“Get out of here! It’s a trap!”
Lyra took a step forward, her hands shaking. “I’m not leaving you!” she shouted, her voice breaking. She reached out, but the moment her fingers brushed the chains, searing pain coursed through her hand, forcing her back.
Before she could process what was happening, a low chuckle echoed through the darkness. “So fragile,” a woman’s voice murmured, smooth and cold as ice. “So easy to break.”
Lyra spun around, her breath catching in her throat. From the shadows stepped Eryon, but not as she remembered him. His amber eyes glowed with malice, his body larger, more monstrous. His claws dripped with dark liquid, and his lips curled into a cruel smile. Beside him stood Seraphine, her expression calm and calculating, her silver eyes glowing faintly.
“Eryon?” Lyra whispered, taking a hesitant step back. “What’s happening? What are you doing?”
Eryon tilted his head, his gaze burning through her. “They were weak, Lyra. Just like you,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. “This is the only way.”
“Don’t listen to them!” Isla screamed, struggling against her chains. “Eryon, stop this!”
But Eryon didn’t even glance at his mother. Instead, he stepped closer to Lyra, his claws flexing. “You’ve always been a liability. Do you really think you can save anyone?”
Lyra shook her head, her tears blurring her vision. “Eryon, please. This isn’t you. You’re my brother!”
Seraphine’s cold laughter cut through the tension. “He’s more than your brother now, darling. He’s stronger than he’s ever been, thanks to me.”
Eryon crouched low, his claws scraping the floor as he bared his fangs. “And it’s time you learned what strength really looks like.”
“Don’t!” Lyra cried, stumbling back, but before she could move, the shadows around her twisted into jagged tendrils, lashing out and pinning her arms and legs in place. The cold, oppressive darkness sapped her strength, making her head spin as panic overtook her.
“Let her go!” Adrian’s voice rang out, cutting through the chaos like a blade. He appeared from the corridor, his blade glowing with faint enchantments, his crimson eyes blazing with fury.
Seraphine smirked. “Ah, the knight in tarnished armor. How quaint.”
Adrian didn’t waste a moment. He lunged at Seraphine, their clash sending shockwaves that rattled the walls. Lyra struggled against the shadows binding her, desperate to break free. “Adrian, watch out!” she screamed as Eryon turned, his claws aiming for Adrian’s back.
“Enough!” Eryon roared, slamming Adrian into the wall with a brutal force. Adrian groaned, sliding to the ground as blood dripped from his temple.
The shadows tightened around Lyra, cutting into her skin like icy knives. “This isn’t real,” she whispered to herself, but the pain was too vivid, too overwhelming.
Seraphine leaned down toward her, her expression one of false pity. “Oh, Lyra, sweet child. This is as real as it gets.”
Just as her vision began to blur, the world around her shimmered, the darkness dissolving into nothingness. Lyra found herself back in her room, her heart pounding and her body trembling.
Across the stronghold, Solayne withdrew from her ritual, a satisfied smirk on her lips. “She’ll break,” she murmured, her voice low and filled with venom. “It’s only a matter of time.”