les burned, but she didn't stop. Stopping meant dying. She could still feel the weight of the shadowbeasts' eyes on

ale under the fading moonlight, but his movements were quick an

with twisted, blackened trees. The mist clung low to the ground, bu

back. The shadowbeasts remained at the bottom, pacing and

ow?" she asked, more

leeve. "They're bound to something," he said, his voice rough. "A c

es at him. "And you k

e was unreadable, but there was somethi

ings," he

an answer,"

heath at his waist. "You want answers?" His emerald eyes

hat are you hiding?-but the weariness pulling at her limbs

g," she said, her

idn't

trees, winding higher into the mountains. With every step, the air

ly now, too easily for someone who had been on death's edge hou

st," she said, bre

into a half-smile.

," she pressed. "N

or a moment, she thought he wou

t just

ung heavy b

ps, her pulse quicke

her to trust her. "A curse," he s

pected, but it sent a chill

explain?"

N

haking her head. A man f

ce. A weight. A pain she recognized all too we

dn't trust him, she un

hrough her thought

abou

watching her closely. "No wol

ightened on her dagger, but she forced her voice to stay e

speak. When he did, his vo

t she pushed the feeling down. She didn't

re anymore,

there was no malice in hi

d her pace. "Let's move. I don't

care. If she said it enough times,

half-hidden by thick vines. Faint carvings covered the

ection. A ward a

his expression unreadabl

these ruins mark the border between our world and the

d into a faint sm

e shadowbeasts can't follow u

s colder-too cold-but the heavy, oppressive feeling that had followed them f

d jagged pieces of ancient stone scattered across the ground. In the center s

g away the dirt and leaves. Somet

agg

s, the silver blade blackened along the ed

, his eyes narrowing. "T

nd the hilt. A shiver ran through her, but she

arefully. "You're

he said, sliding the

tever lay ahead, she

rees, the uneasy feeling returned. Th

ly, his body tensin

nd drifting to her

ze flicked toward the far edge of the ruins,

th

ure e

eneath a hood. But the power rolling off it was impo

la, his voice low. "Whatev

f," she shot back,

dge of the altar. When it spoke, its voice was smoo

it said softly. "This pla

er grip on her bl

e question. "A messenger," it said at last. "And

s sword gleaming in the

ss the figure's lips. "Or the

vanished-leaving only the echo

. Whatever was hunting

s was just t

chill. Vaela swallowed against the rising tension curling in her stomach. W

ows will ta

w tightened. His usual calm had cracked, just enough for her to

seemed thicker there, curling unnaturally over the broken stones. A deep, uneas

aid, his voice low but ed

to the sheath at her thigh and stood, brushing dirt from her k

for a second, but t

ing the ruins. "But that? That was no

down her spine.

. But whatever it serves-it's powe

e toward the mist. "Good. I'm ti

is lips-brief, but real. "You'

re," she s

g through the stone pillars like restless fingers. Vaela stayed close to Kael-not because she trusted him,

u?" she asked after a while. The silence

aw tensed, and for a moment, she thou

cking me," he said. "T

rowned.

w breath. "Becau

louder in her ch

the fading light. "A mistake," he said again. But this

e could speak, a sound echoed through the ruins. Faint at fi

It wasn't

, too sharp. And worse-

ela

n toward the sound, but the mi

e asked, her voice b

d already on his swo

in, softer but mor

.. come

ully in her chest. She

s Dra

ulse thundering in her ea

and grounding. "It's not real," he said

lt real.

low it-to chase that familiar voice back to the li

s voice?" she asked

rkened. "Because it

raven was her weakness. The wound still raw, the pain

"We keep moving," she said, lifting h

"Good. Because if you listen to that voice lon

me mad," Va

e," Kael

ly beneath the shadowed canopy of trees. The whispers

curtain of tangled vines. Beneath the vines, Vaela spotted the entrance-an ancient stone door, cracked

e markings, his brow furrowing. "T

it?" Va

His eyes met hers, and the flicker of worry she saw

uickened. "A pr

things that should

. The air itself seemed to grow c

afer inside?" Vaela as

an staying out here and waiting

e stone door. It groaned in protest, but it shifted under their combined strength

r word, they s

oed softly as they moved through the stone corridor. Strange markings li

ning her fingers over one of the ca

nse. "It's not," he agreed. "It

d. "What happens when

iet. "Things crawl

n't let herself dwell on the fear twistin

ed a circular chamber. In the center stood a stone

ve it alone. But something about the box

he asked, her v

ression unreadable. "A lock,"

secrets lay buried here, they

had already

't going ba

ftly in her ears. The air around it felt heavier, almost like the ma

e murmured, her fingers

readable. "You shouldn't," he said quietly. "Things loc

een enough to make her

ng. A strange warmth curled beneath her skin-a pull deep in

harper now. "Magic like this doesn't gi

. "What if this is why we were led here?" she

ossible to miss. "And what if it's not?" His voice droppe

sent a strange flutter through her

dark," she said, more

d stop her, she laid

ir around them shifted. A pulse of energy surged through the

the weight of the magic. Images flashed b

ken t

r eyes, his face

through shadow

cut through the visi

ept over her. She swayed on her feet, but Kael'

e?" he demanded,

d her eyes. "Something... old. Something angry." Sh

his breath. "We ne

he box. Even as fear tightened her th

," she whispered, more

h

d. "Then stop listening," he gro

ke contact, the pressure vanished. But the mark it left on her-what

ward the entrance. "Whatever you touched," h

e at the box, unease twis

have

em, the shadows stirred-and far beneath