The Oracle's prophecy hung between them like a blade.
Thirty days.
Aira could feel Kael's heartbeat against her back—fast, agitated. Too close. Too intense.
When she finally pulled away, Kael's expression flickered with something dark. Fear. Fear disguised as anger.
"We should leave," Kael said, voice clipped. "The longer we stay near the Oracle, the easier it is for the Rift to track her."
But Aira sensed something else beneath his urgency—
suspicion.
His golden eyes kept darting to the silver-eyed man beside her.
The silver-eyed man frowned. "Stop glaring at me, Kael. I've done nothing wrong."
Kael's voice dropped like a knife into cold water.
"You disappeared the night Aira died. And now she returns… with you at her side."
Aira's breath caught.
There it was—Kael's distrust, sharpened by seven years of grief.
The silver-eyed man stiffened. "I didn't kill her."
Kael's jaw tightened. "No. But someone did."
Aira stepped between them before the tension snapped.
"Enough," she said, surprising even herself. "We don't have time for your rivalry."
Both men looked away like chastised wolves.
But Kael wasn't done.
His gaze returned to her—gentler, but still guarded. "Aira… until we know who caused your death, I can't trust anyone. Not fully."
The silver-eyed man's eyes darkened. "Even her?"
Kael hesitated.
It was barely half a second—but Aira felt it like a bruise to the heart.
"Kael," she whispered.
He closed his eyes, expression tight with conflict. "You come back from death, with no memory, no past—while fate lines twist themselves around you. I… I don't know if you're you, or something wearing your face."
Aira flinched.
The silver-eyed man stepped forward instantly. "Enough, Kael. She's Aira. I know her soul."
Kael's voice cracked.
"That's what terrifies me."
Silence.
The Oracle stepped forward, leaning on her staff.
"Distrust is wise. For her first test approaches."
Aira stiffened. "Test?"
The Oracle pointed toward a trail of glowing stones leading deeper into the forest.
"In this world, fate will not allow you to walk unchallenged. You are out of place, and the book rejects you. The first thread of correction comes now."
A cold gust swept through the clearing.
The ground trembled.
Aira staggered, but Kael's arm caught her. The silver-eyed man moved to shield her on the other side.
The crystal trees turned black one by one, like ink spreading through veins.
The Oracle's voice boomed, ancient and harsh:
"Riftborn. A creature of unwritten fate.
It seeks the anomaly—her."
A growl ripped through the trees.
A massive creature emerged—made of shifting ink and bone, its form half-human, half-nightmare. Its eyes blazed with hungry emptiness.
Aira's blood ran cold.
Kael pulled his sword free, the blade glowing gold. "Stay behind me."
The silver-eyed man drew a dagger slick with silver light. "Don't let it touch you, Aira. It erases existence."
Aira stepped back—
only for the ground to crack beneath her feet.
The Oracle yelled, "Aira—your first test—SURVIVE!"
The monster lunged.
Kael leaped forward, golden blade cleaving the air, but the creature melted around it like ink, reforming behind Aira—
—too fast.
Aira turned, breath freezing—
The creature struck, its claws reaching for her heart—
A flash of silver light exploded.
The silver-eyed man slammed into her, knocking her out of its reach. The monster's claws grazed his arm instead, and he hissed in agony as shadows spread across his skin.
"NO!" Aira screamed.
Kael's roar shook the clearing. "DON'T TOUCH HER!"
The Oracle lifted her staff, shouting:
"Her test is not to fight—
but to choose."
Aira froze.
Choose what?
Kael and the silver-eyed man were both being overwhelmed—Kael struggling to keep the monster at bay, the silver-eyed man collapsing from the poison spreading through his arm.
Aira's heart pounded, her breath ragged.
Her first test…
…was who she would save.
Kael, the warrior whose trust in her was fractured—
or
The silver-eyed man, whose soul recognized her even when she didn't recognize herself.
The monster lunged again.
Aira had seconds.
And her choice…
would alter the fate lines forever.