A Bond Ignites

- Lyra’s POV –

Something felt wrong today.

The sky over the divine realm looked the same as always... silver clouds, glowing rivers, marble palaces shining under the moon... but the air carried a weight I couldn’t explain.

I am only fourteen. Just a child. If you counted time the way they did in the supernatural world below, I would be 126 years old. But the divine realm moved slower. My mother said it is what it should be.

However, it didn’t feel safe. Not today.

The Celestial beings always said I am the daughter of the Moon Goddess, born with powers that could shape worlds if I learned to control them.

And one of those powers is Evictus. Teleportation.

But to me, it's nothing but trouble. Especially when I couldn't control it.

I never meant to use it wrong. I only wanted to play.

The divine realm was too quiet and too perfect.

Sometimes it felt like the whole world was holding its breath. The marble streets never cracked. The flowers in the gardens never died. Even the air felt too still, like it belonged to a painting.

But I wasn’t still. I wasn’t calm like the rest of them.

I am just Lyra, a girl who tripped on her own feet and made her mother angry because I couldn’t sit still or act like a princess.

“Evictus should be practiced carefully, Lyra,” my mother always told me.

But the magic inside me didn’t listen. It came when I laughed too hard, when I got scared, when I wanted something too much.

However, today, full of curiosity, I wanted to see the edge of the divine realm.

The barrier.

A wall of light my mother said I should never go near.

She told me the world below was dangerous. Full of creatures who would hurt me if I set foot there.

I only wanted to look. I didn’t plan to cross it.

The barrier glowed like water flowing upward, cutting the sky in half. My hair whipped across my face as I stepped closer, my heart pounding harder with each step.

I reached out one hand, just to touch it.

But then, the moment my fingers brushed the light, heat raced up my arm. My chest thumped so fast it hurt. Oh no... not again.

“Wait—no... stop!” I told myself.

But it was too late as the Evictus began taking me.

The glow spread from my hand. My eyes burned white. The air twisted around me.

And then the ground disappeared as I stumbled into darkness.

The sky above me was no longer silver. It was black, lit only by a weak moon. The air was colder. The forest rose high and wild, trees blocking most of the light.

I knew at once.

This wasn’t home.

My breath shook as I turned in a circle, clutching my dress. Oh gosh, the supernatural world.

I didn’t mean to come here. What should I do now? How do I get home? I didn’t even know how to go back; I didn’t even have full control of Evictus.

Branches cracked under my shoes as I moved through the trees. The wind carried strange scents... smoke, dirt, and blood. The air felt heavier with each step. Mom is right, this place is dangerous.

Then suddenly, I heard it.

A growl. Deep and hungry, which made my heart tighten in fear. I wanted to use Evictus to go back to the Divine Realm, but I couldn't. I must have used too much power from practicing earlier, and the Divine Realm was too far from here.

There it is again, the growl, louder this time.

I followed slowly, my heart hammering against my ribs, until the trees opened into a clearing.

And then I froze. My breath caught.

Three giant wolves circled a boy on the ground. They must be rogues.

His clothes were torn. Blood streaked his arms and chest. His breaths came out in weak gasps as the rogues snapped their jaws closer and closer.

He looked about my age... and now he was about to die. He's so young; he doesn't deserve this.

One rogue slammed its paw on his chest. The boy cried out, the sound sharp before it broke into a choking cough. While the two giant wolves were circling him, as if ready to feast on his body.

I clapped my hand over my mouth. My whole body shook.

Run, a voice in my head whispered. You should run.

But my feet wouldn’t move.

My chest thumped painfully as if I could feel his pain. Oh damn, what is this feeling? Heat spread from my heart to my fingertips.

The rogues growled louder, circling tighter around him. Another rogue was biting his arm as if wanting to tear it off the boy's body.

Something inside me snapped. Anger flared up in my mind; I couldn't think right.

They shouldn't do this to a kid... even though I don't know his sin, I knew deep inside, he's innocent.

Light burst from my hands, white and blinding. My eyes burned as it crawled up my arms.

One rogue stopped and turned its eyes on me. The others followed. They must have sensed me and the power igniting in my body.

I stepped out where they could see me. “Stop,” I said.

The word didn’t even sound like mine. It was heavy and authoritative.

The clearing went still. The rogues froze as if they submitted to my word obediently, their glowing eyes locked on me.

My power pulsed hotter, angrier.

With glowing eyes, my word came out dark. “Die.”

After it left my lips, the ground trembled.

The rogues collapsed without another sound... without anyone touching them, as if the air left their bodies in a snap.

My attention was caught when I heard the boy cough weakly on the ground.

I ran to him and dropped to my knees. His face was pale, too pale, but even through the blood and dirt, he was… cute. Oh, Lyra, seriously? Now is not the time. His skin burned with feverish warmth under my hand as I touched his shoulder. Then I caught it, a scent cutting through the stench of smoke, dirt, and blood. Moonlit lilies… and rain?

Was the scent… coming from him?

Then his eyes slowly opened; my breath caught as my own eyes flickered. His eyes shone a deep, molten golden brown.

The moment he looked at me, something slammed into my chest... a heartbeat that wasn’t mine. His pain rushed through me, scorching like fire in my veins.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.

I didn’t even understand what this was.

His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came. His eyes fluttered closed once more.

Yet the bond stayed.

I wasn’t imagining it. I felt it... a thread between us, alive, burning, and unyielding

Before I could speak, light surged around me again. Not again, please...

“No—wait—I didn’t mean to— I'm not yet—”

The world spun. I sighed, Evictus again.

And then the divine realm crashed back into view.

I stumbled on marble floors, gasping for air. My braid slipped over my shoulder as I looked up.

My eyes widened. “Mom...”

My mother stood in front of me, her silver gown flowing like moonlight. Her face was calm. Too calm. But there was too much to it.

“What did you do this time, Lyra? The Book of Prophecy has opened.”

Her eyes moved past me. And so I turned to look.

The Book of Prophecy glowed faint white behind me.

Its pages turned on their own.

Words burned across the open sheet in silver light:

“Through light and shadow, a bond ignites... as darkness rises, only this tether may seal its wrath.”