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Auretria could barely breathe as she and Elara ran across the abandoned courtyard. The moonlight flickered between the broken pillars, stretching their shadows long and thin across the ground—like cold fingers reaching for their ankles.
Behind them, the footsteps were wrong.
Not steady.
Not rhythmic.
They scraped.
Dragged.
Stuttered.
Like something was imitating how humans were supposed to walk.
"Elara…" Auretria gasped, "they're—still following—"
"Of course they are!" Elara snapped, pulling her harder. "Because we're running slowly. Pick up your tiny princess legs!"
"I'm trying!"
But Auretria wasn't as fast. Her lungs burned, her heart hammered too hard, and worse—Aether kept stirring inside her, reacting to her fear.
Her hands glowed faintly gold.
No.
Not now.
Not when she had no idea what they were running from.
"Elara, my magic—"
"I see it," Elara muttered. "Just hold on until we lose them."
But they weren't losing them.
The men—no, the things—kept coming.
Their silhouettes flickered unnaturally under the moon, as if they were being stretched and squeezed by invisible hands.
Then one of them spoke.
"Miss… Auretria…"
Its voice was the sound of a person trying to remember how to talk.
Too slow.
Too smooth.
Too wrong.
"Please… come… with… us…"
Auretria stumbled in terror.
Elara caught her.
"Nope," she growled, "that's not a human. I don't care what uniform it's wearing."
The shadows lengthened behind the men, stretching across the courtyard like spilled ink.
Auretria felt cold creep into her bones.
"Beware the shadows that wear human faces."
The fountain's warning replayed in her mind like a curse.
The hedge maze
"Quick!" Elara said. "This way!"
She dragged Auretria toward a tall hedge maze that surrounded the old training field. The maze was ancient, abandoned, and rumored to be haunted—so naturally, no one went inside.
Except Elara, apparently.
The moment they passed through the entrance, the world became cramped and dark. The hedges towered over them like walls, blocking the moon and trapping the cold air inside.
The smell of damp earth mixed with something metallic.
Auretria swallowed. "Elara… how do you know this place?"
Elara didn't answer right away.
"I… used to hide here," she said quietly. "When I didn't want people to find me."
Auretria didn't ask more.
She didn't need to.
She understood.
But they didn't get far.
A low hum rose behind them—a sound like dozens of whispers folding together. The shadows seeped into the entrance of the maze, twisting, pouring forward, swallowing the path they came from.
"Elara…" Auretria whispered, voice trembling, "they're not scared of dark places…"
"Of course they aren't." Elara grabbed her hand again. "So we don't stop. We run deeper."
The maze twisted, turned, doubled back. Hedges looked the same every time. Auretria's breath grew uneven. The cold air pressed against her lungs.
"Elara… what if we get lost?"
"We're already lost," Elara said. "But that's better than being caught."
Auretria didn't argue.
But then a voice drifted through the hedges.
"Child of gold…"
Auretria froze.
"Elara—"
"I know. I heard it too."
The voice was close. Too close.
It wasn't coming from behind them.
It was coming from the dark path on their left.
Auretria's hands shook. "That's not the fountain's voice…"
"No. It's mimicking it," Elara snarled. "Keep moving."
Auretria's fear finally spiked high enough that Aether surged inside her, pounding like a second heartbeat.
The glow on her hands grew brighter.
"Stop glowing!" Elara whispered harshly.
"I can't!" Auretria cried. "It's reacting on its own!"
Elara dragged her around another corner—
And stopped dead.
The path ahead was blocked.
Not by hedges.
By a man.
One of the guards from before. But now they were close enough to see the details.
Auretria's stomach twisted.
His face was wrong.
Stretched too thin, like skin pulled over a shape that didn't fit.
His eyes were empty white circles.
His arms hung too long at his sides.
And when he opened his mouth, darkness spilled out—thick and sticky like smoke.
He took a step toward them.
"Found… you…"
Auretria's breath stopped.
The shadows wrapped around his legs, slithering upward like living ropes.
Elara shoved Auretria behind her.
"Back off," she growled. "Or I swear I'll light you on fire."
The creature tilted its head, as if confused by her threat. Shadows pulsed behind it, flickering like dying lamps.
Auretria whispered, "Elara… we can't fight that…"
"I know."
"You're blocking the only exit…"
"I know."
"Then what do we—"
Elara suddenly grabbed Auretria's face with both hands, forcing her to look at her.
"Auretria. Listen to me."
"I—I am!"
"Good. Because you're going to do something insane right now."
"What—?"
Elara's voice dropped low and steady.
"Use your Aether."
Auretria felt the blood drain from her face.
"No. No, no—if I do that, everything will—"
"Auretria," Elara snapped, "if you don't use it, we're dead."
The creature took another step. The shadow behind it writhed, growing into a giant form that scraped the hedges.
Auretria's heart hammered.
Her mother's voice whispered in her mind—
"Do not overshadow your brother."
Her father's voice followed—
"Our nation needs a warrior, not useless tricks."
Auretria squeezed her eyes shut.
"I… I can't control it…"
Elara grabbed her wrist.
"Then I'll help you."
Auretria opened her eyes.
"Elara…"
"You're not alone," Elara said, teeth clenched. "Not anymore."
The creature lunged.
Auretria screamed.
Aether burst from her body.
The maze exploded with golden light—
so bright it turned the hedges into silhouettes
and the creature into a writhing shadow
twisting
shrinking
screeching
until it dissolved into smoke.
Auretria collapsed to her knees.
Elara caught her before she hit the ground.
The world spun.
Cold air turned warm.
Her vision blurred.
"Elara…" she whispered weakly. "Did I… hurt you…?"
Elara snorted. "No. I've been burned worse by kitchen soup."
Auretria almost laughed.
Almost.
But before she could speak again—
A soft voice whispered from somewhere deeper in the maze:
"You are awakening, child of gold…"
"And they will keep coming."
Auretria's heart froze.
Because this time…
the voice wasn't gentle.
It sounded hungry.
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