Chapter 2: The Pact of Shadows
Kaelen moved through the night like a shadow himself, his boots silent on the forest floor. The trees here were ancient, their gnarled branches clawing at the sky. A crescent moon cast pale light through the canopy, glinting off the stream that wound alongside his path.
He didn't know where he was going. Only that he had to keep moving. The Ashspawn would hunt him — and worse things besides. The Dragon King's servants would not let a marked boy roam free.
His stomach growled. His legs ached. But still he walked.
Then — a flicker of movement ahead. A glint of steel. A whisper of breath that wasn't his.
Kaelen froze, crouching low. He scanned the trees. Nothing.
And then a dagger kissed his throat.
"Not bad," came a voice like silk over steel. Feminine, cold, amused. "You heard me before I slit your belly open. Most don't get that chance."
Kaelen swallowed hard. "I don't want trouble."
The dagger pressed closer, a bead of blood welling beneath the blade. "That's the thing about trouble. You don't always get to choose it."
From the shadows stepped a woman — young, maybe a few years older than Kaelen. Dressed in black leather, hood drawn low, eyes glinting like a wolf's beneath the moonlight. A second dagger rested in her free hand, ready.
Kaelen forced his voice steady. "Please. I don't have anything worth stealing."
She smirked. "Maybe. But you're no hunter, no mercenary. And yet here you are, in the King's woods. Makes me wonder what you're running from — or toward."
"I'm not your enemy," Kaelen said. "Let me go."
The woman tilted her head, studying him. Then she flicked the dagger away from his throat and stepped back. "You're lucky I'm in a generous mood, boy."
He rubbed his neck, heart pounding. "Who are you?"
"Selene," she said. "Of the Ravenfold — not that it matters to you. And you?"
"Kaelen."
"Kaelen," she repeated, as if tasting the name. "You're marked. I saw it, when you turned your arm. That scar — the flame."
Kaelen stiffened. "What do you know about it?"
Selene sheathed one dagger, spinning the other between her fingers. "Enough to know you're not just some lost farmer's son. Enough to know you're headed where I'm headed. The Spear, isn't it?"
He hesitated. "How do you know about the Spear?"
A bitter smile touched her lips. "Because half the world's after it. The Sunforged Spear — the last hope against the Dragon King. Or the key to ruling in his stead. And I have my reasons for wanting it."
Kaelen frowned. "If you think I'm going to help you—"
Selene stepped closer, her gaze sharp. "You'll help me because you have no choice. These woods are crawling with Stonekin scouts, Ashspawn, worse. You'll be dead before dawn without someone who knows the land."
"And I'm supposed to trust you?"
"No," Selene said. "But you're better off with me than alone."
Kaelen weighed his options. She was right — he didn't know these woods. And whatever she was, assassin or thief or something darker, she hadn't killed him. Yet.
"Fine," he said at last. "A truce. Until we find the Spear."
Her grin was quick, sharp. "A pact of shadows, then. I can live with that."
They moved together through the forest, silent save for the whisper of wind. Selene kept to the shadows with ease, her every step sure. Kaelen followed, doing his best to match her.
"Where are we going?" he asked after a while.
"There's a pass through the Blackspire Mountains," Selene said. "The old legends place the Spear's resting place beyond them, in the lands of fire and ash. But we're not the only ones headed there."
She paused, crouching low. Ahead, through the trees, flickered torchlight.
"Stonekin," she muttered. "Dwarves, if you can call them that anymore. They serve no king but greed. They'll cut us down for the chance at the Spear."
Kaelen's fingers tightened into fists. "Then we go around."
Selene shook her head. "Too many. Too wide a patrol. We wait — let them pass."
And so they waited, pressed close to the earth, as heavy boots tramped past. The Stonekin were massive, their skin like cracked granite, their eyes gleaming under heavy helms. They spoke in guttural growls, their language harsh and ancient.
When at last the patrol moved on, Selene rose. "See? You need me."
Kaelen exhaled, tension easing from his shoulders. "For now."
They traveled through the night, the forest thinning as dawn's first light touched the world. And in the distance, the peaks of the Blackspire Mountains loomed — dark, jagged, forbidding.
Kaelen stared at them, feeling the weight of destiny settle on him like a cloak. The journey had begun. The pact was made. And ahead lay danger, betrayal — and perhaps, the power to reshape the world.
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🌟 The shadows had chosen their path.
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✅ Next Steps