Chapter no 24
The Dawn That Never Came
The night after the Blood Moon shattered was unlike any other.No stars dared to shine. No wind whispered through the trees. The world stood still, as if mourning the loss of its heart.
Lyra Voss wandered through the ruins — her once-silver armor now dull, her steps echoing against the stones that had witnessed their final battle. Her fingers trembled as they brushed over the ancient carvings, now nothing but dust.
"Eira…" she whispered into the cold air, the name breaking her from the inside. "You promised you'd stay with me."
Silence answered her.
Her wolf senses, once sharp and untamed, felt dim — hollow. The bond that tied her to Eira was gone, ripped from her soul when the curse broke. For the first time, she was truly alone.
She knelt where Eira had vanished, pressing her palm to the ground. "If the gods took you," she muttered bitterly, "then they'll answer to me."
A gust of cold wind swept past, and for a moment — just a heartbeat — she felt warmth brush against her fingers. The faint scent of lavender. The one scent she could never forget.
Her eyes widened.
Then came the whisper. Faint, fragile, carried by the dying night:"Don't cry, Lyra…"
Her head snapped up. "Eira?!"
There was nothing — only the pale shimmer of morning beginning to break. Yet the voice had been real, and Lyra's heart began to race. She looked toward the mountains, where the first light touched the horizon.
"No," she breathed. "It can't be."
But it was.
A glow — soft and golden — flickered in the distance. Lyra followed it, step by step, through the mist until she reached the lake below the citadel. The surface of the water rippled, forming a reflection — not of her, but of Eira, standing in white, eyes glowing faintly.
Lyra fell to her knees, tears streaming down. "Eira… how?"
Eira smiled sadly through the reflection. "The curse didn't take me. It changed me. I'm bound to the light now — to the dawn that never came."
"Then let me come to you," Lyra pleaded. "I'll follow the light, I swear—"
Eira shook her head. "You can't. The dawn isn't ready yet. You have to live, Lyra. You have to lead them."
"Them?"
Behind Eira's reflection, shadows stirred — not dark ones, but souls freed from the curse. The lost, the broken, the forgotten. "They follow you now," Eira said gently. "You are their guardian, their moonlight."
Lyra's heart clenched. "But who will guard me?"
Eira's reflection reached out, her hand hovering just above the water's surface. "I always will."
The light faded slowly, dissolving into the rising sun.
Lyra closed her eyes, pressing her forehead to the ground. Her tears mixed with the morning dew. "Then I'll wait," she whispered. "For the dawn that never came… for you."
As the sun rose, her shadow stretched across the ruins — no longer a cursed warrior, but a protector of a broken world.The Midnight Daughter lived on, carrying the memory of love stronger than fate.
And somewhere in the light, Eira smiled — watching, waiting, whispering promises to the wind.