The warm setting of Serena's home warped around me.
"How?" My curiosity got the better of me.
She spoke slowly. "I was an orphan, young and hardworking. I met him on my way to work, and he tried getting my contact, but I refused. He kept on showing up at the same spot every day, and my friend noticed; they told me it wasn't a bad idea to connect with him, and I thought about it… I later gave in; we fell in love and got married.
I noticed strange and subtle things about him, but I never allowed it to linger over my mind for long." She paused and then continued, "I got pregnant, and immediately I announced it to him; he suggested we relocate as soon as possible, so I packed up. I told my family about it; they were excited for me. We had a nice dinner together, and they bid me goodbye. And then he brought me here. I never understood what I had given up until I got here; I was aback and terrified at first until everything started to settle in my mind. The forest felt alive in a way cities never did. Watching eyes lingered from places I couldn't see, and silence carried meaning. I realized too late that love had brought me into a world that did not forgive ignorance.
It wasn't just her story that unsettled me; it was the familiarity in it. A powerful man, secrets wrapped in protection, choices made on someone else's behalf. I had built my empire on control, yet here I was listening to how easily control could be stripped away.
"And then I had him, Ilyr; he was joy given to me…he came out strong and healthy even though he's half blood, and I thank God every day for that." She explained.
"Maelor believed he was saving me; I believed I was loved." She smiled, an unreadable smile.
Now this story destabilized my thinking; a lot of wrongs happened, and it didn't take them to their end.
Seren studied me slowly, her eyes scanning.
"The dagger in your possession…" she called out, "It chose you, didn't it?"
"I gues–" I didn't finish before she continued.
"The difference is clear; you were chosen and it wasn't random." She firmly said.
I could feel the fire in her spirit, the whole reason I could make up for her survival. She carried the air of endurance.
I look to the right, and I see a boy by the corner, watching… He is tall and a bit slender, his blue eyes showing the reflection of the moonlight.
His eyes are unwavering; he stared at the dagger intensely. There was no fear in him. No childish curiosity either. It was recognition. As if the blade and the boy were measuring each other in silence.
The wind shifted suddenly; it wasn't heat, and it wasn't pressure.
They all looked very alarmed and frozen.
"The borderlines have been breached." Seren muttered.
I could hear Kael's voice beam from outside; he said just one word… "Veyr!"
I rush out along with Seren; Ilyr, her boy, was already gone.
They immediately created a formation; the elders appeared up front as well. This is normal for them, seeing how they aligned effortlessly; it's a usual occurrence.
I placed my hand on the dagger, ready to draw, because that was the only protection I had. Kael turned back to look at me before focusing ahead once more.
Before anyone sees anything, the wind pauses, the sounds of the birds cease, and the shadows of the trees expand as well and darken.
The wolves lower their bodies slightly in reaction to these changes as if switching to attack mode.
A tree shadow stretched and peeled upward, forming a tall figure…
Its edges were blurred, its face indistinct, and its eyes shone like faint embers beneath smoke.
The same likened figures emerge one by one until they are full.
In all my years and experiences that I had as a Mafia leader in a crazy world, I had never witnessed anything like this just within a night; my heart picked pace. I was never upfront with the supernatural.
The one in the front moved forward. "The Accord was broken by the wolves; return the sigil." It demanded.
"The Accord was broken by human treachery." Kael stood his ground.
"And the wolves decided to keep quiet for decades." The Veyr responded.
Silence fell. The Veyr was right; the wolves withdrew, they hid and protected themselves, and they didn't bother to repair the covenant.
The dagger hummed in my clenched fist; the Veyr leader immediately turned towards me, feeling its presence.
"It has bonded." He noticed.
I didn't say a thing, and I didn't move; the Veyr expression changed.
"If the sigil bonds to a human, the old balance cannot be returned." He declared.
Silence fell once more.
The direction of the war shifted; it wasn't the wolves anymore, it was the permanence.
The Veyr leader paced around for a while before he spoke, "You have one moon circle."
The words did not sound like a warning. They sounded like a verdict already decided.
With that he and his troops vanished into the shadows.
One moon circle to do what? My heart panicked; my head aligned with it. I got entangled in this mess that I didn't understand.
I shouldn't have followed him back here, and it was obvious that everyone was making a fight out of me because of the dagger.
"I told you…" Kael looked at me as if reading my mind. "You're tied to the threshold; you've just become its war."
"Is there a way I can return this? I wanted nothing to do with this war; this place isn't for me… I belong in the real world.
"There is…" He said.
My heart rose with hope.
"But we'd have to remove it from your cold dead fingers." He finished.
My heart sank immediately; I was tied to this object. How was I so stupid as to bond with it? I had survived rival cartels, betrayals, bloodshed, and power struggles — but this? This wasn't something I could outthink or outgun.
My hand pulled the hair off my face in frustration.
"This is crazy; just take me back home." I said as I dropped the knife and began to make my way to the exit…before I reached the door, I felt its weight back in the pouch. I opened it just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating, and it was there.
Kael gave me a neutral look. "There's no running from this…"