Chapter 11
1324 Words
“Run!” Grandma Mira shouted.
Lyra grabbed her hand and followed her into the forest.
Behind them, the village was in chaos. The elders had sent their best warriors, and they were searching every house, every street, and every path leading into the forest.
They were looking for one person.
Lyra.
“Grandma, why are they doing this?” Lyra asked between breaths.
Mira didn’t answer immediately.
“They know about you.”
“Know what?”
Before Mira could explain, howls echoed behind them.
“They’re close,” she whispered.
Lyra looked back.
Several shadows moved between the trees.
“Keep running!”
They hurried deeper into the forest, but it was too late.
Warriors appeared ahead of them.
More came from behind.
They were surrounded.
The leader stepped forward, holding a silver sword.
“Lyra, come with us.”
Lyra stepped closer to Mira.
“What do you want from me?”
“You carry something that belongs to the elders.”
“I don’t have anything!”
The warrior smiled.
“You don’t even know what you’re carrying.”
Mira stepped in front of Lyra.
“You’re not touching her.”
The man raised his sword.
“Move aside.”
“No.”
He lifted his weapon.
“Kill them.”
The warriors charged.
Lyra screamed as Mira pushed her backward.
“Run!”
But before the first blade could reach them, a dark figure appeared.
The warrior was thrown across the clearing.
Everyone froze.
A tall man stood between Lyra and the attackers.
Lyra recognized him immediately.
The stranger from the blood moon.
His eyes were cold, and something about his presence made the entire forest feel darker.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Lyra stared at him.
“Who are you?”
He didn’t answer.
His attention remained on the warriors.
“Who sent you?”
“The elders.”
The man’s expression hardened.
“They sent all of you for one girl?”
“She must be killed.”
His eyes moved briefly toward Lyra.
Something strange happened inside him.
He didn’t know her.
He had never spoken to her before.
Yet the thought of these men hurting her awakened something dark inside him.
Something he couldn’t explain.
“She’s not dying tonight.”
The warriors attacked.
He moved like lightning.
One warrior swung his sword.
He dodged.
Another attacked from behind.
He caught the man’s wrist and threw him to the ground.
Three more charged at once.
Dark energy exploded from his body, sending them crashing into the trees.
Lyra stared in shock.
He wasn’t fighting like an ordinary werewolf.
He was something else.
Something powerful.
Mira pulled Lyra away.
“Come!”
“But he’s alone!”
“He told us to run!”
Lyra reluctantly followed her grandmother.
They ran deeper into the forest.
Behind them, the sound of fighting continued.
Swords clashed.
Men shouted.
Trees cracked.
Then everything went silent.
Lyra stopped.
“Grandma.”
“Keep moving.”
“He saved us.”
Mira looked at her.
“And now he’s fighting so we can escape.”
Lyra shook her head.
“I can’t leave him.”
Before Mira could stop her, Lyra turned around and ran back.
She reached the clearing and froze.
Warriors were scattered across the ground.
The stranger stood in the middle of them.
Blood ran down his arm, but he was still standing.
One warrior suddenly attacked from behind.
“Behind you!”
The stranger turned and blocked the sword.
He knocked the warrior down, then looked at Lyra.
“Why did you come back?”
“I couldn’t leave you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“You saved me.”
“That doesn’t mean you owe me anything.”
“I know.”
She stepped closer.
“But I couldn’t leave you.”
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then a faint smile touched his lips.
“You’re reckless.”
“And you’re stubborn.”
His smile disappeared.
Another horn sounded in the distance.
His expression changed.
“They’re coming again.”
Lyra’s heart sank.
“More?”
He nodded.
“The elders won’t stop until they have you.”
Lyra stared at him.
“Who are you?”
He finally answered.
“Lucien.”
Mira suddenly looked at him.
Her face went pale.
“Lucien?”
He glanced at her.
“You know me?”
Mira quickly looked away.
“No.”
Lucien narrowed his eyes but didn’t question her.
Another horn sounded.
This time, it was much closer.
“Go,” Lucien said.
“Where?”
“Anywhere away from here.”
“And you?”
“I’ll handle them.”
Lyra shook her head.
“You can’t fight everyone alone.”
“I can.”
“You’re already hurt.”
“I’ve been hurt before.”
“Why are you helping me?”
Lucien went silent.
He looked at Lyra.
He wanted to give her an answer.
But he didn’t have one.
He didn’t understand why he felt drawn to her.
Why her fear affected him.
Why seeing her surrounded by enemies made his blood boil.
Why he couldn’t simply walk away.
Finally, he said,
“I don’t know.”
Before Lyra could respond, arrows flew through the trees.
Lucien immediately moved in front of her.
One arrow struck his shoulder.
“Lucien!”
He grunted and pulled it out.
Lyra rushed toward him.
“It’s silver!”
“I know.”
“You need to stop!”
“I can’t.”
The elders’ army emerged from the trees.
There were dozens of them.
Their strongest warriors.
Their weapons were covered in silver.
Their leader stepped forward.
“Prince Lucien.”
Lyra’s eyes widened.
Prince?
Lucien stared at the warriors.
“You’ve come prepared.”
“We were ordered to retrieve the girl.”
“You failed.”
“We won’t fail again.”
The warriors raised their weapons.
Lucien stepped in front of Lyra.
“She isn’t going anywhere.”
The leader laughed.
“You would fight the elders for a stranger?”
Lucien glanced back at Lyra.
The word stranger bothered him more than it should have.
He didn’t know why.
But he knew his answer.
“Yes.”
The warriors attacked.
Lucien fought them alone.
One after another, they came for him.
He knocked them down.
Another replaced them.
Then another.
Silver cut his skin.
Blood covered his clothes.
But he refused to move away from Lyra.
Every time someone came close, Lucien was there.
Lyra watched helplessly.
“Lucien!”
“Stay back!”
A warrior rushed toward Lyra.
Lucien appeared between them instantly.
He struck the warrior down.
“Don’t touch her.”
His voice was so cold that even the remaining warriors hesitated.
Then Lucien unleashed his power.
Darkness swept through the forest.
The warriors were thrown to the ground.
Silence followed.
The elders’ strongest men had been defeated.
Lyra slowly approached him.
“You fought all of them.”
Lucien looked at the blood on his hands.
“They were in my way.”
“In your way of what?”
He looked at her.
He didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t know.
He had come searching for the relic.
But now, protecting Lyra felt more important than finding it.
Another howl echoed in the distance.
Lucien looked toward the darkness.
“We have to leave.”
Lyra nodded.
She took Mira’s hand.
This time, Lucien walked beside them instead of ahead.
Behind them, the elders’ warriors remained defeated.
But Lucien knew they wouldn’t stop.
They would send more.
Stronger warriors.
More weapons.
Perhaps even the elders themselves.
Yet he wasn’t afraid.
Because somehow, without understanding how or why, Lucien had become determined to keep Lyra alive.
And Lyra was beginning to realize something even more frightening.
The mysterious stranger who had saved her…
might be the only person standing between her and death.
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