Kaela kept walking.
She didn't question where her feet took her. There was no map, no path. Just a urge, like a hand nudging her shoulder. She listened because there was nothing else left to follow.
Her boots were caked with dirt. Her clothes still torn from the night she fought. She hadn't seen the thing again... the twisted creature with too many limbs, the one that spoke in riddles and rot. And she hadn't seen anyone else. No exiles. No beasts. Just cold woods, scattered ash she was learning to read like a map, and the uneven rhythm of her own steps.
Every now and then, her hand would tingle.
She'd felt it ever since the crystal cracked in her grip. Like something had come loose and crawled beneath her skin. She couldn't explain it. It wasn't pain. It wasn't heat. But it was there, steady, like her body was relearning something it had forgotten a long time ago.
A part of her wanted to stop and think it through. Another part didn't want to think at all.
She just kept going.
Up ahead, the trees loosened their grip. A clearing stretched out in front of her. Stone markers circled its edges, flat slabs and stacked rocks, left by someone long gone. They weren't overgrown or hidden. They were waiting.
In the middle stood a tall, black stone.
Kaela paused. Her heart stumbled.
She hadn't meant to come here.
She looked behind her. There was no path, no trail she'd followed. Just instinct. And somehow, she'd ended up in this exact spot.
She stepped into the clearing. Her boots crushed dried leaves. The stone was taller than it looked. Almost her height. It was smooth, darker than night, worn down at the edges. She raised her hand toward it.
The moment her palm met the surface, a low heat rushed into her arm, and the world stopped. She could swear it, time
really did freeze.
A vision.
A red hand, dripping blood.
A whisper she couldn't catch.
And eyes that looked like hers.
Then it was gone.
She staggered back, her elbows hitting the dirt. Her breathing came fast. Her heart raced. She looked down at her hand.
A mark had bloomed across her palm. Black lines curled like roots, glowing faintly. They didn't appear painful, but it didn't seem it was fading anytime soon. It was just there.
Kaela stared at it, whispering softly. "What is this?"
No answer.
She sat in the dirt, the silence settling again. Her legs felt like stone. Her hand still buzzed.
Then the words from the other night returned, clear as breath on glass.
They know.
Kaela's breath hitched. She didn't know who "they"were. But her stomach twisted anyway.
She got up, slower this time, her eyes searching around for any sign of foul play. The damnation that was Argyle mustn't be trusted, that much she knew. She didn't say the word "exile" in her head anymore. It still made her sick. But it was the truth. This was exile. And somehow, she was waking up inside it.
She turned, glanced behind her. Just habit now. Since the fight, she'd learned to move like prey. Quiet. Careful. Ready.
The air felt sharper. Her fingers twitched.
Then she saw him.
A man at the far edge of the clearing. He wasn't twisted or crawling or wrong like the other creature. He wore leathers. Hood drawn. A long blade in one hand.
Her stomach dropped.
A hunter.
He wasn't rushing. He walked like he had done this before. The kind of steps someone takes when they're used to catching prey.
She stepped back.
He kept coming.
She turned to run, but it was too late.
The blade slashed past her ear.
He lunged at her.
The blade cut through the space beside her ear. She ducked and rolled. Dirt caught in her palms. She pushed up fast. Her eyes locked on him.
He turned quickly. Charged again.
She threw a rock, and it missed.
His blade rose.
She raised her hand.
The mark on her palm lit.
The air cracked. Not with light. Not with heat. Just a clean, sharp sound like the earth had snapped open for a breath.
The hunter froze.
His eyes dropped to her hand.
And for the first time, he hesitated.
Kaela didn't wait. She ran.
***
Kaela didn't stop running until her knees almost buckled. She ducked behind a tree that had split at the base, hiding in the shadowed hollow.
Her breath came fast. Her heart too.
No sound followed her. No blade, no footsteps. Just windless silence.
She waited.
Then slowly, she looked at her hand again.
The mark still glowed. It pulsed faintly, like something alive. Something aware.
She closed her fingers around it.
The hunter hadn't chased her far. That unsettled her more than if he had. Maybe he didn't need to. Maybe he had already seen enough.
Her mother, no, not her mother. The High Priestess used to say that when something calls you, you either answer or you run. There's no in-between. Not if you want to live.
Kaela didn't know what had called her. But she'd touched it.
And now, it had touched back.
She pressed her palm to her chest, not sure why, just needing to feel it close.
She wasn't safe anymore, she had wokenm up
She stood.
No path ahead. Just trees. Fog. More of the same.
Still, she walked.