Aurora’s POV
*****
Her eyes opened wide, nostrils flaring when heat and dust hit her face like a wave. She squinted, breath shuddering as she realised where she was.
Red sand. Vast ashen skies.
The Dark Lands.
Her fists clenched, silver hair blowing over her face. "Seraphyne?!" She yelled out despite how parched her throat was.
The heavy wind was rciless, slicing through the desert and carrying mounds of sand along with it. Sand that pricked even her mid-Alpha-level skin.
Glancing down, she noticed she was wearing a sleeveless icy blue gown. The sa thing she wore while sitting with Seraphyne a few monts ago... She thinks.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rember if they had ever reached Solrune City at all.
"Sera!" Aurora yelled again, hugging herself and brushing her arms tenderly. "Is this a dream?! A fucking nightmare?! Please, tell you’re there!"
Nothing.
A sharp wetness stung her eyes but the harsh desert heat evaporated the tears before they could fall.
Ever since her last nightmare where she saw that cloaked woman talking about the divine crystal and a "moon blessed", deciphering reality from dreams was—
"Look who’s back for another lesson." A crooked voice whipped through the howling wind from behind. She spun around without a second thought—but saw no one there.
Lowering her arms, she sneered. "Who’s there? What... What is this?!"
"Poor little princess," the voice seed to co from every direction at once now, mocking and androgynous. "You’ve lost so much already. Seen people around you fall."
She kept turning around, trying to find the source of the voice. But that was an impossible task.
"W–What do you want with ?!" She scread, voice cracking before the sentence finished. "I am not the moon blessed. I have no idea what any of this ans—I don’t have anything you could possibly—"
"Don’t sell yourself short, Stormborn daughter." The voice ca directly to her right side this ti, sharp and feminine now.
Aurora didn’t hesitate.
With a grunt, she sent an elbow jab pulsing with silver energy in that direction. All she struck was air; the energy wave hurtled through the desert with a loud screech.
Before she could make another move, however, a figure materialised at the corner of her eyes. A woman with a hooded black cloak.
"You do have a purpose," the woman’s hand shot forward, grabbing her forehead.
The princess gasped, neck snapping backwards while a piercing heat hit her forehead. Her fingers, already alight with silver energy, dimd like dying fireflies.
As she stared into the ashen red skies, eyes scorched from the unforgiving sun, visions struck her in waves.
"The won in your bloodline are known for their erratic visions." The cloaked witch’s voice echoed around her now.
Aurora saw so many things flash past her gaze—cataclysmic wars, blood, exploding stars, and people gathered for rituals. And then a blinding silver white crystal tears through Solara’s atmosphere, crashing into the centre of a familiar continent.
Evaros.
The divine crystal.
"You will find out the truth yourself soon enough." The woman whispered.
Aurora watched as the divine crystal transford the continent.
Flora and fauna flourished in the lands they now called the Dark Lands. Minerals and precious stones erged so rich that they sprouted from the ground.
And then the witches and wolves ca forth from their territories, mining the blessed land. But as they mined... Greed spread amongst the wolf packs.
Aurora watched what would beco the beginning of the wars that united the wolf packs under one rule. One great Empire.
Lunaria.
Unfortunately, while those wars went on, the witches discovered the source of the blessed lands’ richness. The Divine Crystal.
Experints, ancient runes and monoliths were built around it. In hopes of harnessing it directly. And at the forefront of those experints, Aurora saw a woman.
Beautiful raven black hair. And... Red eyes.
"It’s... It’s you." Aurora murmured with trembling lips, the image flashing between the experint grounds and her current location in the Dark Lands.
The forr blessed lands.
"You’ve barely scratched the surface of the truth, daughter of Stormborn."
The images finally shattered like glass, causing Aurora to stumble forward. She fell on her knees, teeth gritted as the familiar heat whipped her face again. Sharp desert sand stung her palms like glass.
Slowly, she raised her head, staring at the cloaked figure. Her cloak billowed into the wind around her, twin red orbs glowing with a cold light underneath the hood.
"You... Your experints caused the Blight." Aurora stuttered. "The curse that made the Dark Lands barren. Then... Then that ans..."
The Ascension protocol experints. That was STILL her.
Suddenly, the skies stretching for miles darkened. Not like night. But like the embodint of darkness and void took his brush and painted over the clouds.
That darkness spread onto the lands below, swallowing the sands, wind and harsh sunlight until there was nothing but endless black.
Chills ran down Aurora’s spine, legs wobbling as she got up. "What—"
She couldn’t finish.
Like a black hole, the void sucked her in. She scread, grabbing at nothing in a desperate effort to stay grounded. The cloaked woman beca further and further away until she couldn’t see her again.
And then—
.
.
"Aurora?!"
She gasped like soone subrged for years, whipping her head around.
There was no more blackness. No red sands—no black cloaked witch.
No.
Instead, she was sitting on a wooden white chair outside the ho Seraphyne had prepared for them in Solrune. The evening sun painted the sky and the wide open yard—a pond glistening to her left and fresh carpet grass gracing her feet.
It had all been in her head.
And the voice that woke her—
"Aurora, thank goodness." Seraphyne sat beside her, squeezing her palm. Her hazel eyes were wide with worry, her other hand grabbing the princess’s cheek. "You dozed off all of a sudden and started... Started mumbling so many things I couldn’t understand. I—"
Aurora didn’t know when she grabbed her arms, pulling her into a hug. She sniffled, tears threatening to spill as she took in the familiar scent of her mate.
"It was another nightmare." Her voice ca out muffled in Sera’s neck. "Sa setting. Sa cloaked witch... And so many visions of... Of..."
"Easy. Easy." Seraphyne hushed her gently, brushing her hand through her hair. "We’ll go over it slowly, okay? It’s over. You’re here now. With ."
Aurora nodded although she wasn’t assured.
Even blinking made her see quick flashes of the visions she experienced.
They stayed there for what seed like forever.
Letting out a heavy breath, she’d barely pulled out of the embrace when her communication necklace beeped. She grabbed it, feeling the familiar pull on her consciousness.
"Mom." She whispered softly, picking up the voice call instantly. "Mom?" She called out again, already fearing the worst.
"Aurora..." Her mother let out a relieved breath from the other end. "Honey, are you okay? I’m... I’m sorry to disturb you but it’s about your brother."
The Princess’s pulse stuttered. "W–What about Lucian?"
There was a few seconds’ pause before Elowen blurted. "Please, just check the news. Now. Sothing terrible has happened in Arcadia."
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