The climb from the Hollow Shore was brutal. The cliffs rose sheer and jagged, black teeth gnashing at the sky, their edges slick with mist. Rhea's boots slipped more than once, scraping on wet stone, but Kael was always just ahead, his hand reaching back for hers when the path grew treacherous. He never spoke of the near-misses, never scolded, only steadied her with the quiet certainty of someone who had climbed worse.
By the time they reached the upper ridge, the sun had sunk low, smearing the sky in blood and amber. Wind howled along the cliff face, carrying the bitter tang of salt. Rhea pulled her cloak tighter, shivering as her eyes swept the landscape. Beyond the cliffs stretched a barren expanse of heather and stone, rolling hills scarred by fissures and dotted with jagged outcrops. No birds sang. No beasts stirred. The silence pressed heavy.
"This way," Kael said, voice clipped against the wind. He led her down a narrow trail that wound into the heart of the cliffs. Before long, a shadowed opening appeared,a cave mouth, ringed in lichen and half-hidden by brush.
Inside, the air was damp, smelling faintly of iron and old smoke. Rhea crouched low as she followed him deeper, until the tunnel widened into a hollow chamber. Ashes lay cold in a pit at the center, old fire rings marking that others had once sought shelter here.
Kael dropped his pack and began setting kindling. Rhea watched his hands, steady even when the wind shrieked through cracks in the stone. She thought of the moment on the shore,the warmth of his fingers threaded through hers, the way the world had hushed around them and something ached sharp in her chest.
But Kael's face was unreadable now, all walls and shadow. He struck flint to steel, coaxing sparks.
"Get some rest once it's lit," he said without looking at her. "We'll need to move again at first light."
Rhea sank onto a rock, curling her arms around her knees. Rest. The word felt foreign. Every time her eyes closed, she felt the Queen's whispers stirring, pressing against the edges of her mind like a tide rising against a fragile dam.
The fire caught, snapping weakly at first, then flaring as Kael fed it. The glow painted the walls with restless shadows.
Rhea's gaze snagged on something at the far edge of the chamber,a carving etched deep into the stone. She stood and crossed to it, brushing her fingers over the grooves. Circles interlocked, spiraling inward like a whirlpool. Runes marked the edges, jagged and old.
"Kael," she murmured.
He rose, his expression sharpening. He joined her, his hand tracing the symbols. His jaw tightened.
"This isn't just a cave," he said. His voice was low, almost reverent. "This is a Circle."
Rhea frowned. "A what?"
He met her eyes, golden in the firelight. "The Elders used them. Sanctuaries. Places of binding and counsel. Few remain." His gaze drifted to the spiral at the center. "And fewer still untouched."
The air thickened, charged, as if the stone itself remembered voices, oaths, power long buried. Rhea felt it thrum against her skin, tugging at something inside her. Her pulse quickened.
"Do you feel it?" she whispered.
Kael nodded grimly. "Yes. Which means we're not alone in its memory."
As if summoned, the fire guttered low, the shadows lengthening unnaturally across the walls. Whispers slithered from the stone,not the Queen's, not entirely, but echoes, layered voices of those who had stood here before. Rhea staggered back, clutching her temples as the sound rose and swelled.
Kael caught her shoulders, steadying her. "Rhea,look at me."
She dragged her gaze to his. His eyes were fierce, anchoring her. The whispers dulled, receding to a murmur, though they lingered like smoke.
Breathing hard, she whispered, "What does it mean?"
"It means the Circle still answers," Kael said. His grip tightened on her arms. "And if the Elders survive anywhere, this is where their trail begins."
Rhea's chest heaved, torn between dread and something like hope. For the first time since the Hollow Shore, a thread of purpose coiled in her veins.
She stared at the spiraled carving again, its center pulsing faintly with a light too deep to be fire.
The Circle was waiting.
And whatever answers lay within, they would demand a price.