Chapter 9: Embers of the Forgotten
652 Words
Lila
The deeper they ventured into the forest, the stranger everything felt.
The trees weren’t just older—they were watching. Gnarled branches curved like arms, and moss-covered trunks bore symbols she couldn’t read but somehow recognized. Even the air hummed, like it remembered her name before she ever spoke it.
The locket against her chest pulsed again, warmth blooming beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.
“Sky,” she whispered. “It’s doing it again.”
He turned quickly, his eyes scanning the woods before landing on her hand over her chest. “The locket?”
“It’s pulling me. I think… it’s leading us.”
Sky stepped closer, tension in every line of his body. “Then we follow.”
They moved in silence, stepping carefully through the undergrowth. And then—without warning—the trees opened into a glade so still it might have been frozen in time. At the center, a stone arch stood half-buried in ivy, glowing faintly with the same light as her locket.
Lila’s knees nearly buckled.
“Do you recognize this?” Sky asked.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But it knows me.”
She stepped forward. As soon as her fingers brushed the stone, her vision dropped away.
She stood beneath a sky of shifting stars, on glass-like ground reflecting moonlight. A woman appeared in front of her—towering, radiant, with hair of silver and indigo and eyes full of galaxies.
“My daughter,” she said, voice echoing through Lila’s bones. “The time is near. The seal weakens. You must awaken.”
“Who are you?” Lila asked.
“I am what you are becoming. I am dream. I am shadow. I am Nytheria.”
Lila’s heart twisted. “Why did you leave me?”
“To keep you alive.”
The goddess stepped closer. “One is watching. One is hunting. The dragon remembers. He loved me once, but now… he fears you.”
“Noah,” Lila breathed.
Nytheria nodded. “His heart was once noble. His pain corrupted it. But inside him, the ember still glows.”
Then Nytheria lifted a hand, pressing it to Lila’s forehead.
Pain. Light. Then darkness.
---
Lila gasped and stumbled back into Sky’s arms.
“You vanished,” he said urgently. “You touched the stone and your body just—froze.”
“I saw her,” she whispered. “Nytheria. She told me Noah used to love her. That he’s afraid of me.”
Sky didn’t look surprised. “He doesn’t attack like a mindless beast. There’s hesitation. Conflict.”
Lila’s throat felt tight. “He’s not just a villain. He’s… broken.”
A low growl echoed through the trees.
They both spun, weapons ready.
Noah stepped from the shadows, scales glinting, eyes burning blue.
“I wondered when you’d remember,” he said. “She always said you’d see the truth.”
Sky snarled. “You stalking her again?”
Noah’s gaze moved to Lila, softer than expected. “I’m not here to fight. Not today.”
She didn’t lower her guard. “Then why are you here?”
“To see if you’re ready,” he said simply. “Because when the gods return, they won’t come with kindness. And when the realms split… you’ll have to choose.”
Lila’s heart thudded. “Choose what?”
“Who to save,” he said. “And who to let burn.”
Before they could ask more, he vanished in a blink of flame and ash.
Sky cursed. “I don’t trust him. But I believe him.”
Lila’s hand shook against her locket. “We need answers. Real ones. You said there’s a place—Fenrir’s Temple?”
Sky’s wolf stirred in agreement. It’s time.
She nodded. “Then that’s where we go. Before the gods arrive… or the world ends.”
- Writer
