"No one touches her."
Kael's voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
The forest erupted.
Steel clashed. Wolves lunged. Power tore through the air in violent waves.
Lyra stood frozen at the center of it all her heart racing, her mind spiraling.
That child… was never meant to be born.
The words echoed in her head, louder than the screams, louder than the battle exploding around her.
"What does that mean?!" she shouted.
But no one answered.
Because they were already trying to kill each other.
Cassian moved first.
A blur of motion.
He intercepted two armored warriors before they could reach Lyra, his strikes fast, lethal, merciless.
"Stay behind me!" he snapped.
Lyra didn't move.
She couldn't.
Her body felt… wrong.
Too still.
Too aware.
Her senses sharpened unnaturally every heartbeat, every breath, every drop of blood in the air.
It was overwhelming.
"Lyra!" Kael's voice broke through.
She turned.
He was fighting his way toward her, cutting through enemies like a storm given flesh.
His eyes found hers.
Fierce.
Focused.
Possessive.
"Get out of here!" he shouted. "Now!"
Her chest tightened.
"Why are they after me?" she demanded.
Kael didn't hesitate.
"They're not just after you."
Her stomach dropped.
"They want the child."
The truth landed hard.
Cold.
Real.
Her hand flew to her stomach.
Instinct.
Fear.
Protectiveness.
"No," she whispered.
A scream tore through the air behind her.
Lyra spun.
Just in time to see one of Kael's wolves fall.
Dead.
The armored warriors weren't holding back.
They were here for one thing.
And they were willing to kill anyone to get it.
Cassian reappeared at her side, his breathing steady despite the chaos.
"This isn't random," he said. "They tracked you."
"How?" Lyra demanded.
His gaze flickered briefly to her stomach.
Her heart skipped.
"No…" she whispered.
"They can feel it," he said quietly. "The power."
Another wave of fear hit her.
"My baby…" she breathed.
Cassian's expression hardened.
"That child is more dangerous than you realize."
Before she could respond.
A sharp whistle cut through the battlefield.
Everything stopped.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Like the world itself had been forced into silence.
Even the wolves froze.
Even Kael.
Lyra's breath hitched.
The man stepped forward again.
Unharmed.
Untouched.
Like the battle had never existed.
"Enough," he said calmly.
And somehow.
Everyone listened.
Cassian's jaw tightened.
Kael's eyes burned with restrained fury.
But neither moved.
The man's gaze settled on Lyra.
"Come with us," he said.
Her heart pounded.
"No."
The answer came without hesitation.
His smile didn't fade.
"Then we'll take you."
The air shifted.
Danger spiked.
Lyra stepped back instinctively.
"You're not touching me," she said.
Her voice shook but her power didn't.
It surged around her, rising like a storm ready to break.
The man tilted his head slightly.
Curious.
"Interesting," he murmured. "You're adapting faster than expected."
"I said no."
Her eyes flashed silver again.
The ground trembled beneath her feet.
For a moment.
Even he looked impressed.
Then.
Amused.
"You think this is about choice?" he asked softly.
Lyra's chest tightened.
"What do you want from me?"
His gaze darkened.
"Not you," he said.
Her stomach dropped.
"My child," she realized.
"Yes."
The word echoed.
Heavy.
Final.
Kael stepped forward immediately.
"She's not going anywhere."
The man didn't even look at him.
"You don't understand what she's carrying," he said.
"I understand enough," Kael snapped. "And I'm not letting you take it."
The man sighed.
Like this was all very inconvenient.
"That child," he said, his voice dropping, "is the last key."
Silence fell again.
Lyra's pulse roared in her ears.
"Key to what?" she asked.
The man's smile turned sharp.
"To ending everything."
Her breath caught.
Ending… everything?
"That child shouldn't exist," he continued. "It was never part of the prophecy."
Cassian's entire body went still.
Kael noticed.
"What prophecy?" Kael demanded.
Cassian didn't answer.
That alone was enough to make Lyra's heart sink.
"You knew," she whispered.
Cassian's jaw tightened.
"Lyra."
"You knew," she repeated, her voice breaking.
"I knew enough," he admitted.
The betrayal hit like a second rejection.
Her chest tightened painfully.
"Enough to what?" she demanded. "Use me?!"
"No," Cassian said immediately. "To protect you."
"From what?!" she shouted.
His silence answered her.
The man chuckled.
"How touching," he said. "You really don't know anything."
Lyra's hands trembled.
"Then tell me!"
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Dangerous.
"You were never meant to survive," he said.
Her breath caught.
"Your bloodline was erased for a reason."
Another step.
"Because it creates monsters."
Her heart slammed.
"I'm not a monster."
"No," he agreed.
His gaze dropped to her stomach.
"But that child might be."
Everything inside her froze.
"No…"
Cassian moved instantly, placing himself between them.
"That's enough."
The man smiled faintly.
"Is it?"
Before anyone could react.
He moved.
Faster than anything Lyra had ever seen.
One second he was standing still.
The next.
He was right in front of her.
His hand shot out.
And grabbed her wrist.
Pain exploded through her body.
Lyra screamed.
"Let her go!" Kael roared.
Cassian lunged forward.
But it was too late.
A strange, dark energy spread from the man's grip, wrapping around Lyra like chains.
She couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
"What are you doing?!" she gasped.
The man leaned closer.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"I'm taking what belongs to us."
Her eyes widened.
"No!"
Kael reached them first.
His hand closed around Lyra's arm.
Trying to pull her back.
"Lyra!"
Cassian grabbed her other side.
"Hold on!"
The force between them tore at her.
Pain ripped through her body.
Her power surged violently.
Uncontrolled.
Wild.
Dangerous.
"STOP!" she screamed.
But no one let go.
Not Kael.
Not Cassian.
Not the man holding her.
The pressure built.
Higher.
Higher.
Until.
Something inside her snapped.
A blinding explosion of power erupted from her body.
The ground shattered.
The air screamed.
Everyone was thrown back.
Lyra collapsed to her knees, gasping.
The man stumbled but didn't fall.
Cassian hit the ground hard.
Kael barely kept his footing.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Broken.
Lyra's vision blurred.
Her body felt like it was falling apart.
And then.
She felt it.
A sharp, terrifying pain deep in her stomach.
Her breath hitched.
No.
No, no, no.
Her hands flew to her abdomen.
"Something's wrong…" she whispered.
Fear unlike anything she had ever felt flooded her chest.
"My baby…"
Kael was at her side instantly.
"What is it?" he demanded.
Lyra's hands trembled.
"I," Her voice broke. "I can't feel it."
Silence.
Cassian's head snapped up.
"What?"
"I can't feel the bond," she said, panic rising. "It was there… and now it's."
Gone.
The word stuck in her throat.
Kael's face darkened.
"No," he said immediately. "That's not possible."
But Lyra knew.
She felt it.
The connection she had just begun to understand.
Had vanished.
Terror gripped her.
"No…" she whispered, tears spilling down her face. "No, please."
The man straightened slowly.
And smiled.
Cold.
Victorious.
"Now," he said calmly, "that's more like it."
Lyra's head snapped up.
"What did you do?"
His eyes gleamed.
"I didn't take the child," he said.
Her heart pounded wildly.
"Then what?"
"I severed its power."
The world stopped.
Lyra's breath caught.
"No…"
Kael's aura exploded violently.
"You're lying."
The man chuckled.
"Am I?"
Cassian's expression darkened.
"You don't understand what you've done."
"Oh, I understand perfectly," the man replied.
His gaze locked onto Lyra.
Cruel.
Satisfied.
"Without its power," he said, "that child won't survive."
Everything inside her shattered.
"No!"
Her scream echoed through the forest.
But it was too late.
Because as Lyra collapsed into Kael's arms.
she realized she wasn't just losing everything again…
She was losing her child.