The group didn't speak as they left the Lunar Cradle. The air hung heavy with revelation and foreboding. Aria carried the Moonsunder blade in a sheath conjured from silver threads of her own magic, its weight resting against her spine like a vow she couldn't forget.
Kael walked beside her in silence, but his every glance lingered too long. She felt the tension brewing beneath his quiet—the fear he would lose her again, the storm of questions he hadn't yet asked.
They camped beneath a crescent moon that night. The woods around them were dense, shifting. Nothing felt solid anymore. Raekon carved protective wards into the perimeter while Nyla perched high in a twisted tree, bow drawn, ever alert. Aria sat apart from the fire, the blade in her lap, her fingers tracing the Vale crest etched into the hilt—a crest that had been split long before her birth.
Kael approached, carrying a flask of warmed herbs. "You haven't slept," he said quietly, kneeling beside her.
"Neither have you," she replied, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
He offered her the flask. Their fingers brushed—lightning from the touch. She took it, sipping slowly.
"That sword… what else did it show you?" he asked.
She hesitated. "A future where I fall. A future where Celene wins."
He reached for her hand again—but this time, he didn't stop. His fingers closed around hers, firm and grounding.
"We'll stop her. Together," he said.
Aria looked at him, then away. "What if I'm part of the problem, Kael? What if Moonsunder doesn't just kill gods—it kills everything tied to them? What if I lose myself?"
"Then I'll find you," he said without hesitation.
She looked up sharply.
"Even if the stars go dark," he said softly, eyes locked on hers. "Even if the moon forgets your name—I'll find you, Aria. I swear it."
The vulnerability in his voice cracked something inside her. She leaned in slowly, breath catching. Kael cupped her face gently, reverently. Their foreheads touched first, then their lips met in a slow, quiet kiss that spoke of promise, of fear, of longing too long denied.
When they pulled apart, the night felt softer.
"You still scare me," Aria whispered.
"Good. Means I matter."
A shadow passed overhead—too fast for a bird, too slow for a cloud.
Nyla dropped to the ground, bow raised. "We've got company."
From the trees stepped a woman cloaked in raven feathers. Her eyes were silver, her smile sly.
"Well well, Lunaria," she purred. "You've grown into quite the firebrand."
Aria rose, blade in hand. "Who are you?"
"A messenger. A memory. A warning."
"Be more specific."
The woman laughed, and her form shimmered—becoming dozens of her, spiraling and folding in impossible ways. Her laughter sounded like a thousand voices caught between worlds.
Raekon drew his staff. "She's a Fate Echo. An echo of those who once touched the Cradle's power. They exist between realms—not quite dead, not fully alive."
The woman stopped, all illusions snapping back into one. "And this one has a message: the chain you were born to break? It will bind you first."
Then she vanished, her presence like the snap of a dream.
The forest stilled.
Kael moved beside Aria, jaw tight. "What does that mean?"
Aria looked down at Moonsunder, its moonstone veins pulsing gently. "It means we're running out of time."
He reached for her again, drawing her into a quiet embrace. She let her head rest against his chest, heart pounding in time with his.
"Then we fight harder," he murmured into her hair. "Because no one's taking you from me."
Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance.
That night, sleep did not come. But Kael stayed beside her, his warmth a tether against the darkness.
---
The next day, the woods grew stranger.
Paths shifted beneath their feet. Nyla marked trees, only to pass the same ones hours later. Whispers echoed in the leaves, teasing doubts and desires. Old memories surfaced—Raekon heard his dead brother's voice. Nyla saw her younger self, bloodied and begging for mercy.
Kael growled as a vision of Aria bleeding replayed in the shadows. He turned to find her gone, only to realize it was an illusion.
Aria reached for him, grounding him. "They want us to fracture. We don't let them."
Raekon lit sigils of flame, cutting through the illusions. The smoke parted, revealing a clearing where reality held firm—for now.
"She's testing us," Raekon said. "Celene. Or the magic that remains loyal to her."
"She knows we have Moonsunder," Aria added.
That evening, they found an abandoned altar carved with lunar runes. Aria approached cautiously, tracing a glowing crescent with her fingertip.
Visions slammed into her mind.
A future where Kael lay dead.
A future where she held Celene's corpse.
A future where she ruled alone, her eyes empty.
She staggered back, panting.
Kael caught her. "What did you see?"
"Too many paths. None end well."
He held her tighter. "Then we make a new one. Together."
That night, as they slept in shifts, Kael stood watch beside Aria. Her red hair gleamed like blood and fire beneath the stars. He touched the hilt of his blade, staring into the woods.
In the distance, a low growl answered.
Not a beast.
A challenge.
The war was calling them home.
---
To be continue.....