Kael's hand was warm.
It pulled her to her feet, steadying her as the mist thinned. Around them, the hallway had emptied—no screams, no footsteps, no alarms. It was as if time itself had frozen the moment she touched the pendant.
"What was that thing?" Aria asked, breathless.
Kael didn't let go. "A Shadowbound. A creature summoned by broken pacts and spilled magic. It was sent for you."
"Why?"
His jaw tightened. "Because you're waking up. And they fear what you might become."
They slipped out through the back door of the school. The wind outside carried whispers only Aria could hear. Kael led her toward the woods, not speaking until they reached a small clearing hidden by thick branches and ivy-covered stones.
"You need to see something," he said. "The truth. Not the pieces they left you."
He knelt and traced a symbol on the forest floor—a glowing circle with intersecting lines, like a compass made of starlight. As it lit up, the trees bent back and a mirror rose from the ground, framed in blackened wood and silver vines.
"This is a Memory Glass," Kael said. "It shows only what's buried in your blood. Not your mind."
Aria stepped forward cautiously. Her reflection flickered, then melted away.
In its place, a child—her, maybe four years old—stood in the clearing, surrounded by hooded figures. Her parents.
Her mother was weeping. Her father held a silver dagger, hand shaking.
A voice, cold and ancient, echoed from the mirror:
"A child born under the twin moons. Her light shall tear the veil, or seal it forever."
Aria's younger self stepped forward, tiny fingers reaching for a glowing moonstone held out by a hooded spirit.
A drop of blood fell from her palm onto the stone.
The pact was made.
---
Aria stumbled back.
"I didn't know," she whispered. "I didn't choose this."
Kael's expression was unreadable. "No one ever does. But the magic chose you. It always does."
"Why were you there?" she asked. "Why do you keep helping me?"
He looked at her, eyes filled with something softer now. "Because I made a pact too. To protect you, no matter the cost. Even if it kills me."
Aria stared at him. "You're not human, are you?"
Kael smiled faintly. "Not entirely."
Suddenly, the mirror cracked.
A violent jolt shot through the air. The clearing darkened. The whispers turned to shrieks.
"They found us," Kael said, grabbing her hand again. "Run!"
---
As they fled deeper into the woods, Aria's thoughts raced.
She had seen the truth. She was marked by magic—bound by blood. And now something ancient was hunting her down.
But beneath the fear, something else stirred.
Power. Old, wild, and beginning to wake.