Whispers of the Past
The silence that followed Liam's death was a physical presence in the Shadowmoon caves, heavier than any rockfall. Grief, raw and pervasive, clung to every pureblood, muting the fragile hope that had blossomed after the healing. Anya, in particular, was inconsolable, her grief a raw wound that echoed through the bond Kieran and Lyra shared. The sheer brutality of Elias's counter-move had stripped away any lingering illusions of a clean fight. He wasn't just an enemy; he was a force of calculated, cold-blooded malice.
In the aftermath, the council meetings were grim affairs. The initial fervor for aggressive action was tempered by the bitter taste of loss and the chilling efficiency of Elias’s Advanced Hybrids. Alpha Varis, whose earlier calls for immediate retaliatio
