Volume 43
Writer: Sabbir Ahmed
Chapter 4: The One Who Watches
The light faded slowly, leaving Lina breathless in the stone circle.
The cloaked figure had vanished—no sound, no footprints, nothing but torn fog drifting between the trees. Lina's legs gave out, and she sank to her knees, palms pressed against the cold ground.
"What… was that?" she whispered.
The pendant cooled against her chest, its glow dimming to a faint shimmer. Whatever power had burst out of her felt distant now, like a door slammed shut just as she reached it.
A twig snapped.
Lina froze.
Someone stepped into the clearing, hands raised in peace. He was older than her, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with travel-worn clothes and a long scar running down his left cheek. His sharp eyes studied the stones, then her.
"Relax," he said. "If I wanted you captured, you'd already be gone."
Her heart pounded. "Who are you?"
"Name's Kael." He glanced at the trees. "And you just made a lot of enemies."
"I didn't mean to."
Kael snorted quietly. "None of us do."
He crouched, brushing his fingers over one of the glowing stones. "You activated an old ward. Haven't seen one respond like that in years."
"You know about this place?"
"I've been watching it," he said. "Waiting, actually."
Lina's stomach twisted. "Waiting for me?"
Kael met her gaze. "For someone like you."
Before she could respond, the forest shifted. The silence cracked as distant horns echoed—low, hollow sounds that sent chills through her spine.
Kael stood fast. "That's the Hunters. They'll close in from all sides."
Lina's chest tightened. "I can't fight them."
"You don't have to," Kael said, pulling a folded map from his coat. "You just have to survive."
He pointed to a mark deep within the woods. "There's an outpost beyond the ravine. People there can hide you. Train you."
"Train me to do what?"
Kael hesitated. "To control what's inside you."
The pendant pulsed again, stronger this time, as if agreeing.
Another horn sounded—closer.
Kael extended his hand. "This is the part where you choose."
Lina stared at his hand, then back at the dark trees closing in around them. Her fear was still there—but beneath it, something new was growing.
Resolve.
She took his hand.
The stones dimmed, and together they ran into the shadows, unaware that high above them, something ancient had opened its eyes.