Chapter 12: The Monster With My Eyes
The thing in the gateway didn't move. Just stood there, like some demonic statue—taller than a house, a nightmare werewolf made of bones and bad dreams. Its fur was this weird, ruined silver, like metal left out in a thunderstorm, all crusted with black gunk. Oh—and those eyes. Blazing. Same eyes as Liora. No joke, looking into its face felt like falling into a mirror warped by hell.
Kael's breath caught sharp, like he'd swallowed glass. "It has your—"
"I know," Liora croaked, every syllable tasting like burned regret. "It's me."
The Dark Alpha, smug as ever, just grinned. "No. It's what you might become. And now that it's loose, it'll eat everything that ever dared cross us."
The beast lumbered out through the gate.
Every step made the ground shudder. The silver grass rippled, and the wind picked up, howling like it'd seen a ghost. Or, hell, maybe it was welcoming one.
Kael fumbled for his sword, hands shaking so bad the blade nearly slipped. "Liora… if it's tied to you—can you stop it?"
She shook her head. "I don't know."
But something inside her—some echo of that vision, the woman who looked like her, that whisper about sacrifice—throbbed.
"I think I'm its anchor," Liora mumbled. "If I die, maybe it dies too."
Kael stepped in front of her, stubborn as ever. "We'll find another way."
The thing growled, voice so rough it sounded like rocks grinding together.
"...Li—o—ra..."
Her name out of that mouth—wrong. All stretched and broken, but weirdly intimate. Like it remembered her. Wanted her.
Before anyone could breathe, the beast lunged, moving way too fast for something that big. Kael barely had time to blink before a claw knocked him flying.
"Kael!"
Liora sprinted, catching him just before he was about to get skewered on some jagged black spire. He spat blood and grinned, all defiant. "Still here. Not dying yet."
The monster stalked forward.
Liora shoved herself between it and Kael, trying to call up that fire inside her. For a second, it flickered—then guttered out.
The beast just watched her. Tilting its head. Not attacking. Just… observing.
Then it spoke.
"Return... to us..."
Suddenly her mind was full of static—flashes of herself, but not herself. Dozens. Across worlds and times. Some looked human. Some were wolves. Some were… something else entirely. All of them were screaming.
Kael's voice cut through the noise. "Liora. You don't have to go to it."
"I think I do."
He latched onto her wrist, grip tight. "No. Don't you dare."
"If I'm its tether, I need to face it."
The creature growled again, claws twitching like it was itching to tear something apart. "One... soul... must... remain..."
Liora turned to Kael, jaw set. "Then I've gotta split it. Break the loop."
Dark Alpha, never missing a chance for drama, lifted his hand and black fire spiraled into the sky, painting the whole place with nightmare.
"Too late," he sneered. "The soul's already divided. It chose shadow."
"I didn't choose this!" Liora shot back.
"But you will," the Alpha said, voice like poison. "Love can't save you. Power can't save you. Only purpose."
And then the beast charged—straight at her.
Liora braced herself, arms wide, and let loose. Light and shadow exploded out of her, slamming into the monster. For one insane moment, they were locked, energy crashing together like two storms colliding.
Her mark seared her chest.
The beast bellowed, staggering.
And in its roar—something else. A child's wail.
She hesitated.
The thing's claw smashed into her, sent her flying. She hit the ground hard, every bone screaming.
Kael was there in a blink, wild-eyed. "We can't win—we need help!"
"Nobody else could survive here," she whispered. "This is between me and it."
Kael bared his teeth. "Then we go down swinging."
He dragged her to her feet. She swayed, then nodded.
They faced the monster together.
And the monster… bowed.
Liora blinked, trying to make sense of it. "What—?"
"Chosen," it rasped. "Join... or be... destroyed."
It lifted a claw. Light pooled at the tip, black and silver.
Then it fired—a bolt, pure nightmare and moonlight.
Liora threw up a shield—too slow. The bolt shot right through her. Not her body. Her soul.
She screamed as memories crashed into her—memories that weren't hers. The beast's life. Its pain.
She saw it:
The beginning.
The first wolf, cursed to carry both darkness and light.
The one stuck as the gatekeeper.
The one the Elders tore in half.
Not to protect the world. No. To cover up their own lies.
The monster? Not the villain.
It was the prisoner.
Liora crumpled, gasping.
"I get it now," she choked. "Why I exist."
Kael dropped beside her, frantic. "Tell me."
She looked up, tears streaming.
"I wasn't made to break the curse. I am the curse. Living fail-safe. The gate… it only opens when the world's ready to remember."
"Remember what?"
"The truth."
The monster paused. "Return... and reclaim."
Liora forced herself upright. "And if I do?"
The creature stretched out its claw. "You become."
Kael clamped a hand on her shoulder. "Liora. Whatever that means—don't. We can run. Fight. Hide. Anything."
She met his eyes, heart cracking. "You don't get it. It's part of me. It is me. The part I locked up so I wouldn't break."
He cupped her face, desperate. "Then let's lock it up again."
Tears blurred her vision. "I don't think I can."
Kael's voice broke. "Please don't leave me."
Liora pressed in, planted a kiss right on his forehead. No hesitation.
"I'm not going anywhere," she breathed, voice shaky. "I'm remembering."
She spun around. Reached for the creature's hand like she'd done it a thousand times.
And the instant their fingers met—poof. World gone. Like someone yanked the cord on reality.
---
The Mindscape
Liora found herself staring at…herself. Talk about a trip.
Everything was warped. Time bent over backward, stars bleeding this weird liquid silver that kind of hurt to look at.
And the creature? Not some nightmare anymore.
Just a girl.
Her age. Her eyes. That same ache in her chest—that was back, too.
The girl grinned. "You got here."
Liora didn't want to ask, but the words slipped out anyway. "Who are you?" (She already knew, deep down.)
"I'm the bit you boxed up tight. The piece that remembered everything you tried to forget. The truth you were too scared to face."
Liora's breath snagged in her throat. "You're…me."
"Day one to the end of the world, baby."
She stepped closer—no fear.
"We can fix it. But once we do, there's no undo. It'll blow everything up."
Liora blinked. "How?"
"The worlds smash together. The curse? Toast. Elders? Finished. But balance? Gone. People'll hunt you. Even the folks you'd die for."
Liora's voice went all tiny. "And Kael?"
"He'll love you. But safe? Forget it. Never again."
Liora stared at her shoes. The floor. Anything but that truth.
"I can't lose him."
"If you freeze up, you'll lose everything."
Fire flickered in Liora's chest—hot, hungry.
She looked up. "Then screw it. Let's end this."
She grabbed her own hand.
Boom—light, everywhere.
---
The Otherwild
Kael almost got knocked on his ass when the ground went nuts.
The creature? Gone, just gone.
Now? Liora floated there, eyes lit up with gold and something darker, hair whipping around like it had a mind of its own—half fire, half midnight.
The air practically vibrated. Gave him goosebumps.
And when she spoke, it wasn't just her. It was both of them—layered, wild.
"The seal's broken."
Kael just stood there, jaw on the ground. "Liora?"
She drifted down, light as a feather.
"I remember," she said. "All of it."
Dark Alpha started cackling. "Well, look who finally—"
She flicked her wrist.
The sky tore open. Seriously—split right down the middle.
The Dark Alpha didn't even get to finish his evil monologue. Light swallowed him whole.
Couple blinks later—nothing left except the echo.
Liora shivered, standing alone.
"It's over," she said, barely a whisper.
Kael edged closer, careful. "You did it."
She shook her head. "Nope. We just kicked off something way worse."
Behind them, the sky flared blood-red.
And all across the land, eyes—dozens, hundreds—peeled open.
Watching. Wide awake.