CHAPTER 7 ( Escape from the Empire )

The voice rang through her thoughts like a funeral knell. Lyra held her tummy, her kid being cradled by fate's harsh whims. The vortex gathered around her, its shadowy tendrils coming closer, as if to devour her whole. The shard in her fingers glowed with a piercing brilliance, a reminder of the dreadful power she suddenly wielded—but scarcely comprehended.

Jasper's snarl jolted her out of her stupor. "Lyra, move!"

Her gaze flashed toward him. His wolf form trembled from the exertion of keeping back the renegade leader, who growled and pounced at him with incredible speed. Despite the turmoil, Jasper's amber eyes never left hers, silently asking her to go.

Lyra paused, divided between the love she had previously had and the anguish of rejection. But the decision was not hers to make. The earth shook under her feet, causing her to fall back as Damien arrived at her side.

"Time's up," Damien replied, his voice strangely calm. He gripped her arm, forceful but not harsh. "If you want your kid to live, we must go. Now."

"Wait!" Lyra sobbed, her eyes shifting to Jasper. Despite everything, a part of her refused to leave him behind.

"Lyra!" Damien let out a bark. "The vortex will not wait for your emotional foolishness. Move!"

The black tendrils pushed forward, pressing her hand. Lyra turned and fled, clutching the shard firmly, her heart breaking with each step that led her farther away from Jasper.

Lyra and Damien rushed farther into the forest, which was a swirl of twisting trees and moonlight roads. The rogues' roars faded into the distance, but the vortex's suffocating presence persisted, its chilly tendrils licking at her heels like a creature playing with its victim.

"Where are we going?" Lyra gasped and struggled to keep up.

"To the one place even the Empire's shadows can't reach," Damien said cryptically.

Before she could ask him any additional questions, he immediately paused and raised his hand to signify quiet. The woodland became deathly still, but for the slight rustling of leaves.

"Why are we stopping?" Lyra muttered, her heartbeat beating in her ears.

Damien's eyes scanned the surroundings. "We're being followed."

A deep snarl reinforced his suspicions. A renegade wolf emerged from the darkness, its body grotesquely deformed and its glaring crimson eyes locked on Lyra.

"Stay behind me," Damien said, transforming into his wolf form in a flurry of silver fur.

The renegade rushed, and the two wolves met with such force that the trees rocked. Lyra gripped the shard, felt its power flow through her fingertips. She had to assist.

"Lyra, don't!" Damien hissed in the middle of the conflict, as if he could sense her purpose. "It's too dangerous!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. The shard pulsed in her grasp, and before she could stop herself, a ray of light blasted out and hit the rogue square in the chest. The beast let forth a terrifying wail before collapsing into ash.

Damien returned to his human form, his look a mixture of astonishment and wrath. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

Lyra blinked, her hands shaking. "I… I saved us."

"You have identified yourself as a danger to the Empire. That power is more than simply light; it's a beacon. They'll come for you right now, and they won't stop until they have you.

Hours later, they discovered a secret cave deep beneath the mountains. Damien kindled a modest fire, moving quickly yet methodically.

Lyra rested against the cold stone wall, her thoughts whirling. "Damien, what did that rogue mean when he said my child was marked?"

Damien paused with his back to her. "It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it," Lyra screamed, her irritation bubbling over. "That's my child we're talking about!"

He turned to face her with a gloomy grimace. "Your kid has a lineage that has not been seen in millennia. The shard's power is old, traced back to the First Wolves, who once governed the supernatural world. "The Empire fears that power because it threatens their control."

Lyra's blood became chilly. "So they want my child… to destroy it?"

"Not destroy," Damien answered quietly. "Control. If they can channel the shard's energy via your kid, they will be unstoppable."

The heaviness of his words devastated her. She had to keep her kid safe at any costs. But how?

Lyra's restlessness increased as the first rays of light entered the cave. Every instinct told her to keep running, to remain ahead of the Empire's grasp.

Damien, however, seems unconcerned. "We'll leave when it's safe," he said, watching her squirming.

"How can you be so calm?" She shot back. "They're out there, hunting us!"

Before he could respond, a faint noise reached their ears: a repetitive beating that became louder with each second.

"Do you hear that?" Lyra murmured.

Damien's face clouded. "Horses."

A second later, the cave's entrance was filled with light, revealing a number of horsemen dressed in black armor bearing the Empire's emblem.

Lyra's heart sank. There was no escaping.

The lead rider dismounted, his face covered by a hood. He went forward, oozing authority.

"Lyra," he murmured, his voice strangely calm. "You have created quite a commotion. Hand over the shard, and neither you nor your kid will be harmed.

Lyra grasped the shard, its warmth penetrating her flesh. "Stay away from me!"

The cloaked person laughed. "Do you believe you can avoid destiny? That shard is a curse, not a blessing. And it will ruin you if you do not give it up."

Damien stood in front of her. "You'll have to go through me first."

The guy inclined his head, seemingly amused. "Very well."

Damien was hurled into the cave wall, resulting in a terrible break.

"No!" Lyra shouted and rushed to his side.

The figure moved closer, his shadow extending toward her like a real being. "You cannot protect him, Lyra. "You can't even protect yourself."

As the figure lunged for her, the shard flashed to life, sending him falling backward.

Lyra looked at the shard in surprise as it drifted out of her grasp, lingering in the air between her and the hooded guy.

She muttered, "What is it doing?"

The man's hood slid back, exposing a face she had not expecting to see.

"Because it knows the truth," he said, a wicked smirk on his lips. "So do I. Lyra, your kid is not merely marked. It is the key to ending this conflict, and I want to seize it."

Before she could respond, the shard fractured into fragments, releasing its energy in a dazzling blaze of light.

Lyra was left alone in the cave as the illumination faded. The horsemen, the cloaked guy, and Damien were all gone.

And in her palm, where the shard had been, was a solitary black crystal throbbing softly with an ominous glow.

To be continued…