The smoke carried farther than I thought possible. Even from the ridge, I could smell my village burning wood, cloth, flesh all tangled into a stench I would never forget. The flames painted the horizon in shades of red and black, twisting skyward as if the world itself were cursing us.
I couldn't look away.
That was my home. My mother was still inside, My neighbors, My childhood Gone in the span of a single eclipse.
My knees dug into the dirt, the blades of grass pressing cool against my palms as if trying to anchor me to a life already torn loose. My chest ached with something sharp, something heavy. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
The stranger's shadow fell across me. He hadn't slowed since cutting down the last of those creatures, hadn't looked back even once. He stood at the edge of the ridge, blade in hand, eyes scanning the treeline like danger was already stalking us.
"You can't stay here." His voice was clipped, cold. "The Hollow is gone. If you linger, so are you."
I dragged in a shaky breath, forcing my head up. "My mother"
His gaze flicked to me, hard and unyielding. "If she survived, she'll run If she didn't…" He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to.
The words punched through me. I clutched at my chest, fighting to breathe. No. She was strong. She was clever. She had to be alive. She had to.
I pushed to my feet, wobbling. "I'm going back."
"You'll die."
"I don't care!" My voice cracked, raw and desperate. "I can't just leave her there!"
His hand shot out, gripping my arm before I could bolt. The strength in his hold startled me; his fingers were iron, his stance immovable. His gray eyes burned with something I couldn't name.
"You think this is about you," he said, low and fierce. "It isn't. They came for your blood, girl. Not your village. Not your mother. You. Every moment you breathe, you drag death to anyone near you. Do you understand?"
I froze, The words sliced deeper than his blade ever could.
No one had ever spoken to me like that not with such certainty, such cruelty dressed as truth. My blood, My fault, My curse.
I wanted to deny it, to scream that he was lying. But the memory of those creatures how they had ignored everyone until their ember eyes landed on me burned through my mind.
I swallowed hard. "Who are you?"
He released my arm slowly, though his gaze never softened. "Kaelen."
No title, No family name. Just a word heavy enough to silence me.
"And you?" he asked.
"…Aria." My throat was dry, the name a whisper.
He nodded once, like the confirmation mattered more than it should. Then he turned back to the forest. "Good. Keep moving. The Shadowborn don't stop hunting."
I hated the way he commanded me like I was a burden, but when I looked back at the smoldering ruin of my village, my legs refused to carry me toward it. The truth pressed down hard I couldn't fight those things alone. I couldn't even breathe without trembling.
So I followed him.
We walked through the fields, the air colder than it should have been. The eclipse still gripped the sky, turning the world into a twisted half light. Every sound made me flinch the snap of twigs, the rustle of leaves, even the whistle of wind. Kaelen moved like a shadow himself, silent but sharp, each step deliberate.
I wanted to ask a hundred questions, but my throat burned with them. At last, I forced one out.
"What were those things?"
"Shadowborn," he answered without looking back. "Creatures shaped by the Eclipse. They feed on fear. On flesh. But mostly, they feed on the blood they were made to hunt."
His words twisted in my stomach. "My blood."
"Yes."
"Why?"
That was when he paused, His back stiffened, his blade hand tightening on the hilt. For a heartbeat, I thought he wouldn't answer.
Finally, he said, "Because your line carries what theirs cannot. Light."
I blinked, confused. "Light? I...I don't even understand what that means."
"You will." His tone closed the subject like a slammed door.
Frustration bubbled in me, but fear kept it from spilling over. If I pushed him, would he leave me here? And if he did… how long before those things found me again?
The thought kept me silent.
By nightfall, we reached the forest edge. Kaelen chose a hollow beneath twisted oaks, hidden from the road. He built a fire so small I barely felt its warmth, but even that flicker of flame steadied me. For the first time since the eclipse, the world felt almost normal.
Almost.
I sat across from him, hugging my knees. Shadows danced across his scarred face, his gray eyes reflecting the embers. He sharpened his blade with calm precision, as if this were all routine.
"Why help me?" I asked softly.
The whetstone scraped once more before he set it aside. He didn't look up. "Because if you die, the realms fall."
The words struck like thunder.
"The realms?" I whispered.
His gaze lifted, pinning me in place. "Yours. And another. Bound by the same blood that runs in your veins. The Shadowborn want that blood to break the barrier between them. If they succeed, neither realm will survive."
The fire popped. My stomach knotted. I shook my head slowly, refusing to believe it. "I'm just… me. I can't be what you're saying."
Kaelen leaned forward, his expression carved from stone. "Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. You are what you are. And they will not stop coming until you either accept it or die."
The silence that followed was unbearable. My world had been ripped apart in a single day, and now this stranger was telling me I was the key to saving not just my home, but two realms I didn't even understand.
My heart pounded. My breath shook. I felt so small, so breakable, like the firelight could snuff me out at any moment.
But somewhere beneath the fear, a spark stirred. Maybe it was anger. Maybe it was grief. Maybe it was both tangled into something sharper.
I lifted my chin, voice trembling but firm. "Then you'll have to teach me how to survive."
For the first time, Kaelen's expression shifted. Not a smile but the faintest flicker of acknowledgment, like he hadn't expected me to say it.
He nodded once. "Then you'll learn fast, Aria Veylan , Or you won't live long enough to matter."
The flames hissed. The eclipse loomed above, unbroken. And deep in the woods beyond, something howled.
I knew sleep would never come.