Chapter 114: The Guardian of the Starlight Valley
The woman in white stood perfectly still, her presence harmonizing with the humming glass trees of the valley. Silas didn't lower his guard, his claws still glowing with a low, cautious gold. "Who are you? And why do you carry a branch of our sacred tree?"
The woman smiled, a sound like wind chimes in a storm. "I am Lyra, the Keeper of the Lunar Shards. And this," she gestured to her staff, "is not a branch of your tree, Alpha. Your Moon-Oak is a sprout of the original Mother Tree that once grew right here, in this valley, before the world turned to ice."
Elara stepped forward, feeling a strange, sisterly pull toward Lyra. "The Winter Queen... is she the one who sent the frost? Is she trying to take back what she lost?"
Lyra's expression darkened. "The Winter Queen is not a person, Elara. She is a curse—the manifestation of every Omega who was cast out into the cold and forgotten. She doesn't want your tree for its warmth; she wants to use its silver pulse to freeze time itself, so no one can ever be 'broken' or 'discarded' again. A world of eternal, frozen perfection."
"A world without life," Fenris muttered, understanding the stakes.
"Exactly," Lyra replied. She turned to Elara. "You are the first Bridge in a thousand years to make it this far. But to stop the Queen, you must enter the Mirror of Frost. It will show you a future where you failed, and if you cannot find the light in that darkness, you will become part of her icy court forever."
Suddenly, the ground shook. A massive shadow loomed over the starlight valley—the Winter Queen's vanguard had arrived, led by a beast made of living ice and ancient rage.
"Decision time," Lyra said, spinning her staff. "Do you hide in the starlight, or do you step into the mirror?"