Miyara's POV
"Don't look at me like I'm insane," I muttered to the empty hall, even though I could have sworn someone had glanced at me from the shadows. My voice felt alien, coming from this new body. Miyara. That's the name I wore now. A borrowed face. A borrowed life. But every inch of me was still Akeira. Dragon Queen Akeira who was later known as Luna Akeira. My hair was soft, too soft. My skin, perfect. People would like her. Everyone would. And me? I had survived wars and betrayals, yet I couldn't survive this! being trapped in someone else's reflection.
"Alright," I whispered to myself, leaning against the cold wall. "You've got this. You just need to… breathe." I tried, and my lungs reminded me how weak I was. Grief weighs heavier than steel, and I was barely holding myself together.
Zaneri was gone. The thought hit me every time I blinked. The bed beside mine was empty.
And now he was gone.
They told me I had to marry Rikuya. His brother. The one who hadn't even mourned long enough for me to stop seeing Zaneri everywhere. I'd hardly closed my eyes at night before those werewolves whispered about duty, tradition, and the brother who was supposed to be my next husband. Their rules didn't care what I wanted. My world had collapsed, and their traditions mocked me from the rubble. This would've never happened back at my home and I began missing my whole family.
Rikuya approached me once. I hadn't been prepared to meet him. Polite. Smell of expensive cologne, sterile. He smiled, asked if I was alright. I wanted to laugh, bitter and dry. "Alright?" I wanted to scream. "My husband is dead, my heart is split in two, and my family is gone. I'm supposed to be alright?" But I nodded anyway. That's what was expected. That's what widows did.
Sitting alone in that hall, I realized how much I hated myself. My freedom gone, my heart broken, my life handed to me by people who didn't care what I wanted. For what? To be a pawn? A trophy? A vessel for tradition I didn't understand? My chest ached, every breath a reminder of my weakness.
The night came, and I sank to the floor. The tiles were cold against my skin, but I needed the touch of something real, something grounding. My head spun, my body trembled. Pain and grief mingled with the sickness spreading in me. I tasted iron on my tongue. My nails dug into my palms. I wanted something, anything, to hold onto.
Akuro. The shadow god. I had never called him. Never needed him. But desperation doesn't ask permission. It drives you into corners, shoves you against walls. I whispered his name. "Akuro… I…" My voice cracked. My hands shook. I pressed them against my chest. Cold. Trembling. My heartbeat was frantic, stubborn, alive.
I closed my eyes. Thought of Zaneri. His warmth, his hands. The way he said my name in the dark, as if the world belonged to him and me alone. Thought of Rikuya, standing polite, eager, wrong in every possible way. My family, my home, the life I'd lost.
"Akuro…" I whispered again. Anger, grief, and hope tangled in the sound. I wanted him to hear it. To answer. To fix it. To give me a chance to leave this cage, this life, these people.
Time slowed. Shadows leaned closer. Candlelight flickered against the walls. My hands were ice. My body wanted to collapse, but my mind refused.
And then… footsteps. Not Rikuya. Something older, darker, patient. I could feel it in my bones. My throat tightened. My breath caught. I tasted the metal tang of fear. My head spun.
I remembered how fragile I felt now. Weak from grief, from sickness, from living too hard for too long. My body refused to obey me. My strength slipping through my fingers. Yet this moment was mine. My last chance. My one opportunity.
SLICKKKKKKK.
I felt a sword to my throat and it was all about to end, if I had my powers and strength before, I would have anticipated this and even stopped it but it happened way too fast and this was the end I just lost it, but even as the blood spilled and I couldn't see who ended it all for me I still called onto him.
I pressed my palms to my chest, feeling the faint thrum of life, the stubborn warmth still clinging to me. "Please," I whispered. "Hear me. Do not let them take me. Not yet. Not like this."
The hall seemed to hold its breath. The candle trembled. Shadows shifted . I closed my eyes and let my mind drift. I pictured my family, not dead, but waiting. I pictured Zaneri not lifeless but standing across me, smiling, shaking his head at my weakness.
I whispered Akuro's name again, louder this time, voice breaking. "Please. Grant me this. One last wish. Give me something: strength, revenge, life. Anything."
The shadows bent closer, and I felt a pull. My body shivered violently, my knees buckled. I clutched at the floor, gripping hard, nails digging into stone. My pulse raced and My mind screamed.
I imagined opening my eyes to see him. The shadow god. Nothing solid, yet undeniable. Something that would answer my plea. My last wish. My salvation or damnation.
And then, exhaustion overwhelmed me. My limbs went numb. My head tipped back, hair sliding across my face. My lips parted, whispering his name one final time: "Akuro…"
The darkness crept closer, closer, until it pressed against my vision, my skin, my heart. The world tilted.
I didn't know if he would answer. I didn't know if I deserved it. I didn't know if this was my last moment, or the first moment of everything I had been waiting for. I wasn't one to trust gods or even hope, I believed we were guarded by high supernatural beings but now I needed to call on to one. The chance of this god answering me was less than zero but I still decide to try.
And then, as my breath grew shallow, I felt it. My hands gripped the floor until my knuckles turned white. And I whispered again, voice shaking but certain: "I
am ready."
And the shadows leaned in closer.