The morning began the way it always did.
The sun rose pale over the valley, brushing light across the rooftops of Veylan's Hollow, a small border village so quiet that travelers often forgot it existed. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys, the smell of baking bread drifting into the cool air. Chickens scattered in the dirt lane as carts creaked by, wheels rattling over cobblestones worn thin by years of footsteps.
And in the middle of it all was me Aria Veylan, running late again.
My boots slapped against the ground as I darted down the lane, clutching the basket my mother had shoved into my hands. The day's bread delivery, of course. I should have been at the bakery an hour ago, but I'd lingered at the stream, letting my feet dangle in the water longer than I should have. I wasn't proud of it.
"Aria!" Old Harvin waved his stick at me from his porch as I passed. "You'll never be trusted with the ovens if you can't even keep time!"
"I'm not trying to run the ovens!" I shouted back, but my voice was swallowed by the wind.
It wasn't that I hated the bakery baking was safe, warm, ordinary. But every time I stared out past the hills, I felt something stir in me, like the horizon was calling my name. There was more out there. More than stale bread, gossiping villagers, and the same dirt lane every single day.
I didn't dare tell anyone that, though. Not even my mother. Especially not my mother.
The basket was slipping from my arms when I finally burst into the shop. The bell above the door chimed, and warm heat rushed over me. Shelves lined with golden loaves framed the room, and the air smelled of flour and fire. My mother stood behind the counter, flour dusting her hair like snow. She gave me that look the one that said she knew exactly how long I'd been gone.
"You're late."
"I know," I muttered, sliding the basket onto the counter.
Her sigh was heavy, tired. "Aria, you can't keep drifting through your days like this. One day, responsibility will fall on you whether you're ready or not."
The words prickled at me. Responsibility. She said it so often that it clung to me like dough stuck to my hands.
But I didn't have time to argue. The bell above the door chimed again, and a hush swept the bakery as a stranger stepped inside.
He was tall, cloaked in gray, the hood shadowing most of his face. A long scar cut across his jaw, and his boots looked like they'd walked more miles than the entire village combined. His presence pressed against the walls, heavy and unsettling.
"I'm looking for the Veylan girl," he said, voice like gravel.
My stomach tightened. My mother's hand twitched toward me before she folded it into her apron. "This is a bakery, traveler. If you want bread, you're welcome. If not, take your business elsewhere."
His eyes sharp, gray, unblinking found mine. And for a heartbeat, the world seemed to tilt.
That's when the sky darkened.
At first, I thought clouds had rolled in. But when I looked out the window, the entire sun was dimming, swallowed piece by piece by a perfect circle of black. Gasps rose from outside as villagers flooded the lane, pointing upward.
An eclipse.
The air turned cold, shadows lengthening, the world falling silent as if holding its breath. My skin prickled.
The cloaked man's lips curved into something between a smile and a sneer. "So it begins."
Before I could ask what he meant, the ground shuddered. Pots clattered off shelves, loaves toppled, and the bell above the door screamed with the vibration. From outside came a roar low, guttural, inhuman.
Then the screaming started.
My mother shoved me hard toward the back door. "Run, Aria! Don't look back!"
"But"
"Go!"
Her voice was sharper than I'd ever heard it, and fear lanced through me. I stumbled toward the alley as the cloaked man drew something from beneath his cloak. A blade, black as night, its edge rippling with strange light.
I bolted into the street.
Chaos had swallowed the village. Shadows writhed like living things, pouring between houses, snatching at anyone too slow to move. A barn collapsed in flames. Chickens shrieked, scattering beneath hooves as horses tore free of their tethers. Villagers ran in every direction, their cries cutting through the smoke.
And in the middle of it, the sun was gone. Only the black circle remained, rimmed with fire.
My breath came sharp, my legs carrying me without thought. I ducked behind a cart, my chest heaving. I wanted to go back for my mother, but the bakery was swallowed by dark shapes, their limbs twisting, their eyes burning like embers.
One of them turned toward me.
It wasn't human not anymore. Its body stretched and warped, mouth splitting too wide, filled with jagged teeth. The shadow clung to it like armor, pulsing with each movement.
It lunged.
I scrambled back, heart slamming against my ribs, but the ground snagged my heel. I hit the dirt, the creature's shadow falling over me. Its claws gleamed, black and hungry.
Then steel.
The cloaked man's blade sliced through the air, meeting the creature's chest with a hiss. It shrieked, smoke erupting where the blade struck, before dissolving into nothing.
The man stood over me, his scar more visible now, his expression grim. "Up, girl. They'll keep coming for you."
"For me?" My voice shook. "Why why me?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he pulled me to my feet with surprising strength. "If you want to live, follow me."
I wanted to demand answers, to run back for my mother, to scream until someone explained what was happening. But another roar split the air, and more shadows spilled from the edge of the forest.
Survival was the only choice.
I ran.
We fled through twisting lanes, the village collapsing around us. The man moved with precision, cutting down shadows with each strike of his blade. I stumbled after him, my lungs burning, my thoughts tangled between terror and disbelief.
At last, we broke through the outskirts and into the fields beyond. The screams faded, swallowed by distance, but the sky remained dark. The eclipse hung above, an open wound in the heavens.
I collapsed to my knees, gasping. "What were those things? What's happening to my village?"
The man wiped his blade clean on the grass, his expression carved from stone. "The Hollow was never safe. It was only a matter of time before they found you."
"Me?" I echoed again, voice breaking. "I'm no one"
"No one does not draw the Shadowborn," he cut in sharply. "No one does not wake the eclipse."
His eyes locked onto mine, unyielding, relentless. "You carry a bloodline older than this realm, Aria Veylan. And whether you want it or not, your life is no longer your own."
The weight of his words crashed over me, impossible, suffocating. My throat closed, my heart racing.
Behind us, the village still burned.
And for the first time in my life, I realized that nothing would ever be ordinary again.