The Dream Beneath the Ashes
1202 Words
POV: Aria
I hadn’t dreamed in days—at least, not dreams I could remember. Sleep had become a restless thing, full of jagged shadows and whispers that melted away by morning. But this time, something stayed with me.
The fire.
It roared in my mind like a living beast, bright and wild and far too real. In the dream, I stood barefoot in the ruins of a forgotten village, the sky split open by lightning, my skin soaked in rain and ash. I felt no fear—only purpose. My wolf, fractured but still mine, walked beside me. Her silver fur shimmered in the stormlight. Her eyes, my eyes, glowed with something ancient.
In the center of the burning town stood Kael.
He wasn’t bleeding or broken. He wasn’t cursed.
He was waiting.
When I tried to run to him, the earth cracked beneath my feet. Fire rose from the soil like a scream. My wolf snarled and leapt into the flames, and I followed without hesitation. But just before I reached him, the dream shattered. I woke with a cry lodged in my throat and my sheets twisted around me like binds.
The bond had stirred again.
And this time, I didn’t feel entirely alone in it.
By midday, the ache in my chest had settled into something sharper. It wasn’t the absence of Kael’s recognition. It was the fracture within me widening, reaching places I had tried to protect.
I’d been avoiding the healer’s hut ever since the first sacrifice, too afraid of what I might find out. But now I had no choice. The magic was changing me, and if I didn’t learn how to stop it, I wasn’t sure how much of me would be left.
Rhea, the oldest of the healers, took one look at me and ushered me inside with a frown.
“You waited too long, girl.”
“I didn’t want to believe—”
“You don’t have the luxury of denial anymore.”
Her fingers were cool against my skin as she examined me. Her touch lingered over my heart, then my temples. Her brows furrowed.
“The wolf is alive, but barely. The soul...” She trailed off.
“What about my soul?” My voice came out smaller than I liked.
“It’s cracking. Slowly. It’s as if the magic that forced the bond also tore through your spirit like a dull blade. You’re bleeding energy, Aria. And the longer Kael remains unawakened, the worse it’ll get.”
I clenched my fists. “So what do I do? I can’t just stand around while my soul shatters.”
She sighed and picked up a vial filled with something shimmering. “There’s one way to stall it. Dreamroot. It won’t heal you, but it can keep the worst at bay. Give you more time.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “What’s the catch?”
“You’ll see things. Visions, maybe. Nightmares. Or memories you’ve buried deep. The root doesn’t lie, but it doesn’t always speak clearly either.”
I took the vial anyway. If there was even a sliver of a chance that the dreams might show me a path forward, I had to take it.
That night, I drank the dreamroot and lay down beneath the open sky.
The forest around the pack grounds was quiet. Too quiet.
I waited.
And waited.
Until sleep claimed me like a sudden storm.
This time, I wasn’t in ruins. I was in the heart of the Shadowclaw compound, standing outside Kael’s quarters. The dream felt more real than waking. My hand reached out and pushed the door open without fear.
Kael was there, asleep on the floor in front of the hearth. His body was curled like a wounded animal. No flames burned in the fireplace, but the room was warm with something else. A pulse of magic. A heartbeat.
I stepped inside, but my feet didn’t touch the floor. I was more shadow than girl, watching the memory unfold.
Kael stirred. His eyes opened. His breathing hitched.
Then he spoke, and the sound of it nearly undid me.
“Aria.”
He knew me. In this dream... he saw me.
I tried to move closer, to speak back, but the world blurred. The shadows twisted. Kael’s face darkened with pain, and he clutched his chest as if something inside him were tearing free.
I reached for him again, and suddenly, the vision snapped.
I was in fire again. Alone. My wolf gone. My soul... echoing.
And something laughed in the dark.
It wasn’t Kael.
I woke gasping, the taste of ash still thick in my mouth. The dreamroot’s effects lingered longer than expected. My skin prickled with cold sweat, and my heartbeat rattled like it didn’t belong to me.
He said my name.
Even if it was a dream, that meant something.
Didn’t it?
Two days passed before I dared approach him again. I found Kael training with a few of the younger warriors, his movements sharp and unforgiving. Sweat glistened on his skin, and his eyes never wavered from his task—until they did.
He sensed me.
I felt it like lightning under my skin.
His eyes met mine, and for the briefest moment, something flickered.
Not recognition exactly. But curiosity. Hunger.
He dismissed the others and crossed the clearing toward me.
My heartbeat quickened.
“What do you want, Aria?” His tone was guarded, but not cruel.
“I need to talk to you. Alone.”
He hesitated, then nodded once.
We moved through the trees to a spot I often used to train alone. The moment we stopped, I turned to face him.
“I know you don’t understand what’s happening between us. But something inside you is waking up.”
He frowned. “I’ve been... feeling things. Dreams. Memories that aren’t mine.”
“They are yours. Or at least, they were meant to be.”
He rubbed his jaw, clearly wrestling with something. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” I said quietly. “Just... try not to shut it out. Let it happen.”
“I don’t know if I can,” he admitted.
I took a step closer, heart pounding. “Then let me help.”
He didn’t move away.
And in his silence, I found a sliver of hope.
But just as I was about to reach for him, the wind shifted.
A howl tore through the trees—long, sharp, and full of warning.
Kael’s head snapped toward the sound. “That’s a call to arms.”
We both turned, instincts flaring. Trouble was near.
Kael shifted without another word, and I followed, my wolf barely holding form. The cracks in my soul pulsed painfully, but I pushed through.
As we raced through the forest toward the sound, I knew with chilling certainty:
Whatever waited for us on the other side of that howl wasn’t just an enemy.
It was the next test of the bond.
And if we failed this one, I might lose more than just my wolf.
I might lose him.
- Writer
