The Prophecy
Eryon couldn’t shake the vision. The glowing artifact, their parents’ desperate cries, and the ominous warning echoed relentlessly in his mind. Even after he had carefully returned the artifact to its hidden box, the library, once his refuge, felt colder—its shadows heavier, its silence more oppressive. The safe haven was now tinged with an unsettling tension that gnawed at his resolve.
He had to know more.
The next day, as the academy stirred with its usual routines, Eryon slipped away during the quietest hours. The library beckoned him once again, its labyrinth of shelves holding secrets he was determined to uncover. He combed through old texts and records, his frustration mounting as the answers he sought continued to elude him. Page after brittle page, he unearthed fragments of lore and myths, but nothing that directly explained the vision or its chilling warning.
Then, at last, tucked into the pages of an ancient volume on forbidden prophecies, he found it. The section was written in the same jagged, foreboding script that had resonated in his vision. His pulse quickened as he read the opening words:
“The wolf-born children will rise when the balance of power is most fragile. Born of moonlight and blood, they will bring chaos to the bloodlines, forcing shadows to fracture under the weight of their truth. When the blood moon rises, the wolves will claim what is theirs.”
Eryon’s breath caught. He read the passage again, his mind racing. The prophecy wasn’t just a vague warning—it felt personal. The words described wolves returning to a realm where they had been hunted to extinction, their resurgence shattering the fragile equilibrium maintained by the vampires. It was as if the prophecy were speaking directly to him and Lyra.
His fingers tightened around the brittle pages as a grim realization settled over him. If the vampires ever discovered their secret, it wouldn’t just mean their deaths—it could ignite a war. The stakes were far greater than he had imagined.
The text continued, its tone growing darker:
“With their arrival, darkness will seep into the realm, swallowing the light. But beware the turning of kin, for loyalty will be tested, and blood will betray blood.”
The final lines sent a chill down Eryon’s spine. Betrayal. The idea of being forced to turn against Lyra—or of her turning against him—twisted his stomach into knots. The bond they shared was unshakable, but the prophecy’s warning suggested a future far more perilous than he had envisioned. Survival, loyalty, and trust would be tested in ways he wasn’t sure they were prepared to face.
The sound of approaching footsteps jolted him from his thoughts. Panic surged through him as he quickly closed the book and returned it to its place on the shelf, taking care to mask any sign of his discovery. Moving swiftly but quietly, he slipped out of the library and into the shadowed halls of the academy.
His heart hammered in his chest as he made his way back to his room, the weight of the prophecy pressing down on him. The wolves had returned. The blood moon would rise. And everything—his life, Lyra’s, and the fragile balance of the vampire realm—was about to change irrevocably.
