The Hunt Begins
1218 Words
The soldier never reached the horn.
Aria closed the distance in a single stride, knocking his arm aside before the alarm could sound. The horn slipped from his grasp and disappeared into the wet undergrowth.
His eyes widened.
"She's—"
His warning was cut short as Aria drove her shoulder into his chest. Both of them crashed into the mud, rolling down the embankment.
The impact stole the air from her lungs.
The soldier recovered first.
Steel flashed.
Aria twisted just as the sword carved through the space where her head had been moments before. The blade buried itself in the roots of a pine.
She kicked his knee.
He staggered.
She seized the opportunity, striking the hilt of his sword with both hands. The weapon spun into the darkness.
"Over here!" another voice shouted.
Too late.
The others had heard.
The forest erupted with movement.
Branches snapped as Imperial scouts charged toward the struggle.
Aria sprinted uphill, boots slipping in the mud. Rain lashed her face, making it difficult to see more than a few yards ahead.
An arrow hissed past her ear.
Another struck a tree, showering her with splinters.
"Don't kill her!" the captain roared. "The Emperor wants her alive!"
Alive.
That was somehow worse.
She leaped over a fallen log and plunged deeper into the pines. Behind her, armored boots pounded relentlessly through the forest.
They weren't giving up.
They couldn't.
Not anymore.
________________________________________
The whispers returned.
Not in her ears.
Inside her mind.
Left.
Aria frowned.
Another arrow streaked past.
Left.
Without thinking, she obeyed.
She veered sharply between two massive trees.
A heartbeat later, three scouts burst through the path she'd abandoned—straight onto a rotten ledge hidden beneath moss.
The ground gave way.
With startled cries, they disappeared into a narrow ravine.
Aria didn't stop to look back.
Her pulse thundered.
Had she... predicted that?
Or had something guided her?
The thought chilled her more than the rain.
________________________________________
The chase continued for nearly an hour.
By the time the voices of the scouts had faded behind her, the forest looked unfamiliar.
The towering pines had given way to ancient oaks whose trunks were so wide that five people together couldn't have wrapped their arms around them.
The air felt different here.
Still.
Almost sacred.
No birds sang.
No insects buzzed.
Even the rain seemed quieter beneath the enormous canopy.
Aria slowed, catching her breath.
She had escaped.
For now.
Then she noticed the stones.
They weren't natural.
Half-buried beneath centuries of moss, they formed a broken circle around a small clearing.
Each stone was carved with faded symbols.
The moment Aria stepped inside the circle, the fragment in her pouch grew warm.
Then hot.
She gasped and pulled it free.
The silver veins inside the black shard blazed with light.
The symbols on the stones answered.
One by one.
Around the clearing, ancient runes awakened after what looked like centuries of silence.
The forest trembled.
A low hum rose from beneath the earth.
Aria's heart raced as the light spread from stone to stone until the entire circle glowed with pale silver fire.
She took an involuntary step backward.
"What... is this place?"
A voice answered from the shadows.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Aria spun toward the sound.
An old man stood at the edge of the clearing, leaning on a weathered staff carved from white wood. His long gray cloak hung heavy with rain, yet somehow he seemed untouched by it.
His pale eyes weren't fixed on Aria.
They were fixed on the glowing fragment in her hand.
For the first time in years, his calm expression broke.
Fear.
"Impossible," he whispered.
"The Spark has chosen its bearer."
The old man did not move.
Neither did Aria.
Rain dripped from the edge of her hood, splashing softly against the glowing stone in her palm. The silver light reflected in the stranger's eyes, making them seem almost luminescent.
For a long moment, the only sound between them was the rain.
Finally, he spoke.
"Put it away."
His voice was calm, but there was urgency beneath it.
Aria tightened her grip instead.
"Who are you?"
The old man sighed.
"The wrong question."
His gaze swept across the ring of standing stones.
"The right question is... how long do we have?"
A deep vibration rolled through the clearing.
The ancient monoliths answered with another pulse of silver light.
The old man's face paled.
"Not long enough."
Aria instinctively stepped back.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No," he replied quietly. "You don't."
His eyes settled on her.
"But you will."
________________________________________
A twig snapped behind them.
Both turned.
Another.
Then another.
The old man's expression hardened.
"They found you faster than I expected."
Voices echoed through the forest.
"Spread out!"
"Search the clearing!"
"She couldn't have gone far!"
Imperial scouts.
Aria's heart lurched.
"They tracked me."
"They tracked the relic," the old man corrected.
He looked toward the fragment in her hand.
"It shines like a beacon to those who know how to find it."
Aria stared at the stone.
"So this is my fault."
"No."
His voice sharpened.
"The people who locked it away are at fault."
Another shout rang out.
"I see light!"
The old man struck the base of his staff against the ground.
The glowing runes flared.
Wind exploded outward from the circle, sending leaves and rain spiraling into the air.
The silver light climbed the standing stones like fire racing through dry wood.
"What are you doing?" Aria shouted.
"Buying us time."
The earth shook.
The nearest scout burst into the clearing, sword drawn.
He stopped dead.
The stones were floating.
Not high—only a few inches above the ground—but enough to make every soldier hesitate.
The captain emerged beside him.
His face drained of color.
"No..."
He recognized the place.
"The Circle of Wardens."
Before anyone could react, one of the stones cracked.
A sharp beam of silver light shot into the sky.
Every bird in the forest erupted into flight.
The captain stumbled backward.
"Retreat!" he shouted.
No one moved.
They couldn't.
Something beneath the clearing had awakened.
The ground split with a deafening c***k.
Roots tore free from the earth as a pillar of black crystal forced its way upward, taller than the surrounding trees. Ancient runes crawled across its surface, glowing with the same silver light as the fragment in Aria's hand.
The whispers returned.
This time, they were unmistakable.
Find the Veil.
Before they do.
Aria clutched her head.
The voices were louder than ever.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Each speaking in a different language.
Each carrying the same warning.
The old man looked at her—not with surprise, but with certainty.
"They're speaking to you."
"I can't understand them!"
"You don't need to."
He tightened his grip on the staff.
"You only need to listen."
The black crystal trembled.
A second c***k spread across its surface.
Something moved inside.
Not a reflection.
Not a trick of the light.
A silhouette.
Tall.
Thin.
Waiting.
Then...
A hand pressed against the crystal from within.
Five long fingers.
Far too large to belong to any human.
The clearing fell silent.
Even the soldiers forgot to breathe.
The old man whispered a single name.
"Nocthar..."
The crystal cracked again.
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