The clearing fell into a silence so heavy, it felt like even the trees were holding their breath.
Aelira stared at the man before her, pulse racing. Kaelen. The name burned through her like a forgotten song — familiar in tone, devastating in meaning.
He stood barely a dozen paces away, hand resting near the hilt of his sword. Not threatening, but ready. His eyes — steel-gray and unreadable — flicked from her face to the glowing sigils still pulsing beneath her feet.
He knew. Or at least, he sensed.
"You shouldn't be here," he repeated, voice firm but not unkind.
Aelira squared her shoulders. "And yet, here we are. Both drawn by something we don't fully understand."
His lips pressed into a line. "You opened the seal. No one's done that in over a century."
Her heart skipped. "Then you know what this place is?"
"I know enough to be afraid of it." Kaelen's eyes narrowed. "But you… You look like someone who belongs here."
Aelira flinched.
She did belong. But not as herself. As someone else. Someone dangerous.
Saelwyn.
She didn't say the name aloud, afraid of what might come if she did.
Instead, she asked, "Who are you?"
Kaelen hesitated — the kind of pause that spoke of secrets too heavy to name. "I'm a Warden of the Third Circle. My job is to patrol the outer ruins. I was sent here after the wards shattered last night. The signs were… unnatural."
Third Circle. That was miles from here. If he'd been summoned this far in, the damage was worse than she thought.
"The veil's bleeding," she murmured. "I think something broke through."
He looked at her sharply. "Did you break it?"
She opened her mouth — then stopped. Did she?
She'd carved the sigil, yes. Bled into the stone. Spoken the name. But the power that answered had been waiting long before she arrived.
"I think I… unlocked it. But the curse — the power that's leaking — it's older than me. Older than this forest."
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Then you've done something irreversible."
The words hung in the air.
Aelira turned toward the black monolith again. Saelwyn's reflection was gone now. Only her own eyes stared back — wide, lost, and frightened.
"I didn't mean to," she whispered. "I just needed answers."
"About what?"
She glanced at him. "My past. The dreams. The marks that keep appearing. And this—"
She raised her arm. The sigils etched into her skin still glowed faintly, as if feeding off the air.
Kaelen's gaze darkened. "You've been marked."
"Twice now," she said softly. "And the spirits called me Saelwyn. Said I would remember who I was."
Kaelen took a cautious step closer. "Do you believe them?"
"I… don't know." Her voice cracked. "But it feels like something inside me has started waking up. And it's not all good."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Kaelen reached into his satchel and pulled out a scroll — aged, its corners frayed and ink faded. He unrolled it carefully, revealing a detailed map of the forest. At the center was the monolith. Circles surrounded it in layers.
"These are the veil points," he explained. "Sacred spaces where the boundary between worlds thins. There are five. This is the first."
Aelira's eyes scanned the page. "And the others?"
"Each one holds a trial. Or a trap. Depends who you ask."
She frowned. "How do you know all this?"
He didn't answer.
But she caught the flicker in his expression — a crack in his careful mask.
"You're not just a Warden," she said quietly. "You've been here before."
His silence confirmed it.
"How long ago?" she pressed.
Kaelen looked away. "Six years."
Aelira blinked. "You're… older than you look."
"That's what the veil does to you," he muttered. "It stretches time. Bends it. Some days feel like years. Some years, like minutes."
"And what happened to you here?"
Kaelen met her eyes at last. "I lost someone."
Pain rippled across his features — sharp, sudden. It was the kind of pain you don't speak of unless forced.
Aelira's chest tightened. "A lover?"
He didn't answer.
But she knew.
The second trial is trust.
The spirits' words echoed through her, and she understood now. This was no accident. Kaelen was part of her path — not just as a guide, but as a challenge. To remember what she had once done. And decide what she'd do now.
"Then why come back?" she asked gently.
His voice was low. "Because I still see her in my dreams."
Aelira's breath caught.
Not her — the lost one.
Me?
The idea chilled her. Or warmed her. She couldn't tell.
"I'm heading to the next veil point," he said, rolling up the scroll. "It lies beyond the Hollow Hills. Two days' walk, if we survive the night shades."
She raised a brow. "That an invitation?"
He looked at her. "It's a warning. But if you're going to keep tearing open the veil, someone needs to make sure you don't die before you understand what you're doing."
Aelira smirked faintly. "You have a funny way of saying please come with me."
He didn't deny it.
Together, they stepped out of the clearing. As they walked into the mist, side by side, the sigils on her skin pulsed in rhythm with something she couldn't yet name