The Manor of Shadows
The forest swallows us whole.
Kaelen moves fast, his grip unyielding as we weave between blackened trees whose twisted roots jut out like bones. The glow from my hand fades, but the heat lingers—an unnatural warmth that spreads through my veins like liquid fire.
I don't ask how much farther. I don't ask what just happened in the ruin or why monsters rose from the walls like living nightmares. I don't dare.
Because part of me knows the answer will be worse than the questions.
We break into a clearing, and my breath catches.
Beyond the fog, perched on a cliff of obsidian stone, stands a manor. Not a home—a fortress. Spires stretch like claws toward the moon. Black iron gates glint faintly with runes, and the walls seem… alive. The shadows shift as if watching us.
Kaelen finally releases my wrist, but his gaze lingers. "Don't stray from me once we're inside," he says, voice low, almost softer than before. "The house doesn't welcome strangers."
I swallow hard. "But I'm not a stranger anymore… am I?"
His eyes flick to my glowing palm. For the briefest moment, his expression falters—something unreadable flashing across it. Then, like a mask sliding back into place, his face is all cold angles again.
"No," he admits. "You're worse. You're my anchor."
Inside, the air is colder than outside. The manor's walls are lined with paintings—faces of pale men and women with silver eyes, their gazes following me as I pass. Whispers stir faintly from nowhere, too soft to understand, but enough to make my skin prickle.
Kaelen notices. "Ignore them."
"I… don't think I can."
"Try," he says, leading me down a hallway that seems to stretch longer than physics should allow.
We stop at a heavy wooden door. Kaelen pushes it open to reveal a chamber lit by a low-burning fire. A faint metallic scent lingers in the air—iron, sharp and cold.
"Sit," he says, gesturing toward a chair by the hearth.
I hesitate. "Are you going to explain now?"
Kaelen exhales, as if this costs him more than the fight with the hunters. Then he crouches before me, his silver eyes level with mine.
"The seal you touched wasn't just a lock. It was a tether. It bound your life to mine—and mine to yours. If one of us dies, so does the other."
My stomach twists. "That… that can't be real."
"It is." His gaze flickers to the faint glow still pulsing in my hand. "And it's only the beginning. The bond will grow stronger, whether we want it to or not."
Before I can reply, a sharp sound cracks through the silence—like glass shattering somewhere deep in the manor.
Kaelen's head snaps toward the door. His voice drops to a whisper, edged with steel.
"They've found us."
"Who?"
"The ones who want the pact broken the old way," he says, rising to his full height.
"What's the old way?" I ask, my voice trembling.
His eyes meet mine. Cold. Unflinching.
"They kill the anchor."
The door bursts open.
A figure stands in the doorway—tall, cloaked, face hidden in shadow. But I see the weapon in his hand—a dagger glowing with the same crimson light as the seal.
Kaelen steps forward, placing himself between me and the intruder.
The cloaked figure tilts his head, voice a low rasp.
"Move aside, Kaelen. Or die with her."