The night forest felt alive, as if every tree, every root, every stray gust of wind carried a secret meant only for Aria. Mist curled around her ankles like ghostly serpents. A strange heaviness weighed in the air, thick and electric, making the hairs on her arms stand. Malakai stood behind her, wings half‑unfurled, shadows clinging to him like a second skin. His crimson eyes glowed faintly, tracing her every breath as if watching for the slightest tremor.
The trial had ended, but its echo had not.
Aria could still feel the shadows she'd destroyed—how they broke under her power, how they screamed like reflections shattering. Her pulse thrummed, the crimson light traveling her veins pulsing in slow, steady waves. It felt different now—stronger, heavier, like something ancient had awakened within her.
"You're not saying something," she murmured, her voice softer than she intended. "Something is wrong."
Malakai tilted his head, the air around him rippling as his shadows tightened. "Nothing is wrong," he said, but his voice held a tension she had never heard before.
"You're lying."
His lips curled slightly, not a smile—something darker, something strained. "You've grown perceptive."
"I'm learning," she whispered.
"Yes," he murmured, "you are."
A gust of wind blew through the clearing, carrying with it the faint scent of smoke and something metallic—blood. Aria's breath hitched, and Malakai's expression hardened instantly.
"They're close," he said.
"The hunters?" she whispered.
"No." His wings spread wider, casting the clearing into deeper shadows. "Something older. Something that does not fear me."
Her eyes widened. "What could that be?"
Malakai didn't answer immediately. Instead, he moved closer, his hand brushing her wrist in a shadowed caress before gripping it firmly. Heat shot up her arm, crimson power flaring in response to his touch. Their bond pulsed—alive, hungry, unmistakable.
"Stay behind me," he commanded.
"No."
His eyes flicked to her, sharp, surprised… almost proud. "No?"
"I'm not helpless. Not anymore."
"No, you are not," he murmured, "but you are not ready to face what approaches."
His grip tightened around her wrist, and she felt the shadows coil protectively around her waist. She had felt this before—possessiveness. But this time, there was something else woven into it: fear.
Malakai feared what was coming.
"Tell me," she demanded, heart pounding. "What is it?"
Before he could answer, a low growl rippled through the trees. The mist recoiled like something alive. Birds scattered. The ground trembled faintly beneath their feet.
Then she saw it.
Two golden eyes, slitted, intelligent, ancient, watching them from the darkness. A creature stepped forward—a massive shadow-hound, taller than a man, its fur made of writhing smoke, its claws sinking into the earth with a sickening whisper. Its mouth dripped with black venom that sizzled when it hit the ground.
Aria instinctively stepped closer to Malakai.
"That," he said quietly, "is a Crimson Hound. A creature bound to the oldest bloodlines. It should not be here."
"Bound… to what?" Aria whispered.
"To the one who commands your awakening."
Her heart stopped.
"My awakening? You said it came from within me—"
"It does," he interrupted sharply. "But its origin… its bloodline… is older than your world. And the one who marked you has finally realized you survived."
Aria's stomach twisted in confusion, anger, and fear. "Marked me? By who?"
Malakai's jaw clenched. "Not now."
The hound growled again, deeper, more thunderous. The shadows around it pulsed—red. The same crimson as her veins.
Aria felt something respond in her chest—her own power flaring in recognition, a sense of connection she didn't understand. The hound turned its gaze from Malakai to her. Its eyes softened—not with kindness, but possession.
It knew her.
"Why is it looking at me like that?" she whispered.
"Because," Malakai said, stepping between them with lethal grace, "it recognizes you as its master. Or rather… it recognizes the bloodline you belong to."
She froze. "My bloodline? Malakai, what are you talking about?"
He didn't answer. His shadows rose, sharp as blades, forming walls around her. The hound snarled, then lunged forward with terrifying speed.
"Stay back!" Malakai roared.
He struck with a wave of shadow force so powerful the entire forest shuddered. The hound hit a tree, splintering it, but rose almost immediately, its crimson eyes blazing brighter.
"It's immune to your shadows," Aria realized, voice trembling. "Why?"
"Because my shadows are born of my realm," he growled. "And this creature is born of yours."
Aria's breath caught. Something deep within her—something buried, something fierce—awoke.
The hound lunged again. Malakai moved faster, his wings shielding her, shadows slicing through the air, each strike met with snarling resistance. They clashed with explosive force, shaking the clearing.
But the hound wasn't aiming at Malakai.
It was aiming at her.
Aria stumbled back as the creature forced its way between Malakai's shadow tendrils, its glowing eyes locked on hers with frightening intensity. Her heart hammered, crimson light pulsing through her veins faster, harder.
She lifted her hand, power instinctively gathering.
"Aria! Don't—" Malakai shouted.
But it was too late.
A burst of crimson fire exploded from her palm, striking the hound square in the chest. It didn't fall. It absorbed the attack like a sponge absorbing water.
Then it knelt.
The monstrous creature lowered its massive head… to her feet.
"Why is it bowing?" Aria whispered, trembling.
Malakai's voice was quiet, almost hollow.
"Because it obeys your blood."
She turned to him, shaking. "What blood?"
His eyes glowed brighter, troubled, haunted. "You are not merely awakened, Aria. You are claimed. Someone marked you long before I found you. Someone ancient. Someone powerful. And I fear…" His voice softened with something she rarely heard from him—dread. "…I fear he has finally sensed that you have begun to unlock what he left inside you."
Aria's breath caught painfully. "You knew this? And you didn't tell me?"
His shadows recoiled as if her words wounded him. "I did not want you to fear what you cannot yet control. I did not want you to doubt the bond between us."
The ache in her chest deepened. "So you hid it."
"Yes," he whispered. "Because I feared losing you."
Her heart twisted, torn between anger and the dark pull she felt toward him. She didn't answer. She couldn't.
The hound lifted its head, staring at her as if awaiting a command.
"Send it away," Malakai urged. "Before its master senses us both."
Aria swallowed hard. The crimson energy inside her stirred, throbbed, pulsed with a terrifying clarity. She raised her hand slowly.
The hound bowed deeper, ready.
"Go," she whispered, voice cracking.
The creature dissolved into crimson smoke, vanishing into the night.
Silence fell.
Malakai stepped closer, his presence overwhelming, his shadows trembling with tension. "Aria," he murmured, voice low and raw. "There is more I must tell you. Things that could break everything between us."
Her heart pounded. "Then tell me."
He hesitated.
"Malakai…"
But before he could speak, a cold whisper slithered through the trees.
A voice that wasn't his.
"Found you."
Aria froze.
Malakai's wings snapped open, shadows flaring in a violent frenzy.
"Aria," he growled, "get behind me."
But she couldn't move.
Because the voice… it sounded like it had come from her own shadow.