The night air carried the weight of iron and ash. From her hiding place within the ruined tower, the wanderer clutched Kael close, her ears sharp to every sound. The soldiers' torches burned like false stars across the wasteland, casting long shadows that crawled toward her shelter.
Their voices carried on the wind.
"Spread out. The priest said the cursed one was left here."
"The king ordered the child dead. If he still lives, we cannot fail."
The wanderer's jaw tightened. So it was true. Not only had they cast Kael away, but they now sought to finish what they had begun. A kingdom's fear turned its soldiers into hunters.
Kael stirred faintly, sensing the tension. His tiny cry threatened to escape. She pressed him gently against her chest, whispering, "Hush now. The world cannot know you yet."
A crunch of boots against gravel sounded just outside the tower. The glow of a torch painted the crumbling wall. One soldier had broken from the others, drawn toward her refuge.
The wanderer's hand went to her sword.
The soldier stepped inside. His torchlight revealed a figure cloaked in dust and shadow, standing tall amidst the ruin. He barely had time to register her before her blade sang.
Steel flashed. The torch fell, sputtering against the ground. The man collapsed, eyes wide with shock, his last breath stolen before he could shout.
But silence did not last. Another soldier's voice echoed from outside.
"Rorek? Did you find something?"
The wanderer wiped her blade, her heartbeat steady. She could not allow Kael to be discovered. Not now. Not ever.
Two more shadows entered, torches raised. Their gazes locked on her, and one's hand flew to his horn.
She moved first.
Her blade cut through the horn before it reached his lips, then through the man himself. The other lunged with a spear, but she sidestepped, her cloak swirling like smoke, and struck him down with a single precise thrust.
Kael whimpered at the sudden clash of steel. She shifted him in her arm, whispering reassurance even as she fought.
But outside, more voices rose. The deaths had not gone unnoticed.
"Over here! The cursed one must be near!"
Torches flared brighter. The ruined tower filled with light. The wanderer's eyes narrowed. She could not fight an army — not with Kael in her arms.
With swift motion, she sheathed her sword, kicked aside a fallen stone, and revealed a hidden crevice in the wall. The old ruins were riddled with forgotten paths, and she had scouted them earlier. Pressing Kael close, she slipped into the darkness as shouts erupted behind her.
The soldiers stormed the tower only to find blood, corpses, and silence.
"Damn it. She's here. Find her!"
But by then, the wanderer was already gone, her footsteps swallowed by the labyrinth of stone.
She ran until the torches were nothing but distant sparks. At last she stopped, breath sharp, Kael trembling faintly against her. His mark glowed through the cloth, pulsing with strange rhythm, as if mocking the king's hunters.
She brushed his cheek with a calloused finger.
"They will not stop, Kael. Not today, not tomorrow. They will chase you until the end."
Her voice hardened with vow.
"Then let them come. For every hand raised against you, I will raise my blade. The cursed star is yours to bear, but I will not let it burn you alone."
Kael's tiny fingers curled around hers, as if sealing her promise.
Above, the broken star shimmered once more in the night sky. Its light fell upon the ruined wasteland and upon the infant who had already survived death twice.
The world had chosen him for ruin. But under the protection of a wanderer's sword, the Cursed Star Child's story had only just begun.