Somewhere beneath Blackglass, in the hollow veins of the city, something stirred.

Not quickly.
 Not loudly.

But with purpose.

As if it had been waiting for someone to remember.

And now, someone had.

Edrick stood in the archive room of the Conservatory, flipping through ancient documents sealed in wax and dust.
 Next to him, Lira read in silence—her face still pale, but steady.

They had not spoken much since the rooftop.

Words were too fragile now.
 And truth heavier than silence.

But the file Lira opened made them both stop breathing.

A symbol:
 The crescent moon, pierced by a silver fang.

Title:
 “Project Lupus. The Thirteenth Oath.”

A forgotten record from the early years of Blackglass.

The pages described experiments. Not with chemicals.

With memory.
 With ritual bonding.
 With children.

Subjects given roles in a living myth.
 Two per pair. Always two.

One to carry the curse.
 One to bind it.

Eye and Heart.

Hunter and Witness.

Wolf and Vow.

“It was us,” Lira said.
 Voice low. Unshaken.
 Dead calm.

“We weren’t chosen.
 We were designed.”

Later, in an underground passage that no longer appeared on any map, Edrick followed a trail of claw marks.

Deep.
 Unnatural.

Each step forward felt colder.

Each shadow longer.

At the end:
 A gate made of bone.

And beyond it—
 a chamber filled with howls no one had heard in centuries.

He stepped inside.

At the center:
 A cage made of silver, fractured from within.

Inside—nothing.

Just a single message, scrawled in blood on the wall:

“I REMEMBER.”

Then he heard it.

A growl. Not animal. Not human.

And from the darkness, eyes opened.

Golden. Burning.

A figure emerged.

Seven feet tall. Cloaked in fur and rage.

Not beast.
 Not man.

Something in between.

A voice tore from its throat:

“WHO BROKE THE VOW?”

At that same moment, Lira stood before a mirror.

One she didn’t remember bringing.

But it was hers.

Inside it—
 not her reflection.

But the girl she had once been.
 Maskless.
 Afraid.

And behind the girl…

The Harlequin.

Smiling.

Whispering.

“The Wolf is awake.
 And your heart…
 is still bound to his teeth.”