Chapter Two: The Shadow Queen
898 Words
Darkness.
It surrounded me like an endless ocean.
The weight of the earth above my coffin was gone.
So was the pain.
I floated through a cold, endless void where neither the moon nor the stars existed.
Was this...
Death?
A soft laugh echoed around me.
"You humans are always so dramatic."
My eyes snapped open.
A woman stood several feet away.
She was unlike anyone I had ever seen.
Long silver hair cascaded to her waist, moving as though an invisible wind danced through it. Her crimson eyes glowed against skin as pale as freshly fallen snow, and a black crown rested upon her head.
Behind her stretched a throne carved from obsidian.
The air itself seemed to kneel before her.
"W-Who are you?"
She smiled.
"Names are dangerous."
"I asked who you are."
"And I heard you."
She stepped closer.
Every step made the darkness ripple beneath her feet.
"For now..."
"You may call me Nyx."
A chill raced through my body.
There was something ancient about her.
Something terrifying.
She looked at me as though she had watched kingdoms rise and fall.
"You've been crying."
Her voice softened.
"Do you still mourn the people who buried you?"
My hands clenched.
"No."
"Liar."
Images flashed through my mind.
Kael.
The elders.
The pack.
The children who once called me their Luna.
The people I had sacrificed everything for.
"They never loved me."
Nyx tilted her head.
"They did."
I frowned.
"What?"
"They loved the version of you that was useful."
Her words pierced deeper than any blade.
"When they believed you could protect them, they praised you."
"When they believed you were guilty..."
"They buried you alive."
Silence swallowed us.
I hated how true her words were.
"Tell me..."
Nyx circled me slowly.
"If I returned you to that pack this very moment..."
"What would you do?"
I closed my eyes.
A week ago...
I would have forgiven them.
Today...
The answer came without hesitation.
"I'd watch them beg."
A smile spread across her face.
"Excellent."
My heart skipped.
"Excellent?"
"Mercy is a luxury queens cannot always afford."
The darkness around us suddenly shifted.
Scenes appeared like reflections upon black water.
I saw Alpha Rowan.
Alive.
Walking through the palace.
Then...
A hooded figure entered his chambers.
I leaned forward.
"Who is that?"
"The truth."
The stranger handed Rowan a glowing crystal.
They spoke, but I couldn't hear their voices.
Moments later...
Rowan collapsed.
Blood spilled across the floor.
Then...
The hooded figure knelt beside his body.
Slowly...
They lifted my ceremonial dagger from beneath his cloak.
My eyes widened.
"No..."
The figure deliberately covered the dagger with my scent.
They wanted it to be found.
"They framed me."
Nyx nodded.
"Yes."
My breathing became uneven.
"Who are they?"
"I cannot tell you."
"Why?"
"Because revenge handed to you is worthless."
She stepped closer until only inches separated us.
"You must earn it."
The vision disappeared.
Rage burned inside me.
Someone had destroyed my life.
Taken my mate.
My title.
My name.
And then buried me alive.
"Bring me back."
Nyx looked amused.
"So eager."
"Bring me back!"
"I will."
Hope flared inside me.
"But not today."
"What?"
"Your body still sleeps beneath the earth."
"I'll die!"
"No."
She smiled again.
"The Shadow Realm has claimed your soul."
"Time flows differently here."
"Three years will pass in the world above."
My knees nearly buckled.
"Three years?"
"They will mourn."
"They will regret."
"They will search for answers."
"And by the time you return..."
"You will no longer be the woman they buried."
My voice trembled.
"What will I become?"
Nyx extended her hand.
The darkness exploded into countless stars.
"You will become what you were always meant to be."
A crown appeared above my head.
Black as midnight.
Covered in crimson gemstones.
The moment it touched my forehead...
Pain tore through my body.
I screamed.
Memories flooded my mind.
A battlefield.
Thousands of wolves kneeling.
A woman dressed in black armor.
She looked exactly like me.
No...
She was me.
"My Queen..."
Thousands of voices echoed together.
"My Queen..."
I clutched my head.
"No..."
"I've never seen this place!"
"You have."
"I've never worn that crown!"
"You did."
"I've never ruled anyone!"
"You ruled them all."
I stumbled backwards.
"This isn't real."
Nyx's crimson eyes softened.
"It is."
"You have lived before, Evelyn."
"The world simply forgot your first name."
The battlefield vanished.
I fell to my knees.
Every part of me shook.
"I don't understand."
"You don't have to."
"Not yet."
Nyx raised her hand.
Black flames spiraled around us.
"They buried Luna Evelyn."
The flames climbed higher.
"But they awakened someone far older."
The crown settled firmly upon my head.
For a brief second...
I felt it.
Power.
Endless.
Terrifying.
Ancient.
Then it disappeared.
Nyx turned away.
"Our time is over."
"Wait!"
"I still have questions!"
"You always will."
She walked toward the throne.
"When will I see you again?"
She stopped without looking back.
"When the first Alpha kneels before you..."
"...without being forced."
Before I could ask another question...
The world shattered.
Darkness swallowed me once again.
Far above...
Beneath six feet of cold earth...
Inside a forgotten coffin...
A single heartbeat echoed.
Thump.
Silence.
Then...
Thump.
Someone gasped.
Not me.
Someone standing above my grave.
A frightened voice whispered into the night.
"I... I just heard something."
**End of Chapter Two**
- Writer
