The silence after battle was louder than war itself.
Seraphina's hands trembled as she pressed a cloth against Kael's wound, watching his blood soak through with terrifying speed.
He winced but didn't stop her.
The glow in his eyes had dimmed.
His strength was failing.
"Why did they want me?" she whispered, unable to hide the fear in her voice.
Kael's gaze darkened, but he didn't answer.
Not immediately.
Instead, he sat up slowly, pain evident in every movement.
"They know what you are," he said finally.
She stared at him, bewildered. "What am I?"
Kael looked away.
His silence was an answer in itself.
But she wasn't going to let it go.
Not now.
Not after that explosion of light.
Not after watching those creatures recoil from her like she was some kind of weapon.
"I need to know, Kael."
"You're not ready," he said coldly.
"I wasn't ready to kill three monsters either," she snapped. "But it happened."
Her voice cracked on the last word, tears threatening again.
He turned to face her fully, jaw tight, expression unreadable.
"You're a key."
The words sounded like a riddle.
A curse.
"A key?" she repeated.
"To an ancient curse," he continued. "One that could destroy or restore our world."
Seraphina blinked.
Her mind reeled.
None of it made sense.
"I'm just a girl," she said quietly. "A girl who lived with a drunk uncle and hid from the world."
Kael reached forward and pulled her sleeve up.
The mark was there—glowing faintly.
It hadn't been before.
It looked like a wolf's eye surrounded by runes she couldn't read.
And it pulsed with a rhythm that matched her heartbeat.
"This mark was dormant," Kael said. "Until tonight."
"What did I do?" she asked, staring at it.
"You activated it," he replied. "With instinct. With fear. With power."
Seraphina swallowed hard.
She felt like a passenger in someone else's nightmare.
"How do I turn it off?" she asked.
Kael shook his head.
"You can't."
Kael's answer struck her like cold water.
You can't.
The words echoed in her skull, louder than the wind rustling through the trees around them.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She looked at the glowing mark again, almost hoping it would fade away if she stared long enough.
But it didn't.
It pulsed.
Alive.
Hungry.
"Then what do I do with it?" she whispered.
Kael stood, shaky but determined.
His movements were slower now, but his presence still radiated power.
"You learn to control it," he said. "Before it controls you."
She rose to her feet too, fists clenched at her sides.
"What if I don't want it?"
Kael's expression hardened.
"This isn't about what you want anymore."
His words stung.
But she understood.
The moment she lit up the woods with that blinding light, everything had changed.
She wasn't just Seraphina anymore.
She was something more.
Something dangerous.
"Will they come back?" she asked.
Kael didn't answer.
That was enough to answer.
A strange sensation crawled down her spine, as if she were being watched again.
She turned slowly.
Nothing.
Just shadows and leaves and silence.
Still, the feeling lingered like a thorn beneath her skin.
Kael reached for her wrist and pulled her gently but firmly into motion.
"We can't stay here," he said. "They'll regroup. And next time, they won't run."
Seraphina's legs burned, but she followed him.
The forest seemed darker now.
Thicker.
As though it too had awakened with her.
After several minutes, Kael slowed and pointed toward a jagged slope ahead.
"There," he said. "The caves. They won't risk following us in."
"Why not?"
He met her eyes.
"Because what lives inside scares even them."
Her heart sank.
"Great."
They reached the slope just as the wind picked up.
Thunder growled in the distance.
Kael ushered her forward first, and she scrambled over the rocks, the mark on her arm growing warmer with every step.
By the time they reached the mouth of the cave, it was glowing again—brighter than before.
Kael noticed.
His jaw tensed.
"Keep it hidden," he whispered.
"How?"
He stepped closer, lowering his head until his breath tickled her skin.
"Think of the quiet," he said. "Think of stillness. Silence. Bury the fire."
She closed her eyes.
Focused.
Imagined still waters. Falling snow. A silent sky.
The warmth dulled slightly.
The glow dimmed.
Not completely, but enough.
Kael nodded once.
They entered the cave.
Darkness swallowed them instantly.
But Seraphina didn't need light.
Somehow, she could see outlines in the black.
The walls. The dripping stone. The narrow path that snaked deeper into the earth.
She didn't mention it to Kael.
Not yet.
"Where are we going?" she asked instead.
"To someone who knows more than I do," he said.
Her pulse quickened.
"Who?"
Kael hesitated.
Then said, "My father."
Seraphina froze mid-step.
"You never mentioned—"
"He's not someone I talk about," Kael said. "For a reason."
She didn't press.
But she didn't relax either.
She'd thought the monsters outside were terrifying.
Now, she was following Kael into the dark, to meet a man even he feared.
And yet… she wasn't turning back.
Because something inside her had already begun to awaken.
And it would never sleep again.