Elara stepped into the spiral, and the door behind her closed with an echoing thud.
The path ahead was dim. Red lines pulsed under her boots, leading into a hallway that twisted sharply to the right.
Her spiral mark glowed faintly. It always did that when something wasn't right.
She took a deep breath, then walked forward.
As she moved deeper, the whispering began. It was soft, curling around her ears like smoke.
"She walks in shadows not meant to touch""Forgets the fire stitched into her blood.""She laughs with the cursed,""And dances beside the fanged""The eternal foes of her forgotten kin…"
Elara froze.
The voices weren't her own thoughts.
They came from the book.
She didn't understand everything, not yet. But she knew one thing for sure: this place wanted her to remember something important but painful.
A door appeared on her left. It was shaped like a mirror, but it wasn't made of glass- it was filled with dark water that rippled when she looked at it.
She reached out.
Her fingers touched the surface and were pulled through. Suddenly, she was in a garden.
The garden was quiet.
Clouds drifted slowly above. A soft breeze moved the grass. Insects buzzed gently in the distance.
Elara saw a younger version of herself with scraped knees and tangled hair, sitting under a tall stone angel, hugging her legs, and crying.
She didn't remember why she was crying. Just that it hurt, and she felt alone.
Then someone sat beside her, but she didn't bother to look because she was too upset to care.
After a few minutes, she became aware of her surrounding and peeked at the person who sat next to her out of curiosity. It was a pale-skinned boy with messy dark hair and soft, sad eyes. He couldn't have been older than twelve.
After a few moments, he handed her something.
A small paper bird.
It was crooked, bent at the wings, but carefully folded.
"You can keep it," he said, barely louder than the wind.
She looked at it, then at him.
"You made this?"
He nodded.
"You're not very good at it," she said, not meanly. Just honest.
He smiled slightly. "I know."
They sat in silence for a while. Then she whispered:
"What's your name?"
He looked away for a second, like he was deciding whether to tell her.
"Rhian."
She blinked. "That's a weird name."
"I guess." He laughed nervously.
"I'm Elara."
"I know."
That surprised her. "How?"
He shrugged. "You talk in your sleep."
Her face turned red. "I do not."
"You did last week. You kicked the wall, too."
She almost laughed. Almost.
They sat in silence again. But this time, it felt… lighter.
Like maybe, just maybe, she wasn't completely alone.
The memory faded slowly, like fog pulled back by the sun.
Elara stood alone again in the spiral hallway. She now remembered why she was crying- it was after her mother's death. As she got lost cherishing the few memories she had of her mother, her spiral glowed brighter.
It wasn't a magical bond.
No great story.
Just one moment of kindness… and it stuck.
"Rhian," she whispered.
"Where did you go?"
Suddenly, the hallway twisted.
The floor shook under her boots. The walls pulsed faster. A strong wind blew through the corridor.
Then a new voice whispered in her ear: deep, wet, and sharp.
"You remember him.
But do you remember what you are?"
A shadow dropped from the ceiling.
It landed on all fours.
Long arms, pale skin, and spiral eyes glowing red. It was not human- it was a creature of the book.
It hissed and leapt toward her.
Elara threw herself sideways just in time, rolling across the floor and slamming into the wall. The creature's claws scratched deep into the stone where she had been.
It turned slowly.
Its head tilted sideways, twitching.
"Elaraa…"
It grinned. The way it mentioned Elara's name made chills run down her spine.
"I see your fear."
She stood, gripping the spiral charm around her neck. It was unusually warm now, but she quickly brushed it off.
The creature lunged again, claws wide, and mouth stretching wide.
This time, she didn't dodge.
She pressed the charm to her palm.
"Incendira."
A flash of white-blue light exploded from her hand.
The creature shrieked and crumbled mid-air, breaking apart like sand in the wind.
Silence returned.
Her heart pounded as she leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
"I'm not scared of you," she said aloud.
And she wasn't sure if she meant the creature. The hallway brightened slowly. The spiral lines on the walls turned soft gold.
From ahead, another whisper came. But this time, it didn't feel like a threat.
It felt like… a voice she hadn't heard in a long time.
"Elara."
She stepped forward.
Faster now.
"Rhian?"