Chapter Thirteen: The Choice Between Us
Aria ran.
She didn't remember when her feet started moving—only that she needed to get away.
Away from Kael.
Away from the truth.
Away from herself.
The trees blurred. Her heart thundered. The mark on her wrist pulsed with each step, like it was trying to anchor her, drag her back.
But she didn't stop until she collapsed in the ruins at the edge of Velshade—old stone, overgrown vines, a place forgotten even by the cursed town's standards.
Here, the air was colder. Here, even the moonlight dared not follow.
And still, her power stirred.
---
Aria curled against the broken stone, breathing hard.
She thought she would cry.
She didn't.
She couldn't.
All she could feel was the fire building in her chest—the flame Kael had called "awakening." But it didn't feel like awakening. It felt like splitting.
Like something ancient inside her was pulling itself free.
> "The Moonmarked must choose—light, or ruin."
But what if she couldn't tell the difference anymore?
---
Somewhere in the dark, a whisper rose.
Not from Kael.
From within.
> "He was the chain, not the sword."
Aria sat up, eyes wide.
The voice didn't belong to her. And yet, it did.
It came from her blood. Her bones. Her shadow.
She stood and looked at her reflection in the broken glass of an old window. Her eyes flickered—not silver, not blue—but gold.
A third moon's light.
A moon long erased from memory.
---
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
A figure appeared behind her reflection.
Lena. Or… the thing wearing Lena's face.
"You're breaking," she said. "Beautifully."
Aria spun. "What are you?"
"I'm your reflection," the not-Lena said. "The one you buried."
"No. I buried fear. I buried weakness. Not myself."
"Then why do you still flinch when Kael speaks the truth?"
Aria gritted her teeth. "Because it hurt."
"Because it burned," not-Lena corrected, stepping closer. "Because some part of you still wanted him to love you, even if it was built on a lie."
"I don't," Aria whispered.
"You do."
Aria clenched her fists. Her pendant began to glow—hot, blinding.
"I'm not yours. I'm not the Council's. I'm not Kael's. I'm mine."
---
The wind screamed.
Magic exploded from her skin in a wave of silver and violet flame, flinging the shadow-thing back into the ruins. Aria dropped to her knees, panting, heart pounding.
The ruins began to crack, stone splitting open. From beneath, a hidden sigil shimmered—one older than the pact.
She had broken something.
Or released it.
---
From the trees, Kael watched.
His hand rested over his heart, where a long-forgotten pain bloomed again.
Not magical.
Just human.
"She's becoming something else," he murmured. "Something even I wasn't prepared for."
Behind him, the Archivist stepped out from the trees.
"Do you still believe you can save her?" he asked coldly.
Kael didn't turn.
"I don't think I'm the one meant to save her anymore," Kael said.
The Archivist's smile was cruel. "Good. Because your time is almost up."
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