Vermillion & Silver

Chapter Twenty-Three || Two Sides

The landscape was tinted red. The black sky was slowly consuming the moon and her blood colored the light that filtered through the trees. A mournful sound disrupted the quiet of the night. Selene took off running. She didn't know what she was escaping, but she couldn't stop moving. Something was coming for her, she was sure of it.

She ran faster than ever before. Every muscle in her body protested the strain and the cold air burned her lungs every time she inhaled, but this was a race she couldn't lose. The heavy footsteps of her attacker drew closer, she could feel the tips of its claws grazing her back every time she stumbled. One more mistake and she would be dead.

The trees started to clear. The snow-covered ground turning into the frozen surface of a lake. The faster she tried to run the more the ice protested, cracking and breaking. She tried to think fast, to calculate her next step without hesitating but there was no margin for error.

The creature's claws grasped her hair, but before it could pull her back the ice broke. She fell into the frigid waters. She was trapped. Her body surrendered to the cold. She opened her mouth in a futile attempt to breathe, as if some miracle would suddenly give her the ability to breathe underwater. She clawed at her throat knowing that she was doomed.

Selene woke up gasping for air as her body began shaking uncontrollably. It took her a minute to fully distinguish her dream from her reality. She was in her bedroom and not at the bottom of a lake.

"You're safe," she muttered, trying to convince herself that everything was fine but the feeling of dread that constricted her chest didn't let her believe her own words.

She kicked the furs that covered her and stood up. She was struggling to get her breathing under control and her lycan side was awakening. She felt the tale-tale pressure of her claws trying to break through her fingertips.

She looked out the small window. Everything was completely dark, even the moon was covered by storm clouds. The view reminded her of the darkness that swallowed her in her dream, the deep waters that engulfed her. She took a deep breath and sat close to the dying fireplace.

The pressure in her chest refused to go away but her hands stopped shaking and she managed to calm down enough to keep her lycan side locked away. She muttered a prayer under her breath. She could vividly remember the last time she'd felt so unsettled, and she begged the goddess to spare her that fate.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, a trick of her mind. There was no rain this time. It couldn't be the same omen. Kaspian had said they were safe in Vargstad and she trusted his word on that.

Sleep was not an option for the rest of the night. The thought of closing her eyes and going back to drowning in the freezing waters made her shiver. So she stayed awake, replaying in her head her happiest memories, a balm to sooth the anxiousness that threatened to overwhelm her.

When the first rays of sun appeared through her window Selene got dressed in her warmest clothes and walked out of her room. She'd stopped visiting the old temple every day, too consumed with her visits to the village and her growing curiosity around the pack. But that morning, she needed the calm and safety the place provided her.

The floor had a light layer of snow and the walls were covered in frost. Her breath fogged every time she exhaled but the discomforts of the cold were nothing compared to the helplessness she'd felt during her nightmare. She knelt down and began chanting in a low voice. The familiar words created a shield around her that slowly pushed away the threat her lycan side was still sensing.

Selene stayed there, chanting and praying, until she felt like herself again, in control of every part of her nature. It was late morning when she emerged from the temple. For once, the skies were clear with no storm clouds threatening to bury them in even more snow. It was nice to see the reflection of sunlight on the old marble statues of the courtyard and to feel a little heat from the sun in her skin.