The world slowed as Elara's lips met Kael's.
She hadn't planned it. In fact, if someone had told her this morning that she'd be kissing the arrogant prince of darkness by moonlight in the middle of a cursed glade—she would've laughed in their face. Or thrown a spell at them.
But here she was. And somehow, nothing else existed except that kiss.
His lips were unexpectedly warm, almost human. Not cold and cruel like the stories whispered. There was magic in the way he kissed—tender at first, then deepening with a hunger that tasted of centuries of loneliness and aching silence.
Elara gasped softly against him, and he growled low in his throat, pulling her closer until her hands were pressed flat against his hard chest. The air around them sparked. Literally.
A sudden burst of gold exploded from where their bodies touched. Ribbons of light swirled around them like dancing spirits, wrapping the cursed forest in an eerie, breathtaking glow.
She jerked back with a gasp. "What was that?!"
Kael didn't answer immediately. He stood still, his lips parted, eyes wide with shock. He touched his chest like something foreign beat beneath it.
"Elara…" His voice was hoarse. "You… did something."
"I kissed you. That's all I did!" she said, stepping back. "Why is the forest glowing? Why is my skin tingling?"
But then she felt it—a heat spreading through her veins, ancient and electric. Her vision blurred, then sharpened with colors she'd never seen before. She could hear the soft hum of tree roots. The heartbeat of the earth. The whisper of something old awakening.
Kael was staring at her like she had grown wings.
"You triggered it," he murmured. "The curse—it's responding to you."
Elara's breath caught. "What do you mean?"
Kael moved toward her slowly, his gaze burning into hers. "The curse is bound to my blood, my soul. It's dormant most of the time—feeding on darkness, sealing away anything human left in me. But now, it stirs. It reacts to light. To love."
He stopped inches from her, his voice dropping. "And you kissed me."
Elara shook her head, her heart hammering. "I didn't mean to break anything. I just—"
"Do you feel it?" he asked.
She did. She felt him—every part of him—his sorrow, his fury, his hope. Like a tether had snapped between them, pulling her into his pain and power at once.
"I shouldn't feel this way," she whispered. "I only came here to break the curse, not... not get tangled in it."
Kael stepped closer, and his hand brushed a loose strand of her hair. "You're not tangled in it, Elara. You are it."
Her breath hitched. "What?"
"You're not just some girl with a mission," he said, his voice trembling with awe. "You're the prophecy. The one the stars spoke of. The only one who can rewrite what fate tried to destroy."
She wanted to deny it, but deep down, she already knew. The visions. The pull. The dreams she'd beenhaving since she turned eighteen—of shadowy wings and glowing eyes. She had always thought they were nightmares. Now, they felt like memories.
"Elara, listen carefully," Kael said, suddenly serious. "There's a part of this curse that no one speaks of. The part where the one who breaks it… becomes part of it."
Her stomach dropped. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Kael said, his eyes locked on hers, "if you break the curse completely… you might not make it out unchanged. You might become something… more. Or less."
She looked down at her hands, now faintly glowing with the same gold light. "Am I turning into something?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "But whatever it is… it started with that kiss."
The silence stretched between them—heavy with meaning, with questions. But then Elara looked up at him and said, "Then maybe we need to find out what happens if I kiss you again."
Kael's eyes widened. "You're not scared?"
"Oh, I'm terrified," she whispered. "But I've lived my life afraid. This is the first time I've felt… alive."
She reached for him again, and this time, the kiss was fire.
The sky cracked above them. Lightning arced across the stars, not of destruction but of awakening. The ground trembled beneath their feet, and a circle of golden flame bloomed beneath them.
When they broke apart, Kael stumbled backward, gripping his chest like something inside him was fighting to break free.
"Elara… something's—changing. I—can't—control—"
His voice broke into a roar as shadow and light twisted around him. His body began to shift. His skin shimmered like obsidian lit by the sun, wings of shadow bursting from his back, then burning into gold at the edges. His eyes glowed—not just red this time, but a mixture of fire and starlight.
"Kael!" Elara shouted, reaching for him.
He fell to his knees, screaming—not in pain, but in release. Like something ancient had been broken free. And then… silence.
When he finally looked up, he wasn't the cursed prince anymore.
He was something more. Something regal. Glorious. Divine.
"Elara," he said, voice deep and rich. "You've awakened me."
Tears stung her eyes. "You're… free?"
"No," he said, rising to his feet with new strength. "Not yet. But the curse is unraveling. And you're the thread."
But then… a crack.
The sky above them shimmered—and then tore open like silk, revealing eyes. Thousands of them. Watching.
A voice echoed down, ancient and female.
"You dare break the balance, child of moonlight? You kiss the cursed, and now you must bear the consequence."
Elara turned to Kael in terror. "Who—what is that?"
Kael's face paled. "The Enchantress. The one who cast the curse."