The sky was bleeding. Crimson streaked across the clouds, painting the night in a shade that made the world feel both alive and foreboding.
Beneath that ominous glow, the forest whispered with movement and secrets. Every leaf shivered, every branch seemed to reach for something unseen.
Liora walked carefully, her boots pressing into the mossy ground, her pulse a steady drum in her ears.
She had always known this night would come. The blood-red moon was a warning the herald of prophecy.
Mortals and immortals alike spoke of this night in hushed tones, calling it cursed, dangerous, and irresistible. But for Liora, cursed since birth, it was personal. Every fiber of her being resonated with it. The magic in her blood thrummed with anticipation, a pulse she could not ignore.
"Stay away,"
The voice of her mother had warned long ago.
"Some things are not meant for you to see."
Yet here she was, drawn forward by something she could neither name nor resist.
A sudden rustle made her freeze. Her hand went instinctively to the dagger at her hip, the cold steel grounding her.
From the shadow of an ancient oak, he appeared.
Tall, dark, and impossibly dangerous.
Kael. A fallen deity, stripped of most of his power, yet still radiating an intensity that made the air itself quiver. His eyes, dark as polished obsidian, locked onto hers, and for a heartbeat, the world shrank until it was only the two of them.
"You shouldn't be here,"
he said, voice low, smooth, and somehow magnetic, carrying both warning and invitation.
"And yet… here you are."
"I wasn't meant to,"
Liora replied, her voice barely above a whisper,
"but… fate has a way of choosing for us."
Kael's lips curved in the faintest of smiles, the kind that suggested secrets he hadn't yet shared.
"Fate… or desire? Sometimes, they are the same thing."
The wind shifted, carrying with it a low whisper that made her skin prickle. Somewhere in the darkness, the eyes of gods both cruel and curious watched.
Liora's breath hitched, part fear, part something dangerously thrilling. She took a careful step forward.
Kael mirrored her movement, and as their hands brushed, sparks seemed to leap from skin to skin.
For a fleeting moment, the forest ceased its whispers.
The leaves froze mid-shiver, the shadows themselves holding their breath.
In that instant, a vision flashed before her eyes fire, blood, and the words of a prophecy she had never fully understood:
Two hearts eclipsed, bound by darkness and desire, will either save or destroy the world.
Her heart skipped a beat. The pull between them was undeniable, a tether that could not be broken.
"Are you afraid?"
Kael asked, his tone teasing yet serious, his hand hovering near hers.
"Terrified," she admitted. "And… intrigued."
His smile widened, a slow, deliberate curl that made her pulse thunder.
"Good. Fear makes desire more… delicious."
The forest seemed to shiver again, but they didn't move apart. In that moment, Liora realized that this encounter this forbidden attraction was the first step toward something irreversible.
Something that would bind them together, through passion, danger, and destiny.
The air grew heavier, thick with unseen magic. Liora felt it coil around her like invisible threads, tightening with every breath she took.
The crimson moon above pulsed faintly, as if responding to their presence.
A distant howl echoed through the forest, long and mournful. Shadows stretched unnaturally across the ground, bending toward them as though drawn by the connection forming between their souls.
Kael tilted his head slightly, studying her with unsettling intensity.
"You feel it too, don't you?" he murmured.
Liora nodded before she could stop herself.
"It's like the world is watching us."
"Itis," Kael replied softly.
"Tonight changes everything."
His words sent a shiver down her spine.
She had spent years running from prophecy, hiding from whispers of destiny but standing here now, she realized escape had never truly been an option.
The magic inside her surged, warmer than before, answering his presence like a long-lost melody finally heard again.
For a moment, fear threatened to pull her back, to make her turn and disappear into the safety of the trees.
But her feet refused to move.
Instead, she stepped closer.
The distance between them vanished, charged with tension neither dared to name.
The glow of the moonlight traced the sharp lines of Kael's face, revealing something unexpected beneath his dangerous aura
loneliness.
"You're not what I expected," she admitted quietly.
Kael let out a faint breath, almost a laugh.
"Neither are you."
Another wave of power rippled through the forest. Leaves spiraled upward, caught in an invisible current, and somewhere far away, thunder rolled despite the clear sky.
Liora realized then that this meeting was no coincidence.
It was a beginning.
And beginnings, she knew, always demanded a price.