Caspian's POV
Kieran's hunters surround us in seconds.
Twelve elite Temple warriors, all armed with silver blades and binding chains. They move like wolves closing in on prey silent, deadly, coordinated.
I don't let go of Sera's hand.
Stand down, Kieran, I say, keeping my voice level. The Heretic is my prisoner. I'm delivering her to the High Chancellor as ordered.
Kieran laughs. It's a cold, cruel sound. Really? Because from here, it looks like you're protecting her. Again.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Don't you? Kieran steps closer, his dark eyes gleaming. Three days ago at Millbrook, you fought your own hunters to keep us away from her. Yesterday, witnesses say you let her escape twice without consequences. And now I find you holding her hand like lovers instead of enemies.
Sera's grip tightens on mine. I can feel her power stirring beneath her skin, ready to fight.
Don't, I whisper to her. Not yet.
Touching, Kieran sneers. The High Priest has fallen for his prisoner. How pathetic.
Rage burns through me. Watch your mouth.
Or what? You'll attack me too? Kieran draws his blade. The High Chancellor sent me to check on your progress, Caspian. He's concerned you're losing your edge. That the mate bond is corrupting you.
My blood runs cold. How does he know about
About the bond? Kieran's smile widens. We've always known. The High Chancellor has been watching you for three years, waiting to see if you'd fail. And congratulations you finally did.
Behind me, Sera gasps. This was a test? All of it?
Not just a test, Kieran says. A lesson. The High Chancellor wanted to prove that even the strongest High Priest can be corrupted by a Heretic. That mate bonds make us weak.
Something inside me snaps.
I move faster than thought, closing the distance between us. My blade is at Kieran's throat before his hunters can react.
Call them off, I growl. Now.
Kieran doesn't flinch. Kill me, and you're a traitor. The Temple will hunt you forever.
I don't care.
And I realize with shock that I mean it.
For thirteen years, the Temple has been everything to me. My home. My purpose. My reason for living. But standing here with my blade at Kieran's throat and Sera's hand in mine, I understand something terrible.
I'd burn down the entire Temple before I let them hurt her.
The realization must show on my face, because Kieran starts laughing.
There it is, he says. The corruption. You've chosen the Heretic over your oath. Over your duty. Over your
Thunder crashes overhead.
We all look up.
The sky has turned black, boiling with clouds that glow silver at their edges. Lightning flashes not normal lightning, but pure silver light that makes the air crackle with magic.
Moon Storm, one of Kieran's hunters breathes, terror in his voice.
Impossible, Kieran says. It's not the right season
Another bolt strikes, so close the ground shakes beneath our feet. A tree explodes into silver flames.
RUN! I shout.
Chaos erupts.
Kieran's hunters scatter as more lightning strikes around us. The Moon Storm is building faster than any I've seen, turning the forest into a death trap.
I grab Sera's hand and run, pulling her with me. Behind us, I hear screams as lightning finds its targets.
There's a cave system! Sera shouts over the wind. This way!
She leads me through the trees, moving with confidence even as the world goes mad around us. More lightning strikes. More screams. The air tastes like ozone and power.
We reach the caves just as the full storm hits.
Inside, we collapse against the stone walls, both gasping for breath. Outside, the storm rages silver lightning striking again and again, each bolt shaking the earth.
What about Kieran? Sera asks.
If he's smart, he found shelter. I run a hand through my hair. If not... Moon Storms don't leave survivors.
We sit in silence, watching the storm through the cave entrance. It's beautiful and terrifying nature's fury given form, the Moon Goddess's anger made real.
After a while, Sera speaks quietly. Was he right? About your uncle watching us?
I don't know. The admission hurts. Maybe.
And the mate bond? He knew about it?
Apparently everyone knew except me.
Sera moves closer, and I don't stop her. What Kieran said about you being corrupted... that's not true. Caring about someone doesn't make you weak.
The Temple taught me differently.
Then maybe the Temple taught you wrong.
I look at her really look at her. In the silver light of the storm, she's ethereal. Beautiful. And she's looking at me like I'm worth saving.
Like I'm more than just a weapon.
Tell me about them, Sera says gently. Your parents. Who were they really?
My throat tightens. Why?
Because you're going to kill me for what happened to them. I should at least know who they were.
The words cut deep, but she's right.
My father was a Temple guardian, I start, the memories painful even after thirteen years. He was strong but kind. Used to carry me on his shoulders. My mother was a healer. She sang when she worked.
They sound wonderful.
They were. My hands clench. A Heretic came to our village, running from Temple hunters. My parents tried to help her. When the hunters found out, they accused my parents of treason.
Sera's eyes widen. They were helping her?
Yes. They believed she was innocent. The words taste bitter. The Heretic panicked when the hunters came. She used her power severed my parents' mate bond to create a distraction. The shock killed them both instantly.
I'm so sorry, Caspian.
That's why Heretics must die, I say, but the words feel hollow now. You have the power to destroy love itself.
I would never use it that way, Sera whispers. I've seen what losing a mate does to people. I could never inflict that pain.
You say that now. But power corrupts
No. Her voice is firm. That Heretic who killed your parents? She was terrified. Desperate. Cornered by people who wanted to execute her for existing. She made a horrible choice, yes. But the Temple created that situation. They're the ones who hunt us. Who force us into corners until we lash out.
I want to argue, but I can't.
Because she's right.
I've spent three years running, Sera continues. Three years alone and hunted. I could have hurt so many people to save myself. I never did. Because I'm not a monster, Caspian. No matter what the Temple says.
I study her face in the silver light. Looking for lies, for manipulation, for any sign that she's playing me.
I find only truth.
You actually believe that, I say quietly.
I know it.
The storm rages on outside. Inside the cave, something shifts between us.
I'll put the chains back on in the morning, I finally say. For tonight... just don't run.
It's the closest I can come to trust.
Sera's smile is sad but genuine. I won't run. I promise.
We sit together, watching the storm fade. Neither of us sleeps. The mate bond pulses between us like a living thing, growing stronger with every moment.
As dawn approaches, I break the silence. Sera?
Yes?
If what Luna said is true if my uncle really did order that Heretic to kill my parents what does that mean?
It means, Sera says carefully, that everything you've believed for thirteen years might be a lie.
The words hang between us.
And then, cutting through the quiet, we hear it.
A scream.
Not human. Not wolf. Something else entirely a sound of pure agony that makes my blood run cold.
Sera jumps to her feet. What was that?
I'm already moving toward the cave entrance, my hand on my blade. The storm has passed, leaving the forest eerily silent.
Another scream echoes through the trees.
It's coming from where we left Kieran, I say.
We run through the dawn light, following the sounds. What we find makes my stomach turn.
Kieran's hunters are scattered across the forest floor. Not dead worse. They're frozen in place, their eyes wide with terror, silver light crawling across their skin like living frost.
And in the center of them all, Kieran kneels on the ground, his hands pressed to his temples.
No, no, no, he's muttering. Not real. Can't be real.
Kieran! I rush forward.
He looks up at me, and I freeze.
His eyes are glowing silver. Just like Sera's.
She was right, Kieran gasps. Your uncle... he lied about everything. The Heretics. The mate bonds. All of it. He laughs, high and broken. I can see it now. The Moon Goddess showed me. She showed me everything.
What are you talking about?
Kieran's hands drop, and I see what he's holding.
A crystal. The same kind Luna gave to Sera.
The storm wasn't natural, Kieran says. It was Her. The Moon Goddess. She wanted us to find this place. To see the truth.
He points behind us.
I turn slowly.
On the cave wall, hidden in shadows until now, are carvings. Ancient writing glowing with silver light.
And at the center, a message that makes my world collapse:
THE TEMPLE LIES. THE HERETICS ARE THE KEY. FREE THEM OR WATCH YOUR KIND FALL.
Beneath it, carved in stone, are names.
Hundreds of names.
All the Heretics the Temple has executed over the centuries.
And at the very top, two names that stop my heart:
ELENA ASHENLORE. MARCUS ASHENLORE.
My parents.
No, I breathe.
Sera's hand finds mine. Caspian...
My parents were Heretics? The words come out broken. They were... and my uncle killed them? And blamed another Heretic to hide the truth?
Kieran stands on shaking legs. The Moon Goddess showed me everything, Caspian. Your parents discovered the Temple's corruption. They were going to expose it. So your uncle had them executed and made it look like a Heretic attack.
The world spins.
Everything I've believed. Everything I've done. All of it built on lies.
I turn to Sera, and she's looking at me with such compassion it breaks me.
I've been hunting innocent people, I whisper. For thirteen years, I've been murdering innocent people to avenge parents who were murdered by the very man who raised me.
You didn't know, Sera says.
But I did know. Somewhere deep down, I knew something was wrong. And I ignored it because the truth was too painful.
A sound makes us all turn.
More Temple hunters are emerging from the forest. Dozens of them.
And at their head, wearing the black and gold robes of the High Chancellor, is my uncle.
Mordren Ashenlore smiles at me.
Hello, nephew, he says. I see you've found my little secret.