Freya’s POV
The moment my eyes met Freja’s lifeless body, lying on the cold, bloody ground, a part of me dislodged itself from the other pieces of me. A big chunk shattered. The whole world was muffled in silence while my heartbeat drummed so loudly in my head.
Gone.
I heaved myself up from the dirt with a shaking body. My entire body ached, my limbs were heavy, and the bitter taste of blood filled my mouth. A deep gash ran down the side of my face, with the warm liquid trickling into my eyes, blurring my sight. I blinked furiously, hoping to clear it, but nothing could rid this haunting scene before me of Freja lying lifeless, her chest hollow where her heart should have been. I wanted to scream. I wanted to fall to my knees and weep. I wanted to reach for her, shake her, tell her to wake up, that this couldn’t be real.
But I couldn’t.
There was no time to grieve.
A slow, mocking clap echoed across the battlefield. My blood ran cold.
I turned my head, my body still shaking, and there she stood-Maya.
A satisfied smirk curled on her lips, as if my sister’s death meant nothing more than a game she had just won. My vision darkened with fury.
The grief that had only a moment before been in my heart now turned into burning rage. My hands bunched into shaking fists, and my nails were digging deep into the skin of my palms.
“How dare you kill her!!” I roared as my voice broke with anguish.
Before she could move, I propelled myself forward, my body reacting purely on instinct. Every muscle screamed in protest, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t thinking-I was feeling. And all I felt was rage.
Maya had barely even flinched. An instant before the blow could land, she darted forward with some unnatural swiftness to stand before me, and her fingers had closed upon my throat before I could do more than react. Cold, pitiless fingers that stifled my breath in one second.
I gasped, hands flying up to claw at her grip, but she merely smirked, her head cocking slightly.
“The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is because Liam wants you alive,” she whispered mockingly, in the most fluid, silky tone, poisoned to the bone.
Then, as if I weighed less than air, she flung me brutally onto the ground.
My body hit the dirt hard, a searing pain exploding through my back. I hacked violently, blood spilling from my lips as I fought for breath. Every nerve in my body shrieked, but Maya had already turned her back and walked away, as if I was nothing-nothing but a waste of her time.
I lay there for a moment, my body paralyzed with exhaustion, pain, and grief. My mind screamed at me to get up, to fight, to do something. But no matter how hard I tried, my limbs refused to obey.
I had never felt so powerless in my life.
——-
Steven’s POV
A scream ripped from my throat the moment I saw her fall.
“FREJA!!!”
Her name echoed in the air, but she didn’t move.
She didn’t breathe.
She was gone.
My chest tightened painfully, as if someone had reached inside and squeezed my heart with an iron grip. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. My entire world had collapsed in that single moment.
Then, I heard it.
Laughter.
A low amused chuckle that sent a chilling wave of rage through me.
Liam.
He stood just a few steps away, his arms crossed, a pleased smirk stretching across his lips as he stared down at Freja’s lifeless form. His voice was light, almost mocking, as he sighed.
“What a pity,” he mused, shaking his head. “Freja was such a bright girl. But now? Just another corpse.”
His words sliced through me.
Something snapped inside of me.
My body shook, my breathing went ragged, and, in an instant, the world around me became a different place. Darker. Angrier. A sharp pain shot through my skull, and for a moment, my vision blurred. But when it cleared-
I saw red.
Everything disappeared around me-Freya’s battered body on the ground, Maya’s cold smirk, the chaos of battle. None of that mattered anymore.
Something raw and uncontrollable stirred inside me, spreading like wildfire through my veins. My muscles tensed, my fangs sharpened, and my hands curled into fists so tight I felt my own nails pierce my skin.
“I will kill you,” I growled, my voice deeper, unrecognizable.
Liam’s smirk widened, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “Finally,” he whispered. “Come on, Steven. Don’t hold back anymore. Fight me with everything you’ve got.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I launched myself at him, faster than I ever had before. My punch sent him flying backward, his body slamming into the dirt with a violence that made the ground shake. Dust rolled through the air.
Liam groaned, rolling onto his side and pushing himself up. He wiped his mouth, looking at the blood now smeared across his fingers.
Then he laughed.
“Wow,” he muttered, cocking his head. “You really are pissed, huh?”
I didn’t say a word. I didn’t have to.
I charged forward, hand ready to hit again.
“Hey, angry wolf.”
The voice was behind me.
Before I could even begin to react, a forceful force struck the side of my face, sending me backward. Pain exploded within my jaw as I hit the earth, stars dancing in my vision.
Maya.
My anger suddenly multiplied.
I snapped my head up and, my body quivering with fury, launched myself onto her, catching her by the arm.
And I tore it clean off.
Maya’s scream ripped across the battlefield. She dropped to the ground, clutching the bloody stump that was all that was left of her arm.
I didn’t stop.
I leant forwards, reaching for her throat, to end this once and for all.
And then a force, stronger than any I had ever known, grabbed my wrist and froze me on the spot.
Liam.
He stood before me, his grip like iron. “Enough,” he growled low, his eyes dark, serious.
Before I could react, before I could fight back-
Pain.
A sharp, unbearable pain.
Liam twisted my arm with inhuman strength. A sickening crack echoed in the air as agony exploded through me. Before I could recover, his fangs flashed.
Then he slashed across my chest.
Blood gushed from the wound.
I stumbled back, clutching my chest, my breath catching as my vision blurred from pain.
For the first time that night-
I felt fear.
——–
Ashley’s POV
With a nauseating strength, Ivan flung Mabel to the ground. She went down with a heavy thud and barely had time to register this before his cold, unforgiving fingers wrapped around her throat, tightening around it. Her legs kicked on the ground, and she was struggling furiously, her fingers clawing at his hand in a bid to free herself.
“You should have known better, Mabel,” he sneered, clenching his hold tighter with each word. There was a thick undertone in his voice, full of amusement-the cruel kind that sets one’s stomach off. “Coming here, thinking you could stop me-what a foolish suicidal mission. Did you really believe you could stand against my power?”
Mabel groaned in pain as her lips parted to gasp for air, but his grip was relentless. Her face turned pale, and the veins on her neck strained under the pressure of his grasp. My heart was racing in my chest as I watched her struggle. Every second felt like an eternity.
“Stop!” I shrieked, my voice shaking in panic. “Stop, you’re killing her!”
Ivan’s dark eyes flickered toward me, filled with nothing but contempt. A slow, eerie smile stretched across his face, and his grip on Mabel’s throat tightened even further.
“Oh, I will kill her,” he said, his voice dripping with malice. “And you? You, my dear Luna, have made your choice. You’ve turned your back on your own blood-on me. You have sided with the very people who condemned your father to death!” His voice rose in fury, his eyes burning with an emotion I couldn’t quite place-anger, betrayal, something darker. “And for that, I will kill you too!”
A cold shiver ran down my spine. It was a death sentence, his words sealing my fate before I could comprehend it.
My eyes moved around the field-to where destruction had scattered everywhere, as it seemed-like some sort of living nightmare now come true.
James was on his knees, his whole body shaking while he cradled Freja’s lifeless body in his arms. His hands shook as they brushed over her pale face, his lips moving in silent pleas, as if whispering to her, begging her to wake up. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
Freya was close by, huddled and still, blood seeping from her body, dyeing the area around her a bloody red. Bruises all over her body, grooves of gashes where she fought back with whatever she had till she was brought down.
Then, my eyes fell on Steven.
He was fighting-no, he was losing. Liam had overpowered him, his strength beyond anything I had seen before. Steven’s breaths came out in ragged gasps, his body trembling from exhaustion, yet he refused to back down. He couldn’t back down. But Liam was stronger, faster-merciless.
And in an instant, Liam’s hand wrapped around Steven’s throat, lifting him off the ground as if he weighed nothing.
My heart almost stopped.
No. No, no, no.
I could see it-feel it.
The vision I had.
He’s going to kill him.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over me, and my head pounded as if something inside my brain was clawing its way out. My line of sight began to blur, and the cacophony of sounds around me faded into a dull, muffled hum.
Everything was spiraling out of control, crumbling right before my eyes.
I clutched my head, squeezing my eyes shut, willing the pain to stop. My pulse pounded in my ears, my body growing weaker with each breath. I could feel something inside me-something powerful, something desperate-rising to the surface.
A sharp, agonizing pain shot through my skull, making me gasp.
This couldn’t be happening.
I wouldn’t let this happen.
No.
Not like this.
“STOP!!!!!!”
The scream tore from my throat, raw and desperate, full of a power I couldn’t understand.
The air around me exploded.
A powerful shockwave rippled out across the battlefield, sending debris flying, shaking the very earth beneath us. The trees trembled, their branches snapping under the invisible force that surged outward from my body. It was like a storm had erupted from within me, sweeping across the battlefield, shattering everything in its path.
And then-silence.
When I opened my eyes, the battlefield was gone.
I gasped and stumbled backward, my heart slamming against my chest. The stench of blood, the clangs of war, the screams-all were replaced by silence.
Instead, I stood beside a quiet lake, the water stretching out in front of me, shimmering under the pale glow of the moon. A soft breeze rustled through the trees, carrying with it an eerie stillness. I gasped hard as I spun around, trying to make sense of where I was.
And then, I saw them.
Steven. Mabel. Freya.
They all were, still standing a few feet away and appearing every bit as confused as I felt.
“What. what happened?” I stuttered, my voice barely above a whisper. I could feel weakness in my legs, the shaking of my hands at my sides.
Mabel let out a sharp exhale, blowing dust off as she took one step closer toward me. And there was just something in her eyes, between awe and realization.
“You happened, Ashley,” she said in a soft yet sure voice. “You saved us. You brought us here.”
I shook my head, still trying to wrap my brain around what she was saying. “No. no, I. I didn’t do anything. I don’t know how we got here. I don’t-” I broke off, my breath catching in my throat.
Mabel’s face softened. “There are things you don’t know about yourself, Luna. Things that have been kept from you for far too long. But I think. I think it’s time you learned the truth.”
I swallowed hard, my hands clenched into fists. “What truth?” I asked, though part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.
She took another step closer, her eyes fixed on mine. “The truth about who you are. The truth about your lineage.” She inhaled deeply before continuing.
“You are more than what you think you are, Luna. You are a powerful sorceress. The first of your kind.”
My breath hitched.
The words felt impossible. Unreal.
But deep down, something in me knew she spoke the truth.
And with that, in a moment of blinding insight, everything that I thought I knew-everything I was ever told-seemed to begin crumbling.
This wasn’t about survival anymore.
It was about what I was born to be.
And I couldn’t avoid the fact.