The Day of Reckoning

Victoria went back to the carriage, her steps sharp and quick. The wind howled around her, whipping her dark hair across her face, but she barely noticed. Her mind was racing, her thoughts tangled with frustration and disbelief.

She climbed inside and slammed the door shut behind her. The warmth of the carriage enveloped her, but it did nothing to ease the cold fury building in her chest.

“What is going on?” she demanded. “The beasts do not respond to me.”

Selith frowned, her eyes narrowing. “That is not possible. You should be able to control them.”

Victoria’s jaw tightened. “And yet I cannot.”

Selith remained silent for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she slowly stood, her joints cracking as she straightened.

“Show me.”

Victoria stared at her. “What?”

“Show me,” Selith repeated. “I want to see for myself.”

Victoria hesitated before nodding. She opened the carriage door and stepped back into the storm, with Selith following close behind.

The wind was brutal, and the snow stung their faces as they stood in the middle of the chaos. The sounds of battle echoed around them—the clash of steel, the screams of the dying, and the roars of beasts.

Victoria raised her hands and called to the beasts.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, her voice softer than before and then taking a commanding gone but still the beasts did not answer.

Selith slowly shook her head, her expression becoming increasingly troubled. “No… that is not possible. It should have worked.”

Victoria turned toward her, her eyes blazing. “And yet it did not.”

Selith said nothing.

She turned and hurried back into the carriage, her hunched frame disappearing into the warmth.

Victoria was about to follow her when she stopped.

A massive wolf stood at the edge of the trees.

Its silver-black fur blended with the shadows of the forest, but its eyes were unmistakable. They glowed with power, fixed on her with an intensity that made her blood run cold.

On its forehead, a half-crescent moon-shaped mark gleamed faintly in the pale light.

Victoria’s breath caught. That mark had only been on two people in the past. It should not be on anyone else now.

Before she could move though, the wolf shifted.

Its body contorted, bones cracking and reforming until a man stood in its place.

He wasn’t close to her. He stood within the woods, the blizzard raging between them. Yet even with the snow obstructing her vision, she knew who it was.

She had seen him when he was younger, after all.

“Son of Alaric,” she growled.

Orion smiled.

It was a cold smile, one that held no warmth.

He didn’t speak aloud, but his voice reached her, carried by the wind as though the storm itself were delivering his words.

“Soon,” he said softly, “you will be left with nothing.”

Victoria’s eyes narrowed at his words but he wasn’t done.

“Your day of reckoning has arrived.” He said.

And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The snow swirled where he had stood, erasing any trace of his presence. It was as if he had never been there at all.

Victoria stared at the empty space, her heart pounding in her chest.

For the first time since this war began, she felt a wave of immense fear.

Was she going to lose this battle?

No.

It wasn’t possible.

She couldn’t lose this battle.

She had come too far. She had sacrificed too much. She was going to win this. She was going to get what she wanted.

She had to.

She turned and walked back toward the carriage, ignoring the cries of the warriors who called out to her as she passed. Their pleas for help fell on deaf ears.

She didn’t care.

She didn’t have time.

Immediately after she entered, Selith spoke.

“There is no time,” she said, her voice urgent. “This is not what we planned. We must alert Cindy so she can inform our members. We must use the bodies to do the ritual and make them stronger. The corpse plant is not doing enough.”

She paused, her eyes fixed on Victoria.

“And the ritual will aid us in trapping the girl too.”

Victoria’s face remained expressionless, but inside, she heaved a sigh of relief.

Yes.

They still had a chance.

There was no way she was going to lose.

She shouldn’t have been afraid in the first place. They would use the bodies to reinforce the black magic. Besides, they had an abundance of them.

That had been their plan all along.

Victoria straightened, her voice steady and cold.

“It is time,” she said. “I join the war after all.”

She turned toward Selith.

“I will meet with Cindy. You carry out your ritual.”

Selith nodded slowly, a thin smile spreading across her cracked lips.

“As you wish, Luna.”

Victoria stepped out of the carriage once more.

The cold immediately struck her face, but this time she welcomed it. Her fear had not disappeared completely, but she forced it down beneath the certainty she had built around herself.

She had spent too many years pursuing this moment to allow a single battle to shake her.

The Nightshade warriors were prepared.

Orion had clearly planned something.

Sophia had regained her powers.

The beasts had turned against her.

But none of it mattered.

She still had the Black Circle.

She still had the bodies.

She still had the ritual.

And once the ritual began, everything would change.

She looked toward the battlefield.

The storm had swallowed almost everything around her. Warriors moved through the snow like shadows, weapons flashing whenever the wind briefly cleared their surroundings. Beasts roared somewhere in the distance, followed by screams that quickly disappeared beneath the howling wind.

She touched the sword at her side.

“Let’s see how prepared you really are,” she murmured.

Then she began walking toward the battlefield.

Behind her, Selith remained inside the carriage, already gathering the jars and strange tools she would need.

The ritual had to begin before the battle ended.

And if everything went according to plan, the bodies of the fallen would become the very thing that destroyed the people who had killed them.

Victoria’s lips curved into a faint smile.