Lysandra's pulse thrummed like a war drum. The mark on her chest still burned, the god's power thrumming beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.
She had passed his trial.
But the real battle had only just begun.
The god stepped closer, his form flickering between solid and smoke, his golden eyes glinting like a predator's.
"You have taken your first step," he murmured. "But you are still bound by mortal chains."
Lysandra clenched her jaw. "Then break them."
A low chuckle.
"Not yet."
The shadows curled around her ankles, dragging her downward. Before she could react, the world shifted.
The cavern, the god, the twilight temple—all vanished.
Return to the Mortal World
Lysandra gasped as she was thrown back into reality.
The sharp scent of pine and damp earth filled her nose. A cold breeze cut through her cloak. She was lying on the forest floor, the night sky stretching endlessly above her.
No cavern. No god.
For a brief moment, she wondered if it had all been a hallucination.
But then she felt it—the weight of her new power. The shadows inside her no longer whispered.
They spoke.
She pushed herself up. Her body felt stronger. Faster. Different.
And then—a presence.
Footsteps.
Lysandra tensed, shifting into the darkness as the figures approached. Voices broke through the night.
"…find her before it's too late."
She knew that voice.
Aldric's men.
Her jaw tightened.
They thought she was still the same girl they had hunted before.
They were wrong.
The First Strike
She waited, silent as the night itself. The men spread out, torches flickering, their armor clanking as they moved.
One of them passed close. Too close.
Lysandra didn't hesitate.
She moved like a shadow—silent, swift. Her hand shot out, fingers curling around the man's throat before he could make a sound.
His eyes went wide, terror flashing through them.
Then the darkness swallowed him whole.
A gasp. A body dropping.
Gone.
The others turned, alarmed. "What was that?"
Lysandra melted back into the trees, her breath steady.
She was no longer the one being hunted.
She was the hunter.
And she was just getting started.