That evening,I stand on my private balcony, watching the sun set behind the peaks. The aerie spreads out below me, a true marvel of integration, with Storm Eagle spires beside Haven’s Heart technology, walkways designed for both flight and foot traffic. It’s beautiful, this new world we’re building together. But beauty doesn’t stop fate.
The carved ice crystal on my desk catches the dying light It is a meditation focus I’ve used since childhood, helping me center myself after visions. I pick it up, letting its cool surface ground me in the present.
I could refuse the assignment. Claim illness, injury, urgent responsibilities here. But the council would just send someone else, and the vision might still come to pass. At least if I’m there, I have a chance to change things. To warn him. To save him.
Even if it means revealing what I am. Even if it means becoming the weapon I’ve always feared I could be: someone whose visions are used to twist fate for others’ purposes.
A knock at my door interrupts my spiraling thoughts. Elena enters, moving with the careful grace of late pregnancy.
“I wanted to check on you,” she says, settling into a chair with visible relief. “You seemed troubled in the meeting.”
“It’s a significant responsibility,” I say, not quite lying. “The integration is delicate. If something goes wrong...”
“You won’t be alone,” Elena assures me. “The Mountain Cat tracker is reportedly one of their best. His name is Magnus Ironwood and Keira Frostmane speaks highly of his skills and honor.”
Magnus. The name settles into my mind like a stone into water, sending ripples through my consciousness. Magnus Ironwood, whose silver eyes will fade in blood-stained snow.
“What do you know about him?” I try to keep my voice casual.
“Not much personally. The Mountain Cats are even more reserved than the Shadow Wolves were initially. But Keira described him as formidable snow leopard shifter with ice magic, absolutely devoted to his clan’s traditions. He’s... particular about protocol, apparently. Expects competence and doesn’t suffer fools.”
“Wonderful,” I mutter. “A traditionalist who probably thinks healers should stay safely in clinics while warriors handle danger.”
Elena laughs softly. “I thought the same about Kael once. That he’d never see me as an equal, just someone to protect. But sometimes the people who challenge us most are the ones who help us grow strongest.”
She stands with effort, one hand supporting her back. “Trust yourself, Lyra. You’re more capable than you know. And sometimes...” she pauses at the door, “sometimes the things we fear most are the very things that set us free.”
After she leaves, I return to the balcony. The first stars are emerging, cold and distant. Somewhere beyond these mountains, Magnus Ironwood is preparing for the same journey, unaware that I’ve already seen how it ends.
But I’ve also seen how it begins, and tomorrow, his eyes will meet mine for the first time in this reality. That is when the countdown to his death starts ticking.
I close my eyes, feeling the weight of future-knowledge pressing down on me. The gift I’ve hidden all my life has never felt more like a curse. But perhaps... perhaps seeing death doesn’t mean accepting it. Perhaps knowledge can become power…if I’m brave enough to use it.
2
MAGNUS
The Storm Eagle aerie rises from the mountain peaks like a defiance of gravity itself. I’ve heard descriptions from traders, even seen rough sketches in our clan’s archives, but nothing prepared me for the reality. Crystalline spires twist skyward, platforms jutting out into open air with no railings, no safety measures, because why would beings with wings need them?
My snow leopard prowls restlessly beneath my skin as I climb the carved steps. We’re built for mountains, yes, but mountains that stay properly beneath our feet. Mountains with caves and stone fortresses, not these delicate-looking structures that seem held together by magic and audacity.
The integration, they call it. This mixing of the ancient ways with Haven’s Heart technology, of wild clans with civilized settlements. My alpha, Keira Frostmane, believes it might be our future. I’m here to determine if it’s a future worth having, or if isolation remains our wisest path.
And to find who or what is hunting the traders, before war breaks out over false accusations.
The main platform is bustling with activity from Storm Eagles in flight, humans with their technology, and scattered members of other clans I recognize from description only. A Shadow Wolf passes me, the scent of pack and forest clinging to his fur even in human form. He nods respectfully. I return the gesture, though my leopard remains wary. We Mountain Cats have survived by trusting few and depending on fewer.
“Magnus Ironwood?”
A Storm Eagle guard approaches, his wings mantled slightly in a subtle display of dominance. I don’t react, though my leopard notes the challenge. We’re guests here. For now.
“I’m expected at the council chamber,” I say, my voice deliberately neutral.
He assesses me for a moment longer, taking in my height, the width of my shoulders, the frost-white hair that marks me as ice-touched. Then he gestures toward an arched doorway. “This way.”
The council chamber is circular, carved from living stone with windows that frame the sky. Kael Stormwright stands at its center. I recognize him immediately from Keira’s descriptions with his massive golden wings, and natural authority that needs no posturing. Beside him, a very pregnant woman with intelligent eyes that immediately catalog everything about me. This must be Elena, the geneticist who changed everything.
“Magnus Ironwood,” Kael greets me, his voice carrying the kind of strength I can respect. “Thank you for coming. Your alpha speaks highly of your abilities.”
