The road stretched long and empty beneath Sofia's boots, her steps crunching softly over the frost-hardened earth. She had left her home behind without hesitation, following an instinct that tugged at her heart like a hunter's call. Every night the dreams returned—visions of fire, of kingdoms burning, of twin howls crying out against the tide. And always, she walked ahead of them, a lone wolf leading the pack.
By midday, the land began to change. The snow thinned into wet earth, and smoke rose faintly in the distance—not the acrid smoke of burning, but the gentle curl of hearth fires. Sofia paused on a rise, her golden eyes narrowing. A village lay nestled in the valley below, its wooden palisades humble, its houses patched with care.
Brimhold.
The name whispered in her thoughts as if carried by the wind.
She descended without hesitation. At first, the villagers stiffened at her approach—an imposing woman with wolf ears, scars, and a weapon strapped to her back. Children peeked from behind their mothers' skirts, while men shifted uneasily, their hands hovering over tools that might serve as weapons. But one voice broke the silence.
"Stop. Let her through."
Sofia turned and saw him—an old man with weathered skin and eyes sharp as winter steel. Elrin, the guide of the twins. His staff tapped once on the ground as he studied her.
"You… I know that look," Elrin said softly. "The prophecy's shadow walks with you."
Behind him came Lyra and Kaelen, the wolf twins. They froze when their eyes met hers. For a long moment, none of them spoke, but instinct hummed between them like the pull of blood and fate. Lyra's wolf ears flicked, uneasy yet curious. Kaelen's jaw tightened, as if sensing that the stranger was more than she appeared.
"I am Sofia," she said simply. "And you are the twins spoken of in the prophecy."
Lyra frowned. "We know the prophecy… but it's supposed to be about us."
Sofia tilted her head, her golden eyes piercing. "No. You are the guardians. The pathfinders. But the weight of fate rests elsewhere."
Kaelen bristled. "And you're saying that's you?"
"Not saying," Sofia replied, her voice calm, unshaken. "Showing."
---
The training ground lay behind the palisade, a ring of dirt hardened by countless sparring matches. Villagers gathered quickly, drawn by whispers that the twins would face a stranger. Even Elrin watched with narrowed eyes, as though testing something he had long suspected.
Lyra and Kaelen stepped forward, their blades glinting under the sun. They had grown stronger since the first attack on their village—their stances firm, their eyes sharp with purpose. They fought together like two halves of one soul, moving as one.
Sofia stood across from them, unarmed.
Kaelen scowled. "You're not even going to draw your blade?"
"I don't need to," Sofia said.
The match began with a roar. Lyra darted left, Kaelen surged right, their strikes synchronized to pin their opponent. The air whistled with the force of their blows—steel arcing toward Sofia's throat and side.
But she moved like water.
Her body bent, twisted, and flowed with an ease that defied reason. One hand brushed Lyra's blade aside with a flick, the other caught Kaelen's wrist mid-strike and sent him tumbling to the dirt. Lyra spun to cover her sisters, but Sofia had already closed the gap, her palm pressing lightly against Lyra's chest.
"If I pushed," Sofia said calmly, "you would already be broken."
Lyra froze, her breath catching. Kaelen growled, forcing himself to his feet. He attacked again, reckless now, his blade cutting hard and fast.
Sofia sidestepped, seized his momentum, and in the blink of an eye, Kaelen was flat on his back again, the edge of his own blade hovering near his throat—held in Sofia's grip.
Silence fell across the training ground. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Elrin's staff tapped against the earth. His eyes, sharp and knowing, never left Sofia.
"You see now," he said quietly to the twins. "Why the prophecy was never yours alone."
Lyra's chest rose and fell, her pride stung, but deep down, awe burned brighter. She stared at Sofia with wide eyes. "You… you didn't even try."
Sofia released Kaelen and stepped back, her golden gaze steady. "Because this was not a fight. It was a reminder. You are strong—stronger than most—but destiny does not always choose by strength alone. Sometimes it chooses by burden."
Kaelen sat up, wiping the dirt from his face, his voice bitter but honest. "So you really are the Chosen One."
Sofia's expression softened, but only slightly. "I wish I wasn't."
---
That night, as the village settled, the twins and Elrin sat with her by the fire. No one spoke for a while, the crackle of flames filling the silence. Finally, Elrin broke it.
"The storm ahead will test all of us. And now you understand why she walks with us."
Lyra and Kaelen exchanged a glance, their rivalry with this new presence giving way to something deeper—respect, and perhaps even fear.
They had believed themselves the center of fate. But now, for the first time, they understood the truth.
Sofia was the Chosen One.
And they would follow her into the storm.