The forest grew colder as they moved.
Not the natural chill of night — but something deeper, older, seeping through the air like a warning. Lira felt it in her bones, in the way her breath fogged faster, in the way the shadows seemed to stretch toward her.
Kael walked ahead, blade drawn, every step measured. He didn't speak, but Lira could read the tension in his shoulders, the way his hand tightened around the hilt.
The Shadehound was close.
Too close.
"Kael," she whispered, "how far are the cliffs?"
"Half a day's journey," he said. "If we keep moving."
Lira swallowed. "And if the Shadehound finds us before then?"
Kael didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
The silence said enough.
They continued through the trees until the forest opened into a narrow path lined with pale stones. Moonlight spilled across it like silver paint.
Lira paused. "This wasn't here before."
Kael frowned. "No. It wasn't."
The stones glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with Lira's mark.
Kael turned to her. "It's reacting to you."
Lira touched her shoulder, feeling the warmth beneath her skin. "Is it… guiding us?"
Kael hesitated. "Or leading you somewhere you're meant to go."
Lira stepped onto the path.
The stones brightened.
Kael grabbed her wrist. "Wait."
She looked back at him. "Kael, we don't have another way."
His jaw tightened. "I don't trust magic."
"I don't either," she said softly. "But it's the only thing giving us direction."
Kael held her gaze for a long moment — then released her wrist.
"Stay close," he said.
They followed the glowing path deeper into the forest. The air shimmered faintly, as if the world itself the world itself was holding its breath. Lira felt a strange pull in her chest — not painful, but insistent, like a thread tugging her forward.
"Kael," she murmured, "what if the cliffs don't hold answers? What if they only bring more danger?"
Kael glanced at her. "Then we face it."
"We?"
He didn't look away. "I told you. You're not alone."
Lira's heart tightened.
But before she could respond, the path ahead flickered — like a candle flame caught in wind.
Then the world shifted.
The trees blurred.
The air rippled.
And suddenly Lira stood somewhere else.
A field of stars stretched beneath her feet, endless and shimmering. The sky above was a swirling tapestry of light and shadow. She felt weightless, suspended between worlds.
"Kael?" she called.
Her voice echoed strangely, as if the space itself was listening.
A figure appeared in the distance — tall, cloaked in silver light.
Lira's breath caught. "Eli?"
The figure stepped closer.
Not Eli.
Not Kael.
Someone else.
A woman with hair like starlight and eyes that glowed with ancient knowledge. Her presence radiated warmth and power.
"Child of the Veil," the woman said, her voice echoing like a thousand whispers. "You have come."
Lira stepped back. "Who are you?"
"I am the one who opened the path," the woman said. "The one who carried your soul across the Veil."
Lira's heart pounded. "You… sent me here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
The woman lifted a hand, and the stars around them shifted, forming images — a collapsing machine, a boy reaching for her, a kingdom shrouded in shadow.
"Because time is breaking," the woman said. "And only you can mend it."
Lira shook her head. "I don't understand. I'm not—"
"You are the Starborn," the woman said. "A soul that exists in two worlds. A bridge between what was and what will be."
Lira's breath trembled. "Then why don't I remember everything?"
"Because memory is power," the woman said. "And power must awaken slowly. Or it destroys."
Lira swallowed. "The Shadehound… it hunts me."
"It hunts your destiny," the woman corrected. "And it will not stop until you face the truth."
"What truth?"
The woman stepped closer, her eyes softening.
"The truth of who you were," she said. "And who you are meant to become."
Lira's mark flared with light.
The stars around her shattered.
And she fell—
—back into the forest.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground, his arms wrapping around her instinctively.
"Lira!" His voice was raw. "What happened? You vanished."
She clung to him, breath shaking. "Kael… I know who sent me."
He froze.
"Who?" he whispered.
Lira looked up at him, her mark glowing through her tunic.
"The one who opened the Veil," she said. "And she says I'm the only one who can mend time."
Kael's eyes widened.
The forest trembled.
And somewhere in the distance, the Shade hound howled — louder, closer, furious.
It had found her again.