"Cassia?"
My voice cracked, a barely-there whisper. I almost didn't believe it.
But the creature in front of me — once a girl I'd shared a broken home with, slept beside on thin mattresses and stolen dreams — smiled like a wolf pretending to be human.
"Surprised, Aeryn?" she purred, tilting her head. "You shouldn't be. You always knew I was stronger than you."
"No," I said, shaking my head slowly. "You were crueler. That's not the same."
She laughed — high and sharp like shattered glass. Her body began to shift again. Not fully wolf. Not fully human. Her skin pulsed, stretched. Her spine cracked as blackened fur crawled across her arms, and her once-brown eyes now glowed silver with slits in the center.
I stepped back. The trees behind me gave no comfort.
"You're not just a wolf," I breathed. "What are you?"
Her grin stretched wider. "I'm what happens when someone finally pays attention to the broken ones."
I narrowed my eyes. "Who helped you?"
"The Hollow Howler," she whispered, reverent. "It whispered to me while you were off playing chosen one. It told me everything. About you. About your mother. About what you really are."
My blood ran cold. "You're lying."
"Am I?" she hissed, stepping closer. "You think you're some miracle? The reborn Flame? You're just a curse wearing skin."
I clenched my fists. Flame rose instinctively, curling around my hands like breath.
But Cassia didn't flinch.
"Oh, look," she mocked. "Still playing with fire. Want to know what real power feels like?"
She screamed — not in pain, but in invitation. The air around her split open, black tendrils slithering out from beneath her feet, crawling across the earth like veins.
I stepped back, instinct screaming.
"You've bonded with the Hollow Howler."
She smiled. "No. I am the Hollow Howler now."
The ground shook. Trees cracked. The moon above seemed to dim.
Cassia charged.
I barely dodged her swipe, flames bursting from my palms in defense. But she was faster than any wolf I'd fought. Her body moved like shadow and smoke — everywhere at once.
She slammed into me, claws grazing my ribs. I hit the forest floor hard, air knocked from my lungs.
"You always had it easy," she snarled, pinning me down. "Even when we were kids. Everyone liked you. Everyone believed you. Even when you screamed in your sleep. Even when your eyes glowed."
"I never wanted any of it!" I shouted, fire exploding upward.
It threw her back.
I rolled to my feet, panting. "You think I asked for this power? You think I enjoy being hunted and tested and twisted by everyone around me?"
Cassia spat blood. "Poor little flame. So tired of being special."
She lunged again, and this time I met her head-on.
Fire and shadow collided.
I remembered Kira's lessons. Not to fight the flame. To feel it.
So I did.
I felt the fire pulse with my heartbeat, rise with my anger, shape itself to my grief. I channeled it through my limbs, not as rage — but as will.
Cassia clawed, but I dodged, sliding beneath her and releasing a burst of fire from my palm that sent her into a tree.
The bark exploded.
She staggered, howling.
"You're getting stronger," she hissed, black smoke curling from her mouth. "Good. That means it'll be more fun when I break you."
A howl echoed through the forest.
Not hers.
Rhydan.
My chest squeezed.
Cassia grinned, her eyes turning to the sound. "Ah. The lover boy. Shall I break his bones or his heart first?"
I lunged, flame dancing across my arms.
We clashed again, teeth bared, claws against fire.
And then—
Cassia's hand shot out, gripping my wrist.
Her eyes flashed — not silver. But red.
And I felt it.
A jolt. Like lightning in my soul.
She wasn't just fighting me.
She was reaching into me.
Tearing at something deep, hidden.
"Stop," I gasped.
"Oh, little flame," she whispered. "There's a piece of me inside you."
My mind spun. "What—?"
"You don't remember, do you?" she said sweetly. "You think I hated you just because of your power. But it started before that. When we were young."
She leaned closer, voice dripping venom.
"We shared blood, Aeryn. You were brought to the foster home the same day I was. Same night. Same storm. But only you got the visions. Only you were ever held by the moonlight."
"No… no, that's not—"
"Yes," she hissed. "We were both born of the Flame. But you got all of it. I was left with shadow."
My blood froze.
Twins?
No — not by birth.
But by fate.
I saw it now, flickering like flame: the two of us, wrapped in the same blanket, infants under the same blood moon. The fire had chosen one. The darkness had taken the other.
Cassia wasn't lying.
She was part of me.
And in that moment, the fire inside me didn't rise in fear.
It rose in sadness.
"I'm sorry," I said.
Cassia blinked.
"I'm sorry the world didn't see you," I continued, softly. "I'm sorry no one held your hand when you screamed at night. I'm sorry I didn't remember you sooner."
"Shut up," she whispered.
"You deserved more than this. You were more than this."
"Stop—"
I stepped forward. The fire didn't burn. It warmed.
"I forgive you."
She lunged again, this time clumsy.
I caught her.
Wrapped my arms around her.
Held her.
For a moment, just a moment—
She sagged.
And the darkness flickered.
But then—
A roar.
From within her.
And the Hollow Howler screamed.
Cassia's body contorted. Her skin cracked, pulsing with black light.
The spirit fought to consume her fully.
I fell back, fire flaring.
And then Rhydan burst through the trees.
"AERYN!"
He saw her. Saw me.
"No—" he started.
Cassia's voice, now warped and inhuman, echoed:
"Two flames. One will be extinguished."
She flew at me.
Faster than before.
Rhydan launched himself between us, claws out.
They collided.
The forest exploded.
I screamed his name—
When the smoke cleared, Rhydan lay in the dirt, blood pouring from his chest.
Cassia was gone.
The wind whispered like mourning.
I dropped beside him, hands trembling.
"No, no, no…"
His eyes fluttered. "I told you… I'd stand in the ashes with you."
I laughed through tears. "Idiot."
"You still mad at me?"
"Yes," I said. "But if you die, I'll kill you myself."
He smirked. "There she is."
And then he passed out.
I stayed there until the moon disappeared.
The fire in me had quieted.
But something darker stirred now.
Because Cassia was still out there.
And she had the other half of me.