The wind howled through the trees as Kael's horse galloped deeper into the forest, hooves striking the earth with a rhythm Elara had never known before — fast, desperate, and uncertain. The world she had known for eighteen years had unraveled in a matter of hours, leaving her clinging not just to Kael, but to any sense of reality.
The smell of smoke still lingered in her nose. She didn't dare look back.
"Where are we going?" she finally asked, her voice cracking from the cold and the fear she tried to hide.
"There's an outpost two days north," Kael replied, not looking back. "Hidden. Protected. You'll be safe there."
Elara held tighter to him as the trees grew thicker. Moonlight could barely reach the ground now. She could feel the forest watching — or perhaps it was the lingering terror of those shadow creatures. She had never seen anything like them, and the thought that they were after her chilled her to the bone.
"I'm just a healer," she muttered. "Why would they come after me? This Aetherblood — I don't even know what that means."
Kael was silent for a while. Then, he said, "They come after what they fear. And they fear what you could become."
His words didn't help.
---
By sunrise, they reached a glade where Kael finally allowed the horse to rest. He dismounted first, helping Elara down without a word. She stumbled, legs aching and half-numb from the ride. Her cloak was soaked with dew, and her fingers trembled as she pulled it tighter.
Kael handed her a waterskin. "Drink."
"Thank you," she murmured, then added, "Do you always bark orders like that?"
A flicker of amusement crossed his face, the first real expression she'd seen. "You prefer I let you pass out from exhaustion?"
"Maybe," she muttered. "Then at least I could pretend this is all a dream."
He crouched beside a tree and began unpacking a small pack of dried provisions. "It's not a dream. And we're not safe yet."
Elara sat on a mossy rock, watching him. "Who were they? The shadowspawn?"
"They're not natural," he said. "They were created by a faction called the Nightborn — remnants of the old war. They serve no king, only hunger. And lately, they've been stirring."
"For me?"
"For the power inside you. The Aetherblood can reshape the world. That kind of power attracts more than monsters."
Elara looked at the faint silver mark on her wrist. It had faded with dawn but still pulsed softly beneath her skin like a heartbeat.
"My mother had it too?"
"Yes," Kael said. "She was a high-born of the ancient Aetherian line. Most were slain when the realms turned on them, fearing their strength. Your mother disappeared before the final purge. Some say she died. Others said she fled into the forest with a child…"
He met her eyes then. "They were right."
Elara's mind reeled. "So what am I supposed to do now? Hide forever?"
"No," he said. "Learn. Awaken. Fight."
She swallowed. "I don't know how to fight."
Kael stood. "Then I'll teach you."
---
That night, Kael showed her how to hold a dagger.
Her hands were clumsy at first — too soft, too careful — but he was patient in his way, correcting her grip with quiet instructions. His fingers brushed hers only briefly, but they felt warm against the chill of dusk.
"You're too stiff," he said. "You think too much before every move."
"I'm not a knight," she replied, annoyed.
"No. You're something rarer."
He stepped back, drawing his sword in one smooth motion. The blade gleamed with runes that shimmered like starlight.
"Let me show you what you're up against."
He moved, faster than she could follow, striking toward her. She yelped, ducked — and somehow, just somehow — her body reacted before her mind did. Her wrist flared with silver light.
The sword stopped mid-air, meeting an invisible shield that had formed around her.
Kael stepped back, brow raised.
Elara stared, panting, at the thin veil of light still hovering between them. Then it faded.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"Aether magic," Kael said. "You didn't summon it. It answered you."
Elara's heart pounded.
Maybe… maybe she was something more.
But that terrified her even more than the monsters.