The next day, Syaoran sat in the royal assembly, surrounded by ministers and advisors. But his mind… was elsewhere. His thoughts circled endlessly around the events of the night before — the dream, the stone, Fang's awakening.
Beside him, Taio noticed the dazed look and nudged him lightly.
"Your Majesty," he whispered, "everyone's staring."
Syaoran blinked, jolting upright. "Right," he muttered, quickly answering the remaining questions. The assembly concluded shortly after, but his mind was still clouded.
As he exited the chamber, lost in thought, he nearly walked headfirst into a stone wall. Taio, quick on his feet, grabbed him just in time.
With a thud, Syaoran hit the floor.
"Ahh—ow!" he groaned.
Taio crouched beside him, eyes wide. "Are you okay, Your Majesty?!"
Syaoran rubbed his bruised pride — and his backside. "Why'd you yank me?!"
Taio sighed. "Because you were about to knock yourself out! And if anything happened to you, your wife would've flayed me alive."
At the word wife, Syaoran paused, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He ruffled Taio's hair.
"You're right. You saved your life today," he said. "Double salary this month."
He stood, brushing off his robes. "I'm going to see Grandfather."
Taio crossed his arms and muttered, "Should've pulled him into walls earlier. Would've gotten rich by now…"
---
Meanwhile…
Fang climbed the misty mountain trail, her steps light but her heart heavy.
She found a quiet spot at the peak and sat down. Closing her eyes, she began to meditate. Memories flickered behind her eyelids — fragments of another life. Another name.
Lunarya.
She focused on the silence, letting it guide her… until an ancient chant stirred within her lips.
---
At the palace…
Syaoran knocked on his grandfather's door.
The elderly man, wise and weathered, welcomed him with a calm smile. Syaoran bowed and sat beside him.
"You look troubled, my boy."
Syaoran hesitated, then asked, "Grandfather… do any gods still exist in our Lycan clan?"
The old man chuckled knowingly. "So… you've begun to see it too."
Syaoran leaned forward. "Who were they?"
"Two remained in the past decade. Langshen… and Lunarya," he said. "Langshen was mighty. But Lunarya… she was fate itself. She could stop time, rewrite destinies."
Syaoran's breath caught. "I've never heard of her."
The old man's expression turned solemn.
"She disappeared long ago. After betrayal by the man she loved… she took his heart, merged it with her own, and sealed her power deep within this mountain."
"Was his name… Kaelvar?" Syaoran asked quietly.
The old man's eyes blazed. "Do not speak that name!"
Syaoran flinched.
"He was the darkest shadow in our history… as vile as Lucian himself. You must tread carefully, Syaoran. This path… is not one easily left behind."
With that, the old man turned away.
"Leave. And do not dig further — not unless you're ready to face everything."
---
Above, atop the mountain...
Fang's hands began to move, tracing symbols in the air — symbols she didn't remember learning.
Her lips parted, her voice no longer just her own.
> "Solvarem Noctura…"
The clouds thickened. Wind howled through the trees.
> "By light unmade, by time undone,
I call the power of the moonless sun.
Break thy bond, oh sacred thread,
Let what's chained rise from the dead.
Solvarem Noctura!"
Moonlight pierced the storm as the wind spiraled around her. Her body glowed — not as Fang, but as Lunarya. The spell surged through her, shattering the seal.
A blinding pulse of energy exploded outward. Birds scattered, trees shook, and silence fell.
Fang collapsed, unconscious.
But before she faded fully, a whisper escaped her lips — part prophecy, part vow:
"Shadowland… your end draws near."