The world reformed in fragments.
Serenya stumbled forward, her knees hitting damp soil. A sharp wind clawed at her cheeks, carrying the smell of pine and rain. The heat and smoke of Vaelthar were gone, replaced by a chilling silence broken only by the rustle of leaves.
She pressed her palms into the earth, fighting the dizziness that churned in her skull. Her mind replayed the golden-eyed figure, the black fire, her mother's scream—and then the blinding light.
The hooded man.
She whirled around.
He was there, standing a few paces away, his cloak whipping in the wind like a restless shadow. The hood still hid most of his face, but she caught a glimpse of a scar cutting across his jaw. His presence radiated a quiet authority, the kind that made her feel small without understanding why.
"Where… where are we?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
"A safe distance from the slaughter," he said, his tone clipped. "But not far enough."
She blinked at him. "Safe distance? My home—my family—" Her voice broke. She took a sharp breath. "I have to go back."
"You can't." He stepped closer, the wet grass barely bending under his boots. "The Obsidian Covenant doesn't leave survivors. And if they realize you're alive…" His gaze hardened beneath the hood. "…they will burn the rest of the world to find you."
Her stomach turned. "Why? I'm no one."
His lips curled—not into a smile, but into something grim. "You are far from no one, Serenya Kaelthorn. Do you even know your own name?"
She frowned. "Of course I do."
"No," he said softly, as if speaking to himself. "You know what you've been told." He turned away, scanning the tree line. "We need to move. Now."
They walked in tense silence through the forest, the moon a pale silver coin behind drifting clouds. Serenya's bare feet sank into the cold earth with each step, the damp leaves sticking to her skin. She didn't know if it was the night air or fear that made her shiver.
She studied the stranger's back. "You still haven't told me your name."
"You won't need it."
"That's… not how this works."
For the first time, he glanced at her, and there was a faint, tired amusement in his eyes. "Fine. Call me Kaelen."
"Kaelen," she repeated, testing the sound. "And you just happened to be in Vaelthar when the Covenant attacked?"
He didn't answer. His silence was louder than words.
They reached a clearing where an old stone bridge stretched over a narrow river. Moss clung to its surface, and cracks ran along its edges like veins. The water below whispered as it flowed, black under the moonlight.
Kaelen stopped abruptly. "Do you feel that?"
Serenya opened her mouth to say no, but then… she did.
The air hummed, like the deep vibration of a plucked string. It sank into her skin, into her bones, and her heartbeat matched its rhythm without her consent.
She wrapped her arms around herself. "What is it?"
Kaelen's eyes searched hers. "Your magic."
She laughed, though the sound was thin. "I don't have magic."
He didn't argue. Instead, he stepped onto the bridge, motioning for her to follow. "Hold out your hand."
She hesitated, then extended it. Kaelen placed something small and cold in her palm—a fragment of crystal, cracked down the middle. It pulsed faintly, a shard of light trapped in stone.
"Breathe," he instructed. "Focus on the hum."
The moment she did, the crystal flared. A pale silver flame burst from her palm, wrapping around her fingers without burning. Her breath caught. The flame pulsed in the same rhythm as the hum in the air, as if the world itself moved through her.
"What—what is this?"
"Proof," Kaelen said simply. "You carry the Starfire."
The flame vanished as quickly as it came, leaving only the cold crystal. Serenya stared at it, her hands trembling. "Starfire? That's a myth."
"So was the Covenant," Kaelen said. "Until tonight."
A distant sound shattered the moment—low, guttural, and wrong. Serenya's head snapped up. Across the river, shadows gathered at the base of the trees. Not the ordinary dark of night, but a living blackness that crawled along the ground, swallowing moonlight.
Kaelen's voice sharpened. "Run."
They sprinted across the bridge. The air behind them filled with whispers—no, not whispers, names. Her name, spoken in a hundred voices, each colder than the last.
Her legs burned, lungs screaming for air, but she didn't slow. Something told her that if those shadows touched her, the heat she felt in her chest would be stolen forever.
Kaelen led her down a slope and into the mouth of a cave hidden by hanging ivy. Inside, the air was damp and heavy, smelling faintly of iron. He lit a lantern with a flick of his fingers.
Serenya pressed herself against the wall, heart still racing. "What were those?"
"Hunters," Kaelen said grimly. "The Covenant sends them for those they mark. They won't stop until you're dead… or theirs."
She swallowed hard. "And you think I can fight them?"
"I think," Kaelen said, setting the lantern on a rock, "that the Starfire chose you for a reason. And we're going to find out why."