The darkness in the cage was absolute, save for the two glowing green eyes lunging at her.
The Star-Wolf didn't hesitate. It was a creature of instinct, and its instinct screamed: Kill. Eat.
Lyra didn't scream. She didn't try to run into the corners of the small cell. That was what prey did.
Instead, she did something insane.
She tightened her grip on the obsidian shard and slashed it across her own palm.
Hiss.
The pain was sharp, but the smell was stronger. The scent of her blood—Pure Royal Blood, uncorrupted by the False God's contracts—filled the stagnant air of the Kennel.
To a corrupted, starving beast, this blood wasn't just food. It was a drug. It was salvation.
The Star-Wolf froze mid-lunge. Its massive jaws snapped shut just inches from Lyra's throat. Hot, fetid breath washed over her face, blowing back her messy hair.
The beast whimpered, confused. The blood smelled sweet, unlike the rot it was fed daily.
Lyra didn't flinch. She extended her bleeding hand, pressing it directly against the wolf's wet, matted snout.
"Hungry?" Lyra whispered. Her voice wasn't trembling anymore. In the face of death, her "Rebellious Bone" took over.
She looked deep into the wolf's eyes. Through her [Spirit Affinity], she didn't see a monster. She saw torture. She saw a creature that had been beaten, electrocuted, and starved by Kael's soldiers until it went mad.
"I know," Lyra said softly, her soul resonating with the beast's rage. "They locked you up. They hurt you. They treat you like trash."
The wolf stopped growling. It licked the blood from her palm, its rough tongue scraping against her wound. A strange, warm energy flowed from Lyra to the beast.
"Eat me, and you stay in this cage forever," Lyra leaned in, her forehead touching the wolf's terrifying skull. "But follow me... and I will let you taste their flesh."
The wolf froze. Its green eyes dilated. The madness in them faded, replaced by a sudden, sharp clarity.
It understood.
It lowered its head. It didn't bow out of fear, but out of a pact. A pact between two prisoners.
Lyra smiled in the dark. She tore a strip of cloth from her dress and wrapped her hand. She leaned against the wolf's warm, furry flank and closed her eyes.
"Sleep," she commanded. "Tomorrow, we hunt."
The Next Morning.
The sound of heavy boots echoed in the corridor.
Viper, the Vice-General, walked with a swagger, holding a cup of hot coffee. Behind him were two cleaning droids.
"Open it up," Viper ordered, yawning. "Be careful with the remains. That wolf is a messy eater. I bet the Princess is just a pile of bones and a pretty skull by now."
The soldiers laughed and deactivated the energy lock.
Click. Hiss.
The heavy iron door groaned as it slid open. The soldiers raised their blasters, just in case the wolf rushed out.
But nothing rushed out.
The cell was silent.
"Dead?" Viper scoffed, stepping closer to peer into the gloom. "Hey, mutt! Did you leave anything for m—"
The words died in his throat.
From the shadows, a slender figure stepped out.
Lyra's white sacrificial dress was torn and stained with dirt, exposing her long legs. Her hair was messy. But her face... her face was clean, pale, and terrifyingly calm.
She wasn't dead. She wasn't even injured.
And right behind her, looming like a shadow of death, was the Star-Wolf.
The beast wasn't chained. It walked beside her, its shoulder brushing against her leg, its green eyes locked onto Viper with predatory malice.
"You..." Viper dropped his coffee cup. It shattered on the floor. "How are you alive?"
Lyra stepped into the hallway light. She looked at the spilled coffee, then up at Viper.
"I told you," Lyra said coolly. "I survived the altar. I survived the fall. Did you really think a dog could kill me?"
The wolf growled low in its throat, exposing yellow fangs.
"Back off!" Viper panicked, drawing his blaster and aiming at Lyra. "The beast is loose! Shoot it!"
"Sit," Lyra said.
She didn't shout. She just said one word.
The massive Star-Wolf immediately sat down on its haunches, its tail thumping once against the metal floor. It looked at Viper with disdain, as if mocking him.
The soldiers froze. They had spent months trying to break this wolf with electric whips, and it had tried to kill them every time. Now, it obeyed this fragile girl like a puppy?
Lyra walked up to Viper. He was taller than her, armed, and dangerous, but in that moment, she looked down on him.
She reached out and dusted an imaginary speck of dirt off Viper's armor.
"Your pets seem to like me better than they like you, Vice-General," Lyra whispered, her voice laced with venom. "Maybe you should check your own cage tonight."
Viper's face turned purple with rage and humiliation. "You witch! I'll kill you myself!"
"Bring her up."
A cold, mechanical voice echoed from the intercom on the wall. It was Kael.
The entire corridor went silent. Even the wolf lowered its ears in submission to that voice.
"The Commander wants her on the bridge," the intercom continued. "Cleaned. Now."
Viper gritted his teeth, his hand shaking on his gun. He wanted to pull the trigger, but disobeying Kael meant death.
He holstered his weapon and glared at Lyra. "You got lucky, Princess. But the Commander doesn't keep pets that bite."
Lyra smiled. It was the same dangerous smile she had given Kael on the dragon's back.
"Good," she said, patting the wolf's head one last time before walking past the stunned soldiers. "Because I don't plan on being a pet for long."