Three days of riding had left Kael exhausted, paranoid, and utterly lost. The map Eldrin had given him was old, its ink faded, and half the landmarks it referenced no longer existed. He'd been moving north, he thought, but the forest seemed endless, and every shadow made him flinch.
The black horse—he'd named her Ember, a bitter irony considering who had killed his master—had proven tireless. She seemed to know when to slow down, when to avoid paths, almost as if she understood they were being hunted. Kael had stopped questioning it. Nothing made sense anymore.
He made camp in a rocky hollow just as the sun began to set. No fire. He'd learned that lesson the first night when he'd spotted winged shapes silhouetted against the stars, searching. They'd passed overhead, close enough that he'd heard the leathery sound of their wings, and he'd pressed himself into the dirt, barely breathing, until they moved on.
Kael pulled dried meat from the saddlebags and forced himself to eat, though he had no appetite. His body ached. His mind was worse. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Master Eldrin fall, saw the monastery burning, heard the screams.
And then there was the power. Since that night, he'd felt it coiled inside him like a sleeping serpent. He was terrified to touch it, terrified of what might happen if he lost control again. But he was equally terrified of being defenseless when Venrik's servants found him.
Because they would find him. He had no illusions about that.
He was pulling the blanket from Ember's saddle when he heard it—a twig snapping in the darkness beyond the hollow. He froze, every muscle tensing. His hand moved slowly to the staff lying beside him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said from the shadows. Female, young, amused. "You're holding it wrong anyway. That's not how you grip a weapon."
Kael grabbed the staff and spun toward the voice, his heart hammering. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
Laughter, soft and mocking. Then a figure materialized from the darkness itself, as if the shadows had simply released her. A young woman, maybe a year older than Kael, stepped into the moonlight. She wore dark leather armor that seemed to blend with the night, and two curved daggers hung at her hips. Her black hair was cropped short, and her grey eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence.
"Easy, monastery boy. If I wanted you dead, you'd already have a knife in your throat." She tilted her head, studying him. "Though I'll admit, I'm curious why half of Venrik's army is tearing through these woods looking for one skinny kid with terrible survival skills."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kael kept the staff raised, though his arms were already trembling. "And I'm not a boy."
"Sure you're not." She moved closer, her steps utterly silent. "You've been leaving tracks a blind child could follow. Your fire discipline is decent, I'll give you that, but you picked a hollow that's a natural funnel for sound. Anyone within half a mile can hear your horse."
"Who are you?"
"Aria Nightwhisper, though most people just call me Aria. Professional thief, occasional scout, and currently very interested in why you're worth so much attention." She circled him slowly, and Kael turned with her, refusing to let her get behind him. She smiled at that. "At least you have some instincts. That's promising."
"Are you working for Venrik?"
Aria's expression darkened. "I'd sooner cut my own throat. That monster killed my family when I was ten. Burned our village to ash looking for something—or someone, I'm guessing now." Her eyes narrowed. "So what are you? Why does he want you so badly?"
"I don't know," Kael said honestly. "I don't know anything. Three days ago I was just an orphan living in a monastery. Now everyone I knew is dead and I'm being hunted by creatures I didn't even know existed."
Something in his voice must have convinced her because her posture relaxed slightly. "The monastery on Mount Keldris? That was you?" At his nod, she whistled low. "Word spread fast. They say the Crimson Twins themselves led that raid. That whole mountain is crawling with Venrik's soldiers now."
Kael's hands tightened on the staff. "Good. Let them waste their time searching ruins."
"They're not just searching the ruins. They're questioning everyone within fifty miles. Torturing villagers for information about a boy matching your description." Aria's voice was matter-of-fact, but her eyes held sympathy. "You've stirred up a hornet's nest, monastery boy."
Guilt twisted in Kael's gut. More innocent people suffering because of him. Because of whatever cursed bloodline he carried. "I need to get to Thornhaven. Find Queen Lyanna and the resistance."
Aria barked a laugh. "Thornhaven? That's at least two weeks' hard riding north, through territory Venrik controls. You'd be lucky to make it two days on your own."
"Then I'll die trying. Better than leading them to more villages."
She studied him for a long moment, then sighed. "You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Before Kael could respond, she held up a hand. "Wait. Do you hear that?"
Kael strained his ears. At first, nothing. Then—distant shouts, the clank of armor, the sound of many feet moving through the forest.
"They've found your trail," Aria said, all business now. "We need to move. Now."
"We?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just curious enough to keep you alive a little longer." She was already moving, gathering his scattered belongings with practiced efficiency. "Besides, if Venrik wants you this badly, there might be profit in it. The resistance pays well for information. Now mount up before—"
An arrow hissed through the air and struck a tree inches from Kael's head. He yelped and dove to the ground. More arrows followed, a deadly rain from multiple directions.
"Ambush!" Aria rolled behind a boulder, her daggers appearing in her hands as if by magic. "They must have been tracking you with scouts. Clever bastards."
Soldiers emerged from the trees—a dozen of them, maybe more, all wearing the black armor of Venrik's forces. Their red eyes glowed in the darkness. One of them, larger than the others, stepped forward. His armor was more ornate, etched with runes that pulsed with sickly green light.
"The boy comes with us," the commander said, his voice hollow and metallic. "Surrender and we'll make your death quick. Resist and we'll take our time."
"I've got a better idea," Aria called out. "How about you all walk back to your master and tell him you lost the trail? I promise we won't tell anyone how incompetent you are."
The commander's laugh was like grinding metal. "The shadow thief. Lord Venrik has a price on your head as well, girl. Two prizes in one night."
"Flattering, but I'm really not interested." Aria glanced at Kael. "Can you fight?"
"I... I don't know. I've trained with the staff but never in real combat."
"Well, you're about to get a crash course. Try not to die immediately."
The soldiers charged. Aria moved like liquid shadow, flowing between two attackers and leaving them clutching their throats as she passed. Her daggers flashed in the moonlight, each strike precise and lethal.
But there were too many. Three soldiers broke away from the group and rushed toward Kael. He raised his staff, his mind blank with fear, and swung wildly. The first soldier batted it aside easily and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground.
"Got him!" the soldier called triumphantly.
Kael couldn't breathe. Black spots danced in his vision. He clawed at the iron grip, but it was like fighting stone. The soldier's red eyes gleamed with malicious satisfaction.
Then the power inside Kael stirred.
No. Not now. He couldn't control it. He'd hurt Aria, destroy everything around him like before.
The soldier's grip tightened. Kael's vision began to fade.
Fine. Better to lose control than die.
He stopped fighting it and let the power flood through him. Silver-blue light exploded from his body. The soldier holding him screamed as frost spread across his armor, freezing him solid in seconds. The other two soldiers were thrown backward by the shockwave, slamming into trees with bone-breaking force.
Kael fell to the ground, gasping. The power was still flowing, wild and hungry, looking for more targets. He tried to pull it back but it was like trying to contain a flood with his bare hands.
"Kael!" Aria's voice cut through the chaos. "Control it! Don't let it control you!"
The remaining soldiers were backing away, their confidence shattered. Even the commander looked uncertain. The frozen soldier shattered like glass, pieces of ice and armor scattering across the ground.
"What... what are you?" the commander whispered.
Kael didn't answer. He was too busy trying to force the power back down, to lock it away again. Slowly, painfully, he managed to contain it. The silver-blue light faded, leaving him trembling and weak.
Aria appeared beside him, her daggers still drawn, eyes scanning for threats. "Can you ride?"
"I think so."
"Good enough." She grabbed his arm and hauled him toward Ember. The surviving soldiers were fleeing now, crashing through the forest in their haste to escape. "That was either really impressive or really stupid. Possibly both."
Kael mounted Ember with shaking hands. "I didn't mean to—"
"Save it. We need to put distance between us and this place before they regroup." Aria whistled sharply, and from the shadows, a grey mare appeared, as silent as its mistress. She swung into the saddle with fluid grace. "Follow me and try to keep up. We're taking the smuggler's routes north."
"Why are you helping me?"
Aria looked back at him, and for just a moment, her sardonic mask slipped. "Because I know what it's like to have Venrik destroy everything you love. Because I'm tired of running and hiding. And because whatever power you have, whatever you are, it might be the first real chance we've had to hurt that monster in years." She turned her mare north. "Now ride, monastery boy. The real journey starts now."
They rode hard through the night, leaving the hollow and its frozen dead behind. Kael glanced back once and saw smoke rising in the distance—they were burning the forest, trying to flush him out. How many more would die before this ended?
He turned forward, jaw set. Aria was right. Running and hiding wasn't enough anymore. If he was going to survive, if he was going to make Master Eldrin's death mean something, he needed to learn to control this power. He needed to become the weapon that could stand against Venrik.
The son of the unknown had awakened. Now it was time to discover what that truly meant.