The sky above the kingdom of Elarion glittered like a black velvet curtain dusted with silver. The stars blinked like silent witnesses, watching as two souls—unaware of how close they had become—took their first steps toward one another.
And the shadows stirred.
---
Elira had never walked this far from Aerwyn.
Her sandals were caked with mud, and her cloak was damp from the evening mist. But her heart remained light, guided by dreams and old legends. The pendant Mother Leya had given her pulsed faintly with warmth at her chest.
She followed the riverside trail, using moonlight as her compass.
But something felt… off.
A rustling in the trees.
A hush that was too deep.
She paused near a twisted oak and whispered,
> "Is someone there?"
Silence.
Then—
> "Traveling alone at night, girl?" a voice croaked from the darkness.
Three figures emerged from the trees—bandits, by the look of them. Scruffy, worn, and grinning with teeth too sharp for smiles.
> "Please," Elira said, stepping back. "I don't have anything worth stealing."
> "That necklace looks shiny enough," said one, pointing to her pendant.
> "Hand it over, and we won't hurt you," another added.
Elira's grip on the pendant tightened.
> "No."
The leader smirked.
> "Wrong answer."
They lunged toward her.
In a flash, a light burst from the pendant—blinding, like the sun erupting from her chest.
The men screamed, falling back, clutching their eyes.
> "What in the blazes—?!"
Wings of light flared from Elira's back, only for a second, and vanished just as fast.
She stood frozen, heart racing, staring at her glowing hands.
The bandits scrambled and fled into the woods, howling like animals.
When the silence returned, Elira collapsed to her knees.
> "What… am I?" she whispered.
---
Elsewhere, Kael faced his own trial—not from men, but from the weight of his body.
The silver escort had stopped for the night in a forest clearing near the border of the capital. Maren had set up a small camp while Kael rested in a chair by the fire.
> "You're exhausted," Maren said, kneeling beside him. "We can turn back."
Kael shook his head.
> "No. Every time I sleep, I see her clearer. I feel her warmth. I can't go back to pretending this doesn't matter."
Maren hesitated.
> "Even if it kills you?"
Kael gave a tired smile.
> "Then I'll die moving forward."
Maren didn't argue. She simply stirred the fire and handed him a flask of warm tea.
But deep in the woods, something else stirred.
That night, Kael's dream was different.
He was not in a meadow. Not near the lake.
He stood in a place of endless fog.
> "Elira?" he called.
No answer.
A figure appeared in the mist—not Elira. Not human. A towering shape made of starlight and shadow.
It spoke in a voice like wind tearing through old stone:
> "You were not meant to wake."
Kael raised his voice.
> "Who are you?"
> "A guardian of the veil. You walk a path forbidden. The mortal and divine must remain apart."
> "Then why did you let me remember her?"
> "We did not."
Lightning cracked through the dream. The fog parted—and Kael saw Elira, sleeping in a cave, clutching her pendant.
The shadow hissed.
> "She is too close. If she awakens fully, the veil will shatter."
Kael clenched his fists.
> "Then let it shatter."
The shadow surged toward him.
Kael screamed—
—and woke, gasping, drenched in sweat.
Maren rushed to his side.
> "Kael!"
He gripped her arm, eyes wild.
> "They're trying to stop us. Something ancient. Something strong."
> "Then maybe we should stop—"
> "No."
He turned his eyes to the stars.
> "We're not just dreaming, Maren. We're threatening something that's been untouched for centuries."
> "And what happens if you succeed?"
Kael whispered,
> "We change everything."
---
The next day, Elira took shelter in a hollow cave near a lake. Her hands still tingled with the echo of the light. She removed the pendant and studied it under the morning sun. There were runes carved into its surface—ones she had never noticed before.
Whispers danced at the edge of her mind.
Not voices… but memories.
A golden hall. Wings. A soft hand taking hers in light.
A face.
Kael's face.
Tears welled in her eyes.
> "You're real."
She opened her satchel and took out a small parchment she had taken from the temple library. On it was the half-told legend of a "Crippled Prince of Light."
She traced the words with her finger.
> "Those who share the divine bond may find one another… if they survive the tests."
She didn't know what the tests were. But something inside her told her she had already passed the first.
And many more waited.
---
At sunset, Kael's party reached the edge of the Whispering Forest—a cursed stretch of land, avoided even by soldiers. But the dreams told him to go forward. He could feel Elira like a compass in his bones.
The escort captain shook his head.
> "Prince, this is madness."
> "It's the way forward."
Kael wheeled himself toward the path.
Maren sighed and followed.
> "You better marry this girl if we make it out alive."
> "That's the plan," Kael said, smiling faintly.
As they entered the forest, the air grew colder.
Trees leaned toward them like watchers. Shadows whispered between the branches.
But Kael didn't slow.
Somewhere out there, Elira was walking too.
And neither of them would stop.
---
High above, in the Celestial Realm, the gods watched in silence.
One turned to another, frowning.
> "They are drawing too close."
> "They are chosen."
> "They are breaking laws."
A third god, older than stars, spoke:
> "Then perhaps… it is time the laws changed."