The days inside Duskfall's forest didn't feel real.Light never shined brightly here. The sun rose gray like it was afraid of this place too.
Eveline made her rise before dawn every morning. "Up," she whispered. Always gentle and cold. "The hand heals more than the world wakes."
Sera always obeyed. She didn't know why. Maybe arguing meant pain and she already had enough of that.
The training room smelled of ash and wet herbs. Bowls, steam, and thick air with something metallic, like blood.
Eveline stood across from her sleeves rolled up, the edge of her robes darkened with green stains. "Repeat the words," Eveline said. Sera's voice was small. "Blood remembers, flesh obeys."
"Again."
"Blood remembers, flesh obeys."Her tongue stumbled. Eveline's eyes lifted up softly, a sign of warning.
"If you can't make your body obey, you can't heal another's."
Sera pressed her lips together and nodded. She didn't argue.
Her fingers trembled as she reached into the bowl again, grinding the herbs until they became paste.
The first week, she couldn't stop shaking. The second week, her body started remembering the rhythm.
The third week, she stopped thinking about how wrong it felt. But she noticed it. The way the bowl would hum lightly when her hands hovered over it.
The way the water vibrates without her touching it. She didn't tell Eveline, not yet. Every dawn, Eveline prayed. Not to any god Sera knew.
Her words were old, sharp and carved out of the air itself. "Speak," Eveline would command. "The fortress listens."Sera would kneel before the basin repeating the strange chant until the cold water turns red.
Once, she whispered, "Why do we pray to blood?" Eveline only said. "Because only blood remembers who we are."
Sera tried to understand but her thoughts scattered every time she looked at her wrist… still lightly bruised from where Raven had caught her by the river.
The marks never vanished completely.She wrapped them with some clothes and told herself that it meant nothing.It was Rowan who noticed it first.
He found her alone in the courtyard one evening as sunlight broke slowly over the stone walls.
He leaned against the pillar like he owned the place, his dark hair loosened."You look like you're trying to disappear," he said. "Maybe I am," she answered, but not looking at him.
"That's a shame," he said. "You're interesting to look at."
She turned to him. "You shouldn't talk to me."
He smiled. "You shouldn't listen then."
The man was trouble, and she could feel it.
But trouble in Duskfall had a face she didn't mind seeing. Rowan was different from the others. He was too casual to be obedient and too bold to be safe.
Even the guards gave him space when he walked past. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "Watching you pretend not to be afraid."
"I'm not pretending.""Sure," he said, teasing. "Then hit me."
She blinked. "What?"He tossed a small wooden blade at her.
"Lesson one. Healers in Duskfall learn to fight before they learn to save.
"He stepped closer, circling her like a lion securing his dinner. "Hold tighter."She obeyed. "Now… strike."
She swung too fast and obviously, but he caught her wrist midair, twisting them lightly until her knees gave in and sent pain through her arm."See?" He said softly. "You hesitate."
"Let me go."
"Make me."
His tone wasn't serious, just a joke but something dark came with it. Something that wanted to see what she would do next.
Their eyes met each other and the silence thickened. She yanked her arm back.
"I didn't ask for lessons."
He smiled, stepping back. "And yet, here you are."
That night, she couldn't sleep.Every time she tried to close her eyes, she saw his smirk, his voice, and that strange flash of warmth when his fingers brushed hers.
And she didn't like how good it made her feel. The next morning, Eveline noticed. "You spoke to the lieutenant."
Sera froze. "I…he…only.."
"Be careful," Eveline's eyes held hers calmly. "Men like Rowan don't care about what they break."
"I can handle myself."
"No dear, you can't," Eveline smiled. "And that's why you're here."
Her words hit more than it should have. And after that, she kept her distance from Rowan… or she tried to.
But he kept finding her… in the garden, the hallways and the library. It's either a joke, or half smiling, and every time he does that, something inside her softens.
Until the whisper came.She woke up to her own name as if someone was calling her inside her head.
Seraphina.
She sat up quickly in the dark room. Her heart skipped. "Who's there?"
No one answered only the sound of wind through the stone walls. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breath. Then another whisper came clearer this time.
"The witch who hides will burn the moon."She froze. Her wrist glowed once, a faint light glinted under her skin and then died.By morning, the mark was small again. But her body still remembered the heat.
Training grew harsher. Eveline made her heal wounded animals first, then men. But sometimes they didn't make it.
"Don't cry," Eveline said as one soldier gasped his last breath. "Grief wastes power."
But Sera's hands shook. "He was still alive."
"And now, he isn't," Eveline answered flatly. "Learn from it."
After that, Sera stopped crying too.Still, Rowan kept trying to make her smile. He would sneak bread from the kitchens, tell her stories from the outside worlds and make her laugh when she shouldn't.
He once caught her staring at the horizon, her eyes distant.
"Thinking of running?" He asked.
"Would you stop me?"
He smirked. "Depends. How far can you run?"
She rolled her eyes. "You don't even know me."
"I know enough." His voice softened. "You don't belong here."
Neither do you, she wanted to say. But the way he looked at her… as if he wanted her, and as if he was warning her, made her tongue heavy.
Sometimes, when he walked away, she thought she saw something else in his eyes. Guilt or a secret too dangerous to share.
Three nights before the blood moon, Eveline caught her hand mid-prayer. Her eyes narrowed. "Your pulse…"
"What about it?"