244
David
My vision blurred. I couldn't believe what I had seen. Everything I thought I knew about the Moon Wars, about the packs, about werewolves was wrong, and suddenly, the mural that guarded that passageway made so much more sense.
I had to figure out where it led to and why. My mother had come through it, from where?
I bit my lip. It had to have been from the White Moon Estate. I thought that was Selene's line. It would make the most sense for her to want to have a tight grip on Blood Moon, given the way this all started, but something told me that wasn't the case.
Maybe... Maybe there had been another shifter line like mine?
My eyes widened as the thought seemed to echo through me.
Then, I heard running footsteps, and the darkness cleared to the sight of a forest through which Oren and Selene were making their escape, laughing tauntingly like two insane people getting away with murder. I set my jaw. Knowing that the werewolf virus had practically doomed my ancestor to death made it feel more real.
I followed them through the woods, drifting like a ghost after them.
They got to a clearing, and Oren caught her up in his arms, kissing her passionately.
"You were perfect," Selene whispered into his mouth, moaning as he groped her. "It's only a matter of time now."
"I can't wait to see him crawling on his knees," Oren growled, lifting her dress and putting her on a large boulder, splaying her out in a pool of moonlight.
"To think, this is only the beginning," she gasped, her voice high and thin with pleasure as her eyes filled with light. It was as if she was drawing in the moonlight as he dropped his pants and thrust into her.
"We'll rule them all," Oren growled, leaning over her. "I'll drape you in moonstones. You'll crown me king, and then the humans..."
"Yes," she gasped, arching up against him.
I felt sick as the vision slowly began to fade, leaving me in the dark abyss of my thoughts, my mind now burdened with the knowledge of the truth.
The moment when our honor had been used against us. It felt like something out of a story: we'd lost our hand trying to be honorable, and the beast had bitten it off.
I clenched my fist.
Given the chance, I would rend Oren's head from his shoulders because the honorless did not deserve honor or mercy.
But what was I supposed to do with this information? All-out war would be a problem, especially now. There was no telling where Selene really was or if they had set up something else.
"Selene was right, David..."
I recognized that voice. My heart pounded in my chest as I turned around, facing the source of the voice that had spoken to me in the surreal darkness. My eyes widened as I beheld the figure before me.
"Dad?"
He smiled at me. "I hate that you're here, but I understand the necessity of it."
I turned gingerly, still leaning on the spear.
"Quite the choice you've made," he said softly. There was an eerie and yet compelling presence about him, a sense of authority and knowledge that sent shivers down my spine.
"What did you mean?"
"Cursing us with the virus was just the beginning... In some ways, we are still in just the beginning as Selene's scheme is so much bigger." He smiled. "When the time comes, be sure to tell Oren that he's the real fool."
I frowned and thought back. "The real fool?"
"Selene considers him a pawn, nothing more," he said with a solemn tone, his gaze unwavering. "And he's fool enough, high enough on the power she's given him, to think himself her equal, but she will turn on him as soon as is convenient."
His lips twitched. "Your... Lucy had thrown quite a wrench in her plans. Her reign of tyranny is coming to an end. Soon, the balance will be restored, and the real battle shall begin."
I took a tentative step toward him, my voice quivering with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.
"I hate that I can feel that you're not fucking with me."
He chuckled. His eyes, so similar to my own, met mine. There was a sadness in them but also a steely determination.
"You have made us all proud, David," he bobbed his head. "I did not live long enough nor hard enough to be faced with this, but it eases my heart and fills me with pride to know that it will be you."
I smiled a little, feeling a warm flicker in me. "And mom?"
"Oh, she worries. She fears and frets. Given half the chance, she would interfere, but it is what must be done." He sighed. "This, David, is the truth of our line. It is a burden we have carried for generations, and now it falls upon your shoulders. I wish that I could have protected you from this, but the stars and earth have agreed that you are the one to end this."
As he spoke, he gestured toward a path illuminated by flickering flames. Basins of fire lined the way, casting an otherworldly glow that revealed the path that led into the darkness.
"Are you ready?"
"For what?" I asked, eyeing the path nervously.
"The Trial."
The flames billowed in an unseen wind. I felt the heat of it around me.
"Should you choose not to go down this path... There is a very good chance you will die."
"What?" I asked, my heart lurching.
"You were struck with a mix of venoms and poisonous metals, including Ignisblood."
I went still. Ignisblood was one of five poisons that could put down a full-blooded dragon.
"How am I still alive?" I asked.
"You aren't."
I shuddered. "Is Lucy alright?"
"That is relative," he said. "She's currently trapped in a dreamscape... Hell of a young woman. She punched Selene in the face and would have beaten her up with a staff if Oren hadn't shown up."
"Oren?" I growled.
He nodded and nodded down the path. "You go down this path; you'll do more for her and her continued safety than anything, but if you go down this path, there is no going back. You will be forever changed."
"Is that a bad thing?"
He smiled. "It depends. Do you think potentially losing your sense of self and becoming someone completely different is a bad thing?"
My stomach churned. "Why?"
"There can only ever be one Fenris wolf," he said. "All of us are bound to that fate, that existence, and that means, at times, sinking into the core of that existence: its darkness and chaos." He looked down the path.
"I never got a chance to test if I was strong enough to face the heart of darkness that lies within us."
I swallowed. "And you think I can handle this."
He chuckled. "Fenris thinks so."
"I asked you."
He went silent for a moment as I looked up at him. I didn't know if he understood what I was asking, and the fear that was starting to brew in me at the thought of what it would mean to go down this path.
He cupped my face and met my gaze with such a tender expression I felt incredibly young.
"David," Xavier said, his voice resonating with both pride and solemnity as we stood at the start of the path. "Though what I say now should have no bearing on your choice... I've known since you were born that it would be you."
My eyes widened at that.
"I've known since the first time I held you in my arms. I've watched over you, seen the man you've become. While you are young, I have never had a doubt."
The flames cast flickering, dancing shadows upon his face. His eyes were steady. There was no lie there, and I felt so very overwhelmed with the magnitude of what he was saying.
His words echoed in the dark, and I felt a strange mix of pride and anticipation.
"But the choice is yours as this is a path you have to walk on your own and of your own volition."
I swallowed as he started to vanish. I stared down the path. The way behind me was death, and there was the smallest chance that I would make it out of this alive down this path. I swallowed and let go of the spear. The pain that wracked me remained, but if I was going to walk down this path, I had to do it on my own strength.
I took a deep breath and focused before stepping forward. My foot fell through darkness and space. Then, I was falling again. I slammed into the ground of a familiar forest, and I heard her voice once again.
"David, you have to fight it!"
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