Dreamwalker’s First Glimpse

The freezing rain cut across the Washington sky like shards of broken moonlight. The forest around the cabin was silent, except for the heartbeat of the boy who should not have existed.

Lucian Black—barely five years old in appearance, though his aging defied logic—stood barefoot in the center of the clearing. His mismatched eyes, one molten gold, the other an icy silver, glowed faintly in the mist.

He was dreaming again. But this time… he wasn't alone.

---

Inside the Dream

There was a lake. Smooth as glass, dark as obsidian. A girl stood at its edge. Her hair was wild—a tangled cascade of raven-black waves. Her skin shimmered faintly under moonlight, not pale like a vampire's, nor sun-kissed like a wolf's, but something in-between.

She turned her head slowly. She had eyes like Lucian's. One silver. One gold.

> "Who are you?" he asked, his voice echoing through the foggy dreamscape.

The girl smiled—not cruelly, not kindly. But knowingly.

> "I'm the one you're meant to find. Before they do."

And then the dream shattered into ash.

---

Reality Returns

Lucian gasped, eyes snapping open as Bella rushed to his side.

He sat upright in the bed they'd laid out in the small cabin near Forks' northern border. Jacob had sealed the perimeter with runes from the Elders. The Volturi wouldn't risk an attack so close to Quileute ancestral ground—not yet.

Bella cradled her son's face. "Another vision?"

Lucian nodded slowly, his voice deeper than a child's should be. "She's calling me now… The girl with my blood."

Bella froze.

Jacob stepped in from the doorway, soaked from patrol, his brow furrowed. "His energy's flaring again. Whatever's coming—it's coming fast."

"Lucian," Bella whispered, "was she... like you?"

Lucian looked down at his trembling hands. One nail had turned black. A crackling pulse of red and silver aura glowed beneath his skin.

"She's like me," he said. "But older. Stronger."

---

Meanwhile: The Volturi Move

In a chamber of black stone beneath Volterra, Aro dipped his pale fingers into a bowl of crimson.

"Hybrid blood," he murmured, "so much power in a single drop."

Across from him, a figure knelt—hooded, silent, a presence that even the ancient vampires hesitated to approach.

"She is ready," said Aro. "Send her to retrieve the boy. Or kill him."

The figure rose. Chains rattled around her wrists, though she wore them like bracelets.

"Of course," the woman said, voice soft as falling snow. "After all… he's my little brother."

---

Back to Lucian: Something Awakens

Jacob burst into the room, his eyes wide. "Bella. It's not just him now. The earth is responding to him."

Outside, every tree near the cabin leaned toward Lucian's aura. The wind stilled. The clouds broke. The moon burned blood-red.

Lucian stood, his feet touching the cold wooden floor—but it didn't creak. No weight. No sound.

He whispered something in a forgotten tongue.

> The wind obeyed. The shadows curled inward. And far away, in a snowy village, the girl from the dream opened her eyes.

---

Unknown Location: The Girl Awakes

She sat bolt upright in her mountain cave. White flames flickered from her hands.

"Lucian…" she whispered, her breath steaming the cave air.

Around her, carved on the stone, were symbols in both Quileute and ancient Volturi script. Binding marks.

She wasn't free yet. But the bond had been made.

> Fang and Claw have bred something sacred.

Now, the world will bleed for it.

---

The Crimson Visitor

The quiet didn't last long.

Only hours after Lucian's dream, the skies above Forks trembled. A low hum vibrated the air—inaudible to humans, but to the supernatural… it was a death song.

Jacob was the first to react.

He shifted mid-leap, his massive russet form sprinting through the forest. His nose twitched, tracking a scent that didn't belong. It wasn't vampire. It wasn't werewolf.

It was both—and neither.

And it reeked of blood and moonlight.

---

At the Cabin

Bella wrapped Lucian in her arms, shielding him as the wards around their hideout flickered. Her crimson eyes narrowed.

"She's here," Lucian said softly. "The one from the dreams."

Bella stiffened. "How do you know?"

"I feel her heartbeat," Lucian replied. "It echoes mine."

Suddenly, the door exploded inward.

Smoke filled the cabin—thick and laced with illusion magic. Bella pushed Lucian back, ready to tear through whoever had dared.

But the figure who stepped through was not what she expected.

She was young—no older than seventeen. Her skin pale as ash, but her limbs carried the deadly grace of a predator. A single braid of midnight hair fell over her shoulder. And her eyes?

Gold on one side. Silver on the other.

She looked at Lucian like she'd known him forever.

---

Reunion… or War?

"Lucian Black," she said in a voice like bells breaking. "By blood, I am your sister. By fate, I am your warden."

Jacob crashed in through the side wall, claws ready, his body still in partial transformation.

But the girl didn't flinch.

"I'm not here to fight," she said. "Not unless I have to."

Lucian stepped forward, his aura pulsing. "Why now? Why me?"

"Because Aro knows what you are," she replied. "And he's already sent worse than me."

Her expression softened.

"He wants you… not dead. Not turned. He wants to bind you—to use your power to become a god."

Bella's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

The girl stepped closer. "Lucian is the first pureblood child of both Night and Moon. His soul is not one, but many. If the Volturi sacrifice him under the Red Eclipse… the entire vampire curse will be reborn under their control."

---

The Echo of Fire

A sudden pain ripped through Lucian's chest. He clutched it, gasping as crimson fire licked his veins.

The girl grabbed his hand. "You're awakening too fast—someone's accelerating your blood."

Bella growled. "What do we do?"

"We hide him," she said. "Or train him to kill a god."

Jacob snarled. "And we're supposed to trust you? A Volturi pet?"

The girl's expression darkened.

"They chained me. They used me. I broke my chains for him."

She looked at Lucian, then added softly, "I broke everything… for him."

Lucian's power calmed. He looked up at her, seeing not an assassin—but someone like him. Twisted by legacy. Hunted by fate.

"What's your name?" he asked.

She smiled faintly.

"Selene."

---

Meanwhile: Aro's Command

In Volterra, Aro stood before a mirror made from black obsidian.

Behind him, the cloaked Council members whispered.

"He knows," Caius muttered. "Selene has turned."

"It doesn't matter," Aro replied. "She was always a pawn."

He stepped aside, revealing the reflection—of a second girl. This one… perfect. Cold. Engineered.

"She's already growing. And she will be… his match."

The glass shimmered. Inside it, a girl stood in a tank of liquid silver. Her eyes were empty.

But her fangs were already grown.

---

Back to the Cabin

Selene knelt before Lucian.

"There's more to your blood than you know," she said. "You're a Dreamwalker. A Bloodforged. A soul-weaver. They'll come for every drop you spill."

Lucian blinked. "Can I stop them?"

Selene smiled, just a little.

"You can't stop them."

She reached out, brushing his hair gently.

"But you can destroy them."

Bella's breath caught.

Jacob frowned. "And what happens when he becomes stronger than all of us?"

Selene's answer was a whisper.

"Then… we pray he still remembers love."