Elara sat by the window, the cold night air brushing her face, but her mind was elsewhere—torn between disbelief and a strange, aching familiarity.
Kael's words echoed: "Before the curse… you loved me."
How could that be? She barely remembered anything before the accident that stole her childhood.
"Tell me everything," she whispered, voice barely steady.
Kael's eyes, still golden and fierce, met hers. "It's a story written in shadows and light… and it begins long before this world."
---
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness swept over Elara. She clutched her head, gasping as the room spun.
Kael reached out, steadying her.
"Hold on," he said urgently. "The Veil is thinning… your memories are trying to break free."
A shimmering mist rose from the pendant at her neck, swirling around them both.
Images flooded her mind—visions of star-lit nights, whispered promises, and faces she couldn't fully place.
A past where she and Kael danced beneath a sky painted with twin moons.
A past where their souls had intertwined, bound by love and fate.
But then—
Darkness.
A shadowy figure with eyes like burning coals, tearing them apart.
A scream.
And silence.
---
Elara gasped awake, sweat beading on her forehead. She clutched the pendant, which now glowed softly, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Kael watched her, his expression unreadable.
"You're awakening," he said quietly.
"I… I remember," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "But it's like fragments—broken pieces of a dream I can't fully grasp."
Kael nodded solemnly. "The curse fractured your memories to protect you… but now that you're here, it won't hold for long."
He stood, pacing by the window, eyes scanning the night.
"We don't have much time. The Sentinels are coming."
Elara's heart pounded. "Then we fight. Together."
Kael smiled—a brief flash of the man he once was.
"Together."
---
Outside, the wind shifted, carrying a distant whisper:
"The Sealed One awakens."