Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE WALLThe collapse separated Adrien from Nora.
Dust filled the tunnel.
"Adrien!"
"I'm here!"
He heard her voice.
Then silence.
"Nora!"
No answer.
Adrien clawed at the stones.
His hands began bleeding.
"Move!"
The Alpha King appeared behind him.
"Stop."
Adrien turned.
"If she dies..."
"She won't."
"How do you know?"
The king's eyes were full of regret.
"Because her mother would never allow it."
Adrien froze.
"My mother?"
"No."
The king whispered.
"Nora's."
Adrien stared.
"Where is she?"
The king looked toward an old map carved into the wall.
"There is a chamber beneath the northern ruins."
"Take me there."
"We cannot."
"Why?"
"Because she has been imprisoned for eighteen years."
Adrien's blood chilled.
"By whom?"
The answer came from behind them.
"By me."
Celeste stepped from the smoke.
She was holding a silver key.
Adrien raised his sword.
"You said she was alive."
"She is."
"Why imprison her?"
Celeste's eyes became strangely sad.
"Because your father's killers were not the only ones hunting her."
Adrien lowered his weapon slightly.
"What are you talking about?"
"The prophecy was incomplete."
Celeste approached the wall.
She pressed the silver key into a hidden lock.
The stone door opened.
Behind it was a massive underground chamber.
And a woman sat chained inside.
Her hair was long.
Her body thin.
Her head bowed.
Adrien stopped breathing.
Nora appeared behind him.
She had found another passage.
She saw the woman.
Her knees gave out.
"Mother?"
The woman lifted her head.
Her eyes were silver.
"Nora."
The word echoed.
Nora ran.
Adrien followed.
The woman pulled her daughter into her arms.
For the first time in eighteen years, they held each other.
Then the woman looked at Adrien.
"You are Adrien."
He nodded.
"You look like your father."
Adrien stiffened.
She touched his face.
"He was not evil."
Adrien's voice hardened.
"He massacred your people."
"He did."
"Then don't defend him."
"I'm not."
She looked toward the Alpha King.
"He was manipulated."
The king lowered his head.
"By whom?"
The woman whispered:
"By the real enemy."
The chamber doors slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
The walls began glowing.
Ancient symbols appeared.
Nora gasped.
"What is happening?"
Her mother looked terrified.
"She has found you."
"Who?"
The woman stared into the darkness.
"The first Luna."
Adrien frowned.
"That's a legend."
"No."
She shook her head.
"She is real."
A cold wind swept through the chamber.
Then a woman's voice echoed from the darkness.
"You took my daughter."
The Alpha King stepped back.
"Impossible."
A figure emerged.
White hair.
Silver eyes.
A crown of black bones.
Adrien recognized her immediately.
Seraphine.
But something was wrong.
Seraphine's face was twisted with hatred.
Her body began changing.
Her skin darkened.
Her eyes became crimson.
Nora's mother whispered:
"That is not Seraphine."
The creature smiled.
"I have worn many names."
Adrien drew his sword.
"What are you?"
The creature's eyes locked onto Nora.
"The one who started the prophecy."
She smiled.
"And the one who will finish it."
Nora's wolf roared inside her.
The chamber exploded with silver light.
May you like
And Adrien heard the creature whisper:
"Kill your brother."
