CHAPTER FOUR
The Forgotten Queen
"Some memories are not lost. They are waiting to be remembered."
Silence filled the ancient sanctuary.
The voice had disappeared.
Yet its presence remained.
Heavy.
Ancient.
Watching.
Lyra couldn't move.
One word echoed endlessly inside her mind.
Selene.
It wasn't her name.
And yet...
Hearing it had made her heart ache.
As though someone she had loved long ago had whispered it.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
"We have to leave."
Lyra looked toward the massive doorway.
"But that voice—"
"It knows you."
"I don't even know who I am anymore."
Kael answered quietly,
"Exactly."
The ground trembled again.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The glowing runes across the doorway became brighter.
One after another...
Ancient symbols awakened.
Until the enormous dragon carving slowly opened its eyes.
Not alive.
Not stone.
Something between both.
Lyra gasped.
"It moved..."
Kael whispered,
"The sanctuary has accepted you."
A low humming sound spread through the chamber.
The silver mark on Lyra's wrist began glowing brighter than ever before.
She cried out.
"It burns!"
Without thinking...
She placed her glowing hand against the ancient doorway.
The moment her skin touched the stone—
Everything disappeared.
Darkness.
Silence.
Then...
Light.
Golden fields stretched endlessly beneath a silver sky.
Crystal rivers flowed through forests of glowing white trees.
Dragons flew peacefully overhead.
Not monsters.
Guardians.
Children laughed beneath their enormous wings.
Lyra looked around in disbelief.
"What is this place?"
A gentle voice answered behind her.
"Your home."
She turned.
A woman stood there wearing a flowing silver gown that shimmered like moonlight.
Long silver hair.
Kind blue eyes.
A radiant crown rested upon her head.
She looked...
Exactly like an older version of Lyra.
"No..."
Lyra whispered.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled sadly.
"I am who you used to be."
Before Lyra could speak again—
The vision shattered.
She stumbled backward into Kael's arms.
He caught her before she hit the ground.
"Lyra!"
Her breathing became uneven.
"I saw..."
She looked at him with terrified eyes.
"A kingdom."
Kael froze.
"What kingdom?"
She whispered,
"There were dragons..."
"...and they weren't afraid of people."
Kael slowly closed his eyes.
"It exists."
Lyra stared at him.
"You've seen it?"
"No."
"But I've spent my entire life searching for it."
Suddenly—
Footsteps echoed behind them.
Dozens.
Kael immediately stood.
Royal soldiers poured into the sanctuary from every entrance.
Black armor.
Silver cloaks.
Crossbows raised.
This time...
They weren't alone.
An elegant woman stepped between them.
She wore black royal robes trimmed with silver.
A jeweled crown rested upon her dark hair.
Queen Seraphine.
Kael's mother.
Her icy blue eyes settled on Lyra.
"So..."
She said calmly.
"This is the girl."
Kael stepped in front of Lyra.
"You shouldn't be here."
Seraphine smiled.
"And yet I am."
Her gaze never left Lyra.
"The Moon has chosen well."
Lyra frowned.
"I don't understand."
"Oh..."
The Queen replied softly.
"You will."
She slowly approached.
Kael didn't move.
Neither did she.
Mother and son stood only a few feet apart.
"I won't let you take her."
Seraphine sighed.
"I didn't come to kill her."
Kael blinked.
"You didn't?"
"No."
She finally looked at him.
"I came to save you."
Before anyone could react—
A terrifying roar exploded from deep inside the sanctuary.
Not one dragon.
Several.
The walls shook violently.
Ancient chains snapped somewhere below.
One soldier screamed.
"They're breaking free!"
The Queen's face lost all color.
"No..."
"It can't be this soon."
The floor beneath everyone cracked open.
A river of brilliant silver light erupted upward.
Within the light...
A sword slowly rose into the air.
Its blade looked as though it had been forged from moonlight itself.
The hilt was wrapped with white dragon scales.
No one dared move.
An inscription glowed along the blade.
"Only the First Queen may awaken the Last King."
Lyra couldn't stop staring.
The sword...
Was calling her.
"Don't touch it."
Kael's voice was sharp.
But the sword pulsed again.
Softly.
Like a heartbeat.
Without realizing it...
Lyra reached forward.
The instant her fingers wrapped around the hilt—
The entire sanctuary exploded with silver light.
Every rune ignited.
The dragon carving bowed its head.
The air became impossibly still.
Far beneath the mountain...
Something laughed.
Not with evil.
With joy.
A deep, ancient voice echoed across the chamber.
"She remembers..."
Every soldier fell to one knee.
Even Queen Seraphine looked stunned.
Only Kael remained standing.
His eyes never left Lyra.
She slowly looked down at the glowing sword in her hands.
Images flashed through her mind.
A battlefield.
A silver crown.
A black-haired young man smiling at her beneath two full moons.
She couldn't see his face clearly...
But she knew one thing.
She had loved him.
Long before this lifetime.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
She whispered without understanding why—
"...Kael?"
He froze.
"You've never heard that memory before."
Lyra looked up.
"What memory?"
Kael's voice broke for the first time.
"Because..."
He stepped closer.
"...that wasn't my name."
He lowered his eyes.
"It was his."
The sanctuary suddenly fell silent.
Then...
A massive pair of glowing golden eyes opened inside the darkness beyond the doorway.
A colossal dragon slowly stepped forward.
Its scales shimmered like molten silver.
Its wings nearly touched the ceiling.
It lowered its enormous head...
Not before Kael.
Not before the Queen.
But before Lyra.
Then, in a voice older than kingdoms, it spoke.
"Welcome home... My Queen."