Luna's Point of View
"Luna! Behind you!"
I spun around just as the shadow creature lunged. Its claws—long and dripping with black ooze—swiped right where Aria's head had been a second before. She'd ducked at the last possible moment, rolling across the ground like I'd taught her.
Good. She was learning.
I launched myself at the creature, teeth bared. My jaws clamped down on something cold and slimy that tasted like rotting meat. The thing shrieked and dissolved into smoke.
"Is it dead?" Aria panted, scrambling to her feet.
"No. Just gone for now." I shook my head, trying to get the awful taste out of my mouth. "Shadow creatures don't die. They just... reform somewhere else."
"That's the third one today!"
"I know." And that worried me. Shadow creatures usually avoided me. They knew what I was—or what I used to be. Something had changed. Something was drawing them to us.
Or to Aria.
"Come on," I said. "We need to find shelter before more show up."
We ran until we found a small cave tucked between two massive trees. It wasn't much, but it would hide us for a few hours. Aria collapsed against the cave wall, breathing hard. The silver mark on her hand was glowing brighter than before.
"Get some sleep," I told her. "I'll keep watch."
"Luna, you haven't slept at all since we started—"
"I don't need sleep the same way you do. Just rest."
Aria looked like she wanted to argue, but her eyes were already closing. Within minutes, she was asleep, her hand curled under her cheek like a little kid.
I sat at the cave entrance, ears perked for any sound. But my mind was somewhere else.
Home.
The word hit me like a punch to the gut. I hadn't thought about home in... how long? Days? Weeks? Time got weird when you were trapped in a mirror.
But now, watching Aria sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about my pack. About Mom and Dad. About whether they even knew I was gone.
The strangest thing about being in the mirror was that I could still see out sometimes. Not always, and never clearly, but enough to catch glimpses. Enough to see fifty years pass in what felt like fifty days.
Enough to see my parents searching for me. Calling my name. Growing older without me.
Did they think I was dead?
My chest tightened. I shook my head hard, trying to clear the thoughts away. Focus, Luna. You have a job to do.
But the memories kept coming anyway.
---
The last time I'd seen my parents—my real parents, not a blurry reflection—I'd been running away from home. Running from the man who'd tried to control me. Running from everything.
I thought I was being brave. Turned out I was just being stupid.
And now, after finally escaping the mirror, what was I doing? Running toward danger with a human girl I barely knew, making promises I wasn't sure I could keep.
Some things never change, I guess.
"Luna?"
I jumped. Aria was sitting up, rubbing her eyes.
"I thought you were asleep," I said.
"I was. But then I heard you... were you crying?"
"No." I turned away quickly. "Just... dust in my eyes."
Aria didn't call me out on the obvious lie. She just came and sat next to me at the cave entrance.
"Do you miss them?" she asked quietly. "Your family?"
My throat felt tight. "Every second of every day."
"Then why don't you go back? After we get the Silverheart bloom, I mean. You could see them again."
"It's not that simple." I stared out at the dark forest. "Fifty years is a long time, Aria. My parents... they're probably..."
I couldn't finish the sentence.
"Old?" Aria supplied gently.
"Yeah."
"But they're still your parents. I bet they'd want to see you, no matter what."
Maybe. Or maybe seeing me would just remind them of everything they'd lost. Of the daughter who ran away and never came back.
"What about your best friend?" Aria asked. "You mentioned someone named Ember once. In your sleep."
My heart twisted. Ember. My best friend since we were cubs. The only wolf who never judged me for being different. For being able to shift into human form when no one else in the pack could.
"Ember probably moved on," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Found new friends. Maybe even started her own pack by now."
"Or maybe she's been waiting for you all this time."
The hope in Aria's voice made me want to scream. She didn't understand. Fifty years was forever. People didn't wait that long. They couldn't.
"We should keep moving," I said, standing up. "Dawn's coming. The shadow creatures will be weaker in the light."
"Luna—"
"I said we're moving."
Aria flinched at the harshness in my voice, and immediately I felt guilty. She was just trying to help. Trying to be a friend.
But I couldn't think about my old life right now. Couldn't think about Mom's worried face or Dad's howls echoing through the forest or Ember's laugh or—
Stop. Just stop.
We packed up quickly and started walking again. Aria tried to make conversation a few times, but I shut her down with one-word answers. Eventually, she gave up and we traveled in silence.
The forest was starting to change. The trees were getting closer together. The fog was thicker. And the air... the air tasted wrong. Like metal and rot mixed together.
"Luna?" Aria's voice was small. "Where are we?"
I looked around and my blood went cold.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no. This isn't right. We shouldn't be here yet."
"Where? Where are we?"
I turned to face her, and I knew my eyes must have looked terrified because she took a step back.
"We're at the Border," I said. "The edge of the Heart of Shadows."
"But I thought you said that was two days away!"
"It was! Something's wrong. Something's pulling us forward." I spun in a circle, trying to find a way back, but the path we'd come from was gone. Just vanished. "The Shadowlands are changing the rules."
"Why would it do that?"
Before I could answer, a voice echoed through the trees. A voice I recognized. A voice that made my fur stand on end.
"Hello, Luna. It's been a long time."
Aria grabbed my fur. "Who is that?"
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Because I knew that voice.
It was the voice of the man who'd trapped me in the mirror fifty years ago.
And he was here.