The sky was on fire.
Not from stars or sun, but from the violent aftermath of ancient forces colliding. The moon hung above it all bloated, blood-red, casting a crimson sheen across the battlefield below. The world had stopped pretending. Magic churned openly now, wild and volatile, the veil between realms shredded beyond repair.
Raina stood at the eye of the storm.
The wind whipped her hair across her face, but she didn't flinch. Her body pulsed with raw power, her skin laced in glowing runes that shimmered like starlight. Each breath she took tasted of ash and destiny. The ground beneath her feet was cracked, bleeding silver mist. Her blade hummed at her side, thirsty. Her bond mark had spread no longer contained to her wrist. It stretched down her arms, across her collarbone, snaking around her ribs like a second skin.
Tonight, everything ended. Or began again.
Behind her, Lucien emerged from the swirling smoke, a beast and a man tangled in one body. Blood streaked his chest. His claws flexed at his sides, still half-shifted. His golden eyes met hers with an understanding that didn't need words.
"We end it tonight," he said, voice raw.
Raina nodded. "No more running. No more waiting."
Then it happened.
A howl pierced the sky, guttural and endless. Another followed. Then dozens more.
The Coven arrived like a living plague cloaked figures gliding over the earth, eyes hollow, skin stretched thin by dark magic. Behind them thundered creatures of nightmare shadowbeasts with jagged teeth and red mist steaming from their mouths. And at the front, radiant with poison and power, was Aeris.
Her arrival warped the wind. Grass withered in her wake. Even the moon dimmed.
"Well," she called, a smirk curling her painted lips, "isn't this a lovely reunion?"
Raina stepped forward. Her blade gleamed. "You wanted a war, Aeris. Now bleed for it."
Aeris raised her hands, summoning black flame. "You're too late. The first Huntress has awakened. You'll never control her."
"I don't want control," Raina said. "I want truth."
Lucien roared.
Bones cracked. Skin split. He transformed mid-charge, no longer holding back. He became shadow and fang, towering above the beasts, silver eyes glowing like twin moons. The earth quaked as he landed beside Raina, ready to kill or die by her side.
The battle erupted.
Raina was flame and fury. She moved like prophecy, every strike guided by a thousand lifetimes. Her blade carved through shadowbeasts and cursed witches alike. Her body was battered, bloodied but it didn't slow. She was the Huntress reborn.
Lucien tore through the enemy, a force of vengeance. No creature lasted more than seconds under his claws. His only tether was her every time she was struck, he howled. Every time she rose again, he fought harder.
Then Aeris moved.
She lifted her hands and summoned a column of darkness, directing it straight at Raina.
Time fractured.
Raina didn't dodge.
She met it head-on, her runes igniting in blinding silver. The beam disintegrated against her skin. Light flared. Air cracked. A pulse of energy exploded outward, throwing Aeris back twenty feet.
"You're not human anymore," Aeris hissed, climbing to her feet, black blood dripping from her mouth.
Raina stalked toward her. "Neither are you."
Their blades met in a scream of metal.
Magic collided. Spells twisted. They fought like gods. Trees splintered around them. The sky fractured. Every swing of Raina's blade was a memory reclaimed. Every strike from Aeris was a curse unraveling.
Lucien joined the fray when a beast lunged for Raina's blind side. He snapped its spine mid-air, then stood guard, back-to-back with her.
But Aeris was laughing.
"You don't understand," she coughed. "Killing me will unbind her."
"Who?" Raina demanded.
"The First," Aeris spat. "The origin of your line. The Huntress who made the blood pact. She lives in you. And she will not be tamed."
Raina faltered.
Aeris took advantage.
With a flash of black light, she slashed Raina across the chest. Blood sprayed. Raina stumbled but didn't fall.
She raised her hand and let go.
Magic erupted from her like a scream. Light burst from her core, flooding the battlefield. The runes on her skin flared white. Her mark split into three past, present, future.
Aeris screamed.
The wind stopped.
The battlefield fell silent as Aeris crumpled, her chest seared with Raina's sigil. But she didn't die. Not yet.
She looked up, blood staining her teeth. "It's begun. She's waking."
Then she went still.
And Raina collapsed.
Lucien caught her before she hit the ground. Her body burned against his. Not with fever but with power.
"Raina," he whispered, brushing hair from her face. "Please."
Her eyes fluttered open but they weren't just hers anymore.
They glowed with dual light gold and silver.
Maeva and Elias arrived seconds later, covered in gore.
"What happened?" Maeva asked.
Lucien didn't look away from her. "She's changed."
Elias paled. "No. Not changed. Reclaimed."
They carried her away from the battlefield. She was breathing. But each breath brought her closer to something ancient.
Inside the makeshift infirmary, Raina's body trembled. Magic cracked the floor beneath her. No one could approach her but Lucien.
Until... she woke.
In the silence of her mind, she stood face to face with herself.
But older. Sharper. Clad in ancient armor.
"You're me," Raina whispered.
"I'm the First," the woman replied. "The oathbearer. The cursebinder."
"Why now?"
"Because now you're ready to understand."
Raina wept. "I'm not ready."
The First smiled. "Then you're finally worthy."
Their hands touched.
The bond surged.
And when Raina opened her eyes again she wasn't the same.
At dawn, she entered the war tent.
Her presence stopped every voice.
The Huntress had returned.
Not just Raina. But all that had come before her. Reborn in one body. One will.
Lucien stood beside her, silent.
Elias bowed.
Maeva stepped forward. "What now, my lady?"
Raina stared at the war map at the mountain where the last gate still pulsed.
"We finish what they started," she said.
She reached for her blade, silver and black.
"And we make sure it ends with us."