Torn Between Destinies

Chapter 42 - Forty Two

Chapter 42: Chapter Forty TwoThe forest was silent. Not quiet—dead.

In the dream, I stood in Silverglen, but it was not the place I knew. The sky hung heavy above me, dark and swirling with storm clouds that bled ash instead of rain. The trees around me were leafless, their twisted limbs blackened as though burned from within. The land moaned. The earth cracked beneath my feet.

I could not breathe.

I turned in every direction and saw only ruin. The cottages were in pieces. The stream had dried into a hollow scar. And where there had once been laughter, firelight, and the scent of wild herbs, there was only silence and smoke.

And blood.

I took a step forward and heard the crunch of bones beneath me.

Then, the voice returned.

It came like wind, like echo, like shadow. Neither male nor female, and yet somehow both.

"You see what was stolen. What they took from me."

I spun around,

"I haven’t been sleeping well," I replied.

She studied me. "Dreams?"

I froze. "What do you mean?"

"I’ve had them, too," she whispered. "Darkness. Screams. The land crying."

My heart pounded. "Do you think they mean something?"

Mayla nodded. "I think the land is calling to someone. Someone chosen."

I didn’t reply. My chest felt heavy. I wanted to tell her. But even then, I couldn’t.

Not yet.

Later that afternoon, Darius surprised me.

"We should have another child," he said simply.

I dropped the cup I was holding. It shattered on the stone floor.

He rushed to help me clean it up. "I didn’t mean to startle you."

"No, it’s okay," I said quickly, kneeling beside him. "Just... not what I expected."

He looked at me. "I just thought... things are better. And Erya would love a sibling."

I nodded slowly, but inside, I was shaking.

Now was the worst time to grow our family. The dream warned me: if I didn’t go, I would lose them all. That included any future child.

I had to go. But I couldn’t say that.

"Let’s talk about it later," I said, kissing his cheek.

That night, I cried alone in the woods.

Every time I tried to make sense of it all, I hit a wall of fear. What if I went and never came back? What if it was a trap? But what if I stayed... and lost everyone?

My wolf urged me forward. She believed in the prophecy. She believed we could survive it. She whispered that it was our duty.

I made my decision that night.

I would go.

Not now. But soon. Quietly. Alone.

The next day, I began preparing. Gathering small items I might need—herbs, dried meat, flint. I buried them beneath a hollow tree near the river.

Erya found me there once. "What’s that, Mama?"

"Just saving things," I told her. "For later."

She smiled. "You’re always saving things."

*If only you knew what I’m trying to save now.*

Days passed. Darius kept talking about the future. Expanding the house. Teaching Erya how to shift when the time came. I nodded and smiled, but inside, I was slipping further from him.

We made love once that week, and I almost broke down in the middle of it. His touch, his warmth—it all reminded me of what I stood to lose. I almost told him right then. But I bit my tongue.

One morning, I took a walk into the forest alone. I found a circle of stones I had never seen before, moss-covered and warm under my touch. I sat there, closed my eyes, and listened.

Voices.

Soft, ancient.

I heard the same whisper again.

*"Time grows short. The Vale waits."*

I returned home shaking.

That night, I wrote a letter. I didn’t know when I’d give it to Darius. Maybe I never would. But if something happened to me... if I never returned... he deserved to know why I left.

In the letter, I told him everything. The dream. The vision. The prophecy. My choice.

I sealed it and hid it in the bottom of my old cloak, the one I never wore anymore.

The days blurred after that.

I watched Erya play. I laughed with her, brushed her hair, sang to her at night. I held Darius longer when he hugged me. I memorized the lines of his face, the way his hand felt in mine, the sound of his breathing when he slept.

I was saying goodbye in silence.

And no one knew.

One night, I dreamed again.

But this time, the voice was softer.

*"You are the key. You are the flame. Come before the moon wanes."*

That gave me my timeline. I had until the next waning moon. Two weeks.

I started training harder. Running faster, longer. Practicing my shifts, my endurance. Darius noticed.

"You’ve been restless lately," he said one night.

I shrugged. "Just trying to stay strong."

He smiled and kissed me. "You’re always strong."

He didn’t know I was breaking inside.

One day, I found Mayla waiting at my door.

"I had the dream again," she said. "But this time, I saw your face in it."

I froze. "What?"

She nodded. "You were in a place I’ve never seen. Gray skies. Old stones. You were alone."

My chest tightened.

"You’re going somewhere," she whispered. "Aren’t you?"

I looked away. "Please don’t tell anyone."

She stepped back. "I won’t. But be careful, Luciana. Some paths can’t be walked twice."

I nodded, tears in my eyes. "I know."

That night, I lay awake beside Darius, watching the moonlight spill through our window.

Two weeks.

Fourteen days.

I would go. I had no choice. The land needed me. My family needed me. Even if they didn’t know it yet.

I reached over and touched Darius’s face gently. He stirred but didn’t wake.

"I love you," I whispered. "Enough to leave you. Just for a while."

And with that, I closed my eyes, heart heavy with the hidden choice I had made.