beneath the school, sealed by riddles written in languages no longer spoken aloud. Lila, Thorne, and the real Niall (now under constant watch) descended the winding staircase in silence, the tension between them thick as fog.

Every step echoed like a countdown.

"What exactly did I unleash?" Lila finally asked, her voice low, raw from everything she had seen.

Thorne didn't look at her. "A memory. A soul that should never have survived."

"No," Thorne said sharply, her eyes gleaming in the low torchlight. "It was never truly human. But it wore one. Centuries ago, there was a pact forgotten by history, hidden in whispers. A creature of pure shadow was bound beneath Arcanwyn, beneath the Veil. You broke the Veil, Lila."

Lila froze, her blood running cold. "What do you mean?"

Thorne turned slowly, her face unreadable. "Everything that's happened... your arrival, the Veil's cracking, even the journal, it was placed. Designed. You're not just tied to the prophecy, Lila. You are the prophecy."

The heavy stone doors creaked open before them, revealing a circular chamber lined with shelves of dust-laden tomes and relics that hummed with power. At the center stood an obsidian pedestal, and upon it rested a scroll sealed with the sigil of Arcanwyn—except this sigil was reversed, inverted.

Niall stepped forward, frowning. "What is that?"

"The Contract," Thorne said grimly. "The one that bound the creature centuries ago. It can only be read by a blood heir of the Sealed Court."

Thorne nodded. "Your mother's side."

Heart pounding, Lila stepped toward the scroll. As her hand neared it, the ink pulsed red, like a heartbeat syncing with her own.

Whispers filled the air, clawing at the edges of her sanity. The writing reshaped itself into words she shouldn't understand but did.

The creature's name was Noctareon. A god of endings. A devourer of fate.

Lila gasped as visions slammed into her a burning world, a shattered Arcanwyn, faces she knew turning to ash. And in every vision… Noctareon wore a different face.

"No," she breathed. "That's not me."

But the scroll had one final message etched in blood.

"The vessel must choose: Become the end... or seal it away with a sacrifice."

WHISPERS OF THE FORBIDDEN CREATURES: Threads of the Forgotten