Kael looked at Elara as she raised her head, her tear-streaked face illuminated by the dim light filtering through the trees. He studied her for a moment, his expression indifferent, and then turned away, walking into the forest without a word.
Elara staggered to her feet, brushing tears from her cheeks. "Please, wait! Please, wait!" she called, chasing after him.
Kael ignored her, his pace steady, his shoulders tense. She caught up, tugging at his shirt. "Please, I'm begging you!"
He slowed slightly, just enough to glance back at her. She took a trembling breath and said, voice breaking, "Please… I need your help. My parents were killed, and my home was burned. The king and villagers are after me. If they find me, they'll kill me. Please…"
Kael kept walking. Elara fell into step behind him, desperation etched on her face. "I've never seen you in my village, so you're not from here… please, don't leave me here," she added, her voice small and trembling.
He finally stopped and turned fully to face her. His eyes were cold, unreadable. "You don't know me, and I don't know you," he said.
Her gaze pleaded with him. "Yes, I know… but I'm desperate. Please."
Kael studied her for a long moment, then turned and walked forward again. Elara's shoulders sagged, sadness weighing heavily on her. Just as she began to despair, Kael's voice called over his shoulder: "Are you coming or not?"
She smiled, relief flooding her features. "Yes… yes," she said softly, moving forward to follow him.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, a strange stillness enveloped them. The air was thick, almost electric, and the usual sounds of birds and insects had vanished. Elara noticed the ground splitting in jagged lines, fissures twisting unnaturally, as if something had clawed through the earth itself. Shadows shifted along the cracks, and small stones floated briefly before falling back to the ground, though she did not understand how or why.
She glanced at Kael as he strode silently ahead. His hair was long, dark, cascading over his shoulders in uneven waves, moving slightly with each step. He did not speak, nor did he glance back. She wondered quietly what he was doing in this forest and why it seemed so… alive around him.
Deciding to break the silence, she quickened her pace until she walked alongside him and smiled. "So… why are you in the forest?" she asked. No reply. She tried again, a little more cautiously. "Um… where are you from? I haven't seen you around Aelthywyn." Still, he said nothing. Resigned, she fell silent, letting her questions drop.
They walked on, the forest growing darker, the silence pressing against them. Elara's steps began to falter, exhaustion creeping in. Eventually, they reached a cave. Its walls were cracked and jagged, as if torn apart by some colossal beast. She paused at the entrance. "What a… strange place," she murmured.
Kael turned to her, his voice low and steady. "We are here."
Elara stepped inside, her eyes widening. Within, the cave had been transformed. Warm light glowed from stone lanterns, and despite the rugged exterior, the interior looked cozy and lived-in. A low, excited sound drew her attention. Something moved in the shadows, bounding toward Kael with joyful energy.
She froze, unsure what to make of it. The creature ran forward, its small body gleaming with soft fur she had never seen. Kael crouched to the ground, rubbing the creature's belly with careful hands.
Elara took a hesitant step forward, her gaze lingering on it. But as it turned toward her, its face twisted into something frightening, its eyes sharp and fangs bared. Her heart leapt into her throat. She stumbled backward and screamed, "Help!"
Kael's voice rang out, calm but commanding. "Lumi! Lumi, come!"
The creature hesitated, its eyes flicking to Kael, but Elara shrank further back. In a sudden panic, she leaped onto Kael's back, gripping him tightly.
Kael's gaze hardened. Raising his hands, he whispered under his breath. The creature split into two identical forms, each shimmering briefly as if held in midair. Elara screamed, pressing her face into Kael's shoulder, unable to watch.
When she finally dared to look, both forms were back in one piece, sitting calmly at Kael's feet. She blinked, astonished. Kael looked at her, his blue eyes glinting, and she gave a small, nervous chuckle as she slid from his back.
"How… how did you split him apart and put him back together?" she asked, awe and fear mingling in her voice.
Kael shrugged lightly, his expression unreadable. "He's just… Lumi," he said, his voice quiet but with a hint of amusement. "He likes to play."
Elara stared, her mind racing. The forest around them seemed to hold its breath, the air humming faintly. She could sense that Kael was not just a boy in the woods. There was something more… something dangerous and powerful hidden beneath the calm of his voice and the stillness of his eyes.
Elara's breath slowed as she steadied herself, still keeping a cautious distance from the strange creature now wagging its tail at her. She glanced at Kael, then back at the animal, her brow furrowed.
"Why are you in this forest?" she asked softly, her voice breaking the heavy silence. Her eyes stayed on him, searching for answers. "And how did you… split that animal in two and then put it back together? What even is it? I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Kael sat down on a stone near the cave wall, Lumi curling lazily at his feet as if nothing unusual had happened. For a long while, he did not answer. The only sound was the faint crackle of a fire hidden deeper in the cave and the quiet hum of the forest outside.
Elara shifted uneasily, waiting.
Finally, Kael lifted his eyes to her. They were cold, distant, yet something flickered there... a shadow of thought, of memory. "You ask too many questions," he said flatly.
Elara bit her lip, hurt but refusing to look away. "Maybe… but I just lost everything. My parents. My home. The people I thought I could trust. And then I find you. You're not ordinary, I can see that. So forgive me if I want to know who you are and what you just did."
Kael's gaze lingered on her, unreadable. His voice came quiet, almost reluctant. "That creature is Lumi. He is not from your village… nor any village. He belongs to the cracks."
"The… cracks?" Elara repeated, puzzled.
Kael gave a faint nod, his hand brushing over Lumi's fur. "The fractures you saw in the earth outside. He was born of them. A shadow of what breaks apart."
Elara's eyes widened slightly, but before she could ask again, Kael stood, his tall frame casting a shadow across the cave. "As for me," he said, his tone sharper now, "I live here because I cannot live anywhere else. That is all you need to know."
Elara swallowed her questions. The weight of his words, the bitterness in his voice, made her realize pressing further would close him off entirely. Still, she could not stop herself from whispering, "You're not like anyone I've ever met."
Kael glanced at her once more, and for the briefest moment, something softened in his expression. But it was gone as quickly as it came.
"Get some rest," he said simply, turning toward the deeper chamber of the cave. "It will be safer when the night passes."
Elara stood frozen for a moment, torn between fear and intrigue. She looked down at Lumi, who blinked up at her with strange, glimmering eyes before curling back into Kael's shadow.
She wrapped her arms around herself and whispered into the stillness, "Mom, dad please help me."
Elara's body jolted upright, her breath sharp and uneven. "Mom! Dad!" she cried into the echo of her own voice. For a moment, she thought the fire still roared around her, but then her eyes adjusted. The cave walls pressed close, damp and shadowed. The silence reminded her where she was.
She brushed the tears from her cheeks with trembling hands. The space around her was empty. Kael and the strange beast were gone.
Her heart clenched. She pulled herself up and walked toward the mouth of the cave. Outside, the forest was eerily quiet, stripped of its morning birdsong. The ground was littered with cracks, splintered roots, broken branches, as though the land itself had been torn apart.
Elara hated broken things. Always had. They felt unfinished, like a song cut short or a thread pulled loose. So, with a soft breath, she reached inside herself. Her fingers traced the air, weaving what was torn. Cracks sealed. Branches straightened. Trees stitched back into wholeness. Even the jagged scars along the cave's stone walls smoothed under her touch.
For a moment, she forgot everything, her loss, her fear. She was creating again. She almost smiled.
Then... footsteps.
"What are you doing?"
The voice cut through her like a blade. She froze. Turning slowly, she saw Kael standing a few paces away. His face was shadowed, his eyes hard with something between anger and fear.
Her hands dropped to her sides. The joy drained from her chest.
"I… I… um," she stammered, her voice trembling.
Kael stepped closer, and though his movements were steady, his gaze burned with intensity.
Elara swallowed hard, her throat dry. She wanted to shrink back into the cave, to hide, but instead she held his stare, trembling beneath the weight of his anger.