The Girl Beyond the Last Door

CHAPTER ONE

THE DOOR THAT SHOULD NEVER OPEN

Three months had passed since the battle with the Shadow King.

Veyra was changing.

The gray city was slowly becoming colorful.

People laughed in the streets.

Children played music.

Artists painted on buildings.

Some people cried openly.

Others were still learning how to understand their emotions.

Elara often stood on the balcony of her old apartment and watched the transformation.

She had once dreamed of a world like this.

Now she had helped create it.

Kael stood beside her.

"You've been quiet."

Elara smiled.

"I'm thinking."

"That's dangerous."

She laughed.

"You are impossible."

"I've been told."

Kael wrapped an arm around her.

For a moment, everything was peaceful.

Then the lights went out.

Every single light in the city disappeared.

Elara looked toward the sky.

A strange purple line appeared above the horizon.

Kael's expression changed.

"No."

"What?"

He took her hand.

"That symbol."

The same symbol that had appeared on the portal at their wedding.

The symbol of a circle surrounded by hundreds of tiny doors.

Elara's heart began beating faster.

A voice whispered through the room.

"Elara..."

She turned.

The portal had returned.

But this time it wasn't golden.

It was black.

Kael pulled out his sword.

"Stay behind me."

A girl's voice came from the darkness.

"Don't be afraid."

Elara stepped closer.

"Who are you?"

"I've been waiting for you."

The portal opened.

For a moment, Elara saw a dark kingdom beneath a red moon.

Thousands of doors floated in the sky.

Then a girl appeared.

She had long silver hair and violet eyes.

She looked almost exactly like Elara.

Elara froze.

Kael whispered,

"Who is she?"

The girl looked directly at Elara.

"My name is Lyra."

Elara's blood ran cold.

Lyra.

The same name the Shadow King had spoken before he was saved.

The girl smiled sadly.

"And you are my sister."

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