Arron Liken's Arc

Chapter 9 of 11

Victor climbed the hill. His hunters spread behind him like a net. Arron pushed Lilly toward the churning gate between the pillars. "Go," he said. "Both of us. Now." The blue and violet light spun inside the ring. Elizabeth gripped their fiery staff and watched the treeline. "Fast, wolf. The door won't hold long." Lilly reached for Arron's hand. Then the grass silvered. A woman stepped from the moonlight, tall and calm, robes bright as the moon itself. Selene. The hunters below froze mid-stride, as if the air had thickened around them. "Mother," Lilly breathed. She stopped at the edge of the portal. Selene's eyes fell on the gate. "You cannot pass through, daughter. Not as you are." She raised one hand. "Your power runs wild. It would tear you apart in the space between worlds." Arron stepped between them. "There's no time. Victor is on the steps." He drew the wolf-marked saber. Its carved face gleamed. "Then trust me," Selene said. She did not look away from Lilly. "I will seal your power. Bind it deep, where no portal can catch it." Lilly's hands shook. "But I need it. To fight. To protect him." "You will have it again," Selene said. "When you need it most, it will return. That is my word." Elizabeth's staff flared. "Choose, moon-child. The hunters wake soon." Lilly looked at Arron. Fear moved across her face. Arron gripped her shoulder. "I believe her. She made me for you. She won't fail us now." Lilly closed her eyes. She nodded. Selene pressed two fingers to Lilly's chest. Light gathered there, gold and fierce. Lilly gasped. The glow shrank, folded inward, and vanished. Her yellow eyes dimmed to a softer brown. She swayed. Arron caught her. She felt lighter in his arms, smaller somehow, the wolf inside her gone quiet. "It is done," Selene said. "Her scent is human now. Even the marked blade will not know her." She stepped back into the moonlight. "Go. The door waits." Victor shook off the stillness at the foot of the hill. He roared and charged the steps. His hunters followed, knives out. Arron pulled Lilly to the gate. She was steady now, but weak, no wolf to draw on. "Stay close," he said. "I'll be your strength until yours comes back." Elizabeth swept their staff toward the light. "Leap. I cannot say where it lets you out. Only that it is far from here." Arron looked back once. Victor's blade caught the moon, ten steps below. Then he wrapped his arm around Lilly and stepped into the swirling ring. The world folded. Cold light rushed past. The temple, the hunters, the seer, all snapped away. Lilly clung to him, her power sealed, her wolf silent. Wherever the portal carried them, she was safe. But she could no longer fight. And Arron had no idea where they would land.