The ruins of Frostspire rose from the mist like the bones of a forgotten god. Ice clung to the shattered spires, and the wind carried the faint echo of Selene's lullaby a melody Lira had heard only in nightmares. She stood at the edge of the glacier, the chalice heavy in her pack, its silence unnerving.
"This is a trap," Kael muttered, his breath frosting in the air. "Selene's not the ally type."
Ryen adjusted his wolfsbane-lined coat, his gaze never leaving the citadel's gaping entrance. "She's the only one left who knows how Orion thinks."
Lira said nothing. Her veins still thrummed with the aftermath of the tavern battle, the phantom sting of Requiem's bite a constant reminder of Orion's reach. What if Selene isn't just his enemy? What if she's his blueprint?
The group descended into the ruins, their boots crunching over ice-veined rubble. Nina trailed behind, her sketchpad clutched to her chest, charcoal smudging her fingers as she drew a crown of thorns, a chalice overflowing with snow.
They found Selene in the heart of the shattered throne room.
The vampire queen stood before a fractured ice mirror, her silver hair unbound, her armor replaced by a simple black gown. She looked diminished. Human. The locket around her neck pulsed faintly, its twin cold against Lira's chest.
"You took your time," Selene said, not turning.
Lira's claws unsheathed. "You knew I'd come."
"I knew you'd have no choice." Finally, Selene faced her. Her eyes, once glacial, were rimmed with red. "Orion's clones are evolving. You felt it, didn't you? The pull of his will."
Ryen stepped forward, gun raised. "Enough games. How do we kill him?"
Selene's laugh was brittle. "You don't. He's not a man. He's an idea. A legacy." Her gaze locked on Lira. "One you carry."
The chalice hummed to life in Lira's pack, its light seeping through the leather. She resisted the urge to reach for it. "You hid me from him. Why?"
For a heartbeat, Selene's mask slipped. "Because I was weak. Because I thought if I buried you deep enough, he'd never make me choose."
"Choose what?"
"Between my crown and my child."
The admission hung in the air, sharp as a blade. Even Kael stilled.
Lira's voice cracked. "You never wanted me. You wanted a weapon."
"I wanted survival." Selene advanced, her scent frost and iron flooding Lira's senses. "Orion's obsession with perfection would have destroyed both our species. I hid you to buy time. But you…" She gestured to the chalice. "You became something even he couldn't predict."
Nina's sketchpad clattered to the floor. The page showed a queen and a hybrid, their hands clasped around a dagger.
Selene's eyes narrowed. "The child sees too much."
"We need a plan," Ryen cut in. "Not prophecies."
"The plan is simple." Selene unsheathed a blade from her gown a slender shard of enchanted ice, glowing faintly blue. "Orion's power is tied to his bloodline. Sever it, and his creations crumble."
Lira stared at the blade. "You mean kill me."
"No." Selene pressed the weapon into Lira's hand. "I mean kill him. His blood runs in your veins. This blade will amplify it, let you burn him from the inside."
The chalice roared to life in Lira's pack, its light exploding from the leather. Lira stumbled as visions assaulted her Orion's face, her face, Eclipse's face all merging into a chorus of screams.
"She's lying!" Ryen grabbed her, shaking her until the visions faded. "This is another trick!"
Selene didn't flinch. "You've felt his grip tightening, haven't you? The chalice isn't a tool. It's a tether. He's using it to reshape you."
Lira's reflection in the ice mirror flickered her eyes fully silver, her claws elongated. She shoved the blade into her belt. "Where is he?"
"Where he's always been." Selene's smile was bitter. "Waiting."
The storm found them halfway to Orion's stronghold. Hybrids descended like locusts, their forms more animal than human. Lira fought with the ice blade, its edge singing as it carved through flesh. But with each kill, the chalice's light dimmed, its hum fading into a sickly rattle.
Ryen fired beside her, his aim relentless. "We can't trust her."
"We don't have to." Lira gutted a hybrid, its blood sizzling against the blade. "We just have to end this."
A scream tore through the chaos Nina, cornered by a hulking hybrid with Requiem's eyes.
Lira moved without thought.
The ice blade plunged into the hybrid's chest, its howl cut short. Nina scrambled back, her sketchpad torn, her hands bleeding.
"Lira…" Ryen's voice was hollow.
She followed his gaze. The hybrid's body wasn't disintegrating. It was changing melting, reforming, until Eclipse knelt before them, her hollow eyes blazing.
"Hello, sister," she rasped. "Miss me?"
The chalice erupted.
Light consumed everything.
When it faded, Eclipse was gone. The storm still raged. And Selene's blade lay shattered in Lira's grip.
Nina touched the largest shard, her blood smearing the ice. "It's not over."
In the distance, a shadow darker than the storm began to rise.
Orion's laughter rolled like thunder.