chapter 10
954 Words
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Chapter Ten: When the Shadows Whisper
The wind had changed again.
It blew through Duskfall as a whisper—one that was neither the woods' nor the Moon's.
Seraphina stood in the doorway of her room, cloak wrapped tightly about her. The stars above were dulled this night, as though obscured by something—though no clouds moved across the sky.
The world was… tilted.
Not broken.
Just at an angle.
She sensed it in the rhythm of the ground under her feet.
In the pull of her mark.
In the shiver that stroked her spine.
Something had shifted.
And it wasn't due to the three Alphas.
---
She didn't sleep that evening.
She lit the ancient moonstones in her chamber instead and watched them ignite—normally blue, but now shaded with something darker. A grayish black that pulsed at the periphery.
Her dreams were growing stranger.
Not visions of the Goddess now.
But a woods where nothing grew, and whispers echoed back.
She moved forward in the dream every time she did, and her reflection moved back.
And last night, she saw him.
Not Richard. Not Almond. Not Alfred.
But a man with silver eyes and black veins — one who belonged to no known pack.
He smiled.
And the trees behind him wept shadow.
---
The next morning, the signs ran deep.
Crows passed overhead at Duskfall — nine in total, in a circle perfect.
Old omens. The kind inscribed on the scrolls of the Moon Priestess — crows who flew not from hunger, but warning.
The grasses chilled, for the season.
And the purpling flicker in the flame of the altar room.
Miriam woke Seraphina at dawn's brink.
Her voice was tense.
"The realm awakens."
Seraphina did not flinch. "The Goddess?"
"No. Something else."
She opened a scroll with shaking hands. “Long ago, there was a prophecy buried by the High Council—one that spoke of a Luna so powerful, her soul would awaken not three, but four.”
Seraphina felt her breath hitch. “I’ve seen him.”
Miriam froze.
“In a dream,” Seraphina whispered. “He had silver eyes and shadow in his veins.”
Miriam shut the scroll immediately.
“Then it’s begun.”
---
Down the length of the manor, Alfred stood in his study, unable to focus.
For nights now, he'd been hearing whispers.
Not words — but thoughts not his own.
Twice, he'd found runes on his window, written in black ash.
They weren't of any school of magic.
And most of all, he'd sensed someone near Seraphina's door last night.
But no one had passed the guards.
No one had entered.
Despite that, the scent lingered.
Cold.
Damp.
Like stone and grave dirt.
---
That afternoon, Richard and Almond stood guard in the woods near Duskfall.
Both of them were subdued—something that seldom occurred between them.
But the trees no longer embraced them.
And both felt it.
"Smell that?" Almond asked.
Richard stopped. "Shadowroot."
Almond's forehead was creased. "Impossible. Shadowroot did not thrive in these woods for over two centuries."
"Exactly," Richard whispered. "It means something planted it."
Back in the sanctuary, Seraphina wove her way through the sacred archives, searching for any mention of what she saw.
She passed through scrolls, relics, and moon-tethered documents until her fingers rested on a box with a seal, with the symbol she'd seen upon her mark — the revamped crescent with thorns and branches.
When she touched it, the box warmed.
And opened by itself.
Inside was a lone stone — obsidian, with veins of silver etched into it.
She grasped it.
And the moment her fingers touched—
She was no longer in Duskfall.
---
She was among the same dream-forest again, but now she was not alone.
The man stood before her, cloaked in robes darker than night.
His presence was cold, yet not evil.
He tilted his head.
"Hello again, Moonborn."
She swallowed. "Who are you?"
He smiled wanly. "The one who was buried. The one who was forgotten. The fourth bond, broken by fear. Hidden from prophecy."
"Why appear now?"
"Because your soul has awakened," he answered, stepping forward. "And now I can touch the veil again. Soon, I will walk."
She took a step back. "You won't harm them."
He smiled. "Them? The alphas? I have no wish for the broken hearts of wolves."
He leaned in closer.
"My desire… is you."
She blinked.
And woke screaming.
---
Miriam, Alfred, and Almond burst through the door as one.
She was on the floor, gasping, the obsidian stone shattered beside her.
"The fourth," she said, breathlessly. "He's on his way."
Alfred was beside her on his knees, holding her shoulders. "Who? Who is he?"
"I don't know," she gasped. "But he's different from the others."
Miriam picked up the shards. "The seal is broken."
Almond's voice was soft. "Which means the lock is lost."
Richard was in the doorway, panting.
There's something in the forest," he said to her. "Something that doesn't run when we shift. It watches. It waits."
Seraphina stood up, legs shaking like she might run.
"Then it's already here."
---
It was later that night, when Seraphina stood before the altar and placed her hands upon the cold stone.
"Moon Goddess," she whispered. "You warned me of bleeding and choice. But you never warned me of him."
No voice answered.
But above her, the moon blazed.
Not white.
But pale gray.
As if something were trying to hide its glow.
And deep in darkness, the fourth presence smiled.
He did not hurry.
He had waited three centuries for her soul to awaken.
And now…
He would no longer wait.
---
- Writer
