Solace's P.O.V
I reached for the necklace hidden beneath my tunic, the metal cold against my racing pulse. I pressed the pendant into the chest's lock, and the lid groaned open, unleashing a light so violent and pure it nearly blinded me. As the brilliance faded, a crest shimmered within the depths of the wood. My breath hitched; I knew this symbol—not from a book or a map, but from a memory so deep it felt like it was etched into my marrow.
I didn't have time to process what just happened as a deafening crack splintered the air as my front door was kicked off its hinges. Smoke and dust billowed into the room. Moving on instinct, I shoved the chest into my leather bag, shouldered the weight, and vaulted through the window.
The backyard was a sanctuary of shadows. My second horse, kept saddled for an escape, waited by the fence. I had foreseen this moment, played it out in my mind a thousand times, yet the reality was a cold prickle on my skin. As I untied the reins, a figure stepped out of the darkness. My hand flew to my blade, but the guard didn't draw his weapon. Instead, he bowed—deeply, with a reverence that stopped my heart. Confusion and bewilder dances through my own emotions. As I was to question him, he motioned for me stop, in which I also did.
"She's not here, Your Majesty!" his voice rang out toward the house, a blatant lie to the King's face. Hearing this from his own army, I couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. The King will be furious if he is about to know what did this man did.
"Why would you lie on your King?" I asked the knight in flat tone.
"He is not our King, our loyalty isn't his but to someone," he said filled with emotions that I couldn't decipher. The look on his face, is a look for someone he have waited to see. Still in confusion and with the small time, I took a peek on his life.
For a split second, I closed my eyes, and a flash of the future flickered behind my lids: this man would survive this night and live a life of plenty. A silent thank you died on my lips as I spurred the horse forward, plunging into the deep, biting cold of the forest. I mentally cursed myself for choosing the path where the "beasts" lurked, but there was no turning back. I would survive the woods, and one day, I would end that King's reign.
When the sounds of the chase finally faded, I let out a jagged sigh of relief. The forest was an abyss of shifting shadows and the relentless hum of crickets. I pushed deeper, my ears straining for the sound of running water until, finally, a stream appeared.
I secured the horse to a gnarled tree and stood in the center of a small clearing. I had no flint, no matches—nothing but the spark in my blood. I opened my palm, and with a sharp flick of my will, a flame roared into existence. The orange glow danced across the trees as I gathered enough wood to last the night.
I sat by the crackling fire, clutching my fur coat tight against the mountain chill. I could have used my magic to keep my blood warm, but I knew the cost. My body was already screaming from the day's toll; to draw more power would lead to a collapse I couldn't afford. There was a missing piece inside me, an emptiness that tonight's revelation had only widened. I drifted into a fitful sleep, curled against the hard earth.
Morning brought a dull ache in every joint. I wasn't used to the unforgiving ground, and my body protested every movement. After a meagre breakfast of dry bread and scavenged fruit, I meticulously erased every trace of my camp. I couldn't leave a trail.
I rode for hours, then days, then weeks. The fortress of Aevum fell away behind me, replaced by an endless, sign less road that stretched toward the horizon. My routine became a blur: ride until the stars came out, find a hidden spot, sleep, and disappear before the sun could catch me. For fourteen days, it was just me, the rhythmic thud of hooves, and the growing weight of a past I was only beginning to understand.