Chapter Six
975 Words
Lyra did not move.
The forest felt different now.
A few minutes ago, it had been a place of shadows and whispers.
Now it felt like a place holding its breath.
Waiting.
For her answer.
She looked at the stranger standing before her.
Kael.
The name that had appeared from nowhere.
The person her grandmother had recognized.
The man who looked at her like he already knew every secret she had spent her whole life trying to understand.
“I asked you a question.”
Her voice was steadier than she felt.
“Who are you?”
Kael studied her for a moment before answering.
“Someone who came too late.”
Lyra frowned.
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
His eyes moved toward the village behind her.
“But it is the truth.”
She crossed her arms.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
The simple response caught her off guard.
Kael looked back at her.
“I don’t expect you to believe anything I say.”
“Good.”
A small flicker of surprise crossed his face.
Lyra lifted her chin.
“Because everyone keeps telling me things I’m supposed to accept without explanation.”
For the first time, Kael looked less like a stranger and more like someone who understood.
“You’re angry.”
“I’m confused.”
She corrected him.
“And there’s a difference.”
The corner of his mouth almost lifted.
Almost.
“You’re not what I expected.”
Lyra narrowed her eyes.
“What did you expect?”
Kael didn’t answer.
That annoyed her even more.
“Do you always avoid questions?”
“When the answers could get someone killed.”
The seriousness in his voice made her quiet.
The wind suddenly became colder.
Kael looked toward the trees.
His expression changed.
Alert.
Watching.
Lyra noticed.
“What is it?”
“We need to leave.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“Now.”
“No.”
Kael looked back at her.
“No?”
“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know why you know my name. I don’t know why my grandmother is afraid of you.”
She stepped closer.
“And now you want me to follow you into a forest because you said so?”
For a moment, Kael simply looked at her.
Then he said:
“You’re either incredibly brave…”
A pause.
“…or incredibly reckless.”
Lyra shrugged.
“People say both.”
Despite the situation, something almost like amusement appeared in his eyes.
Almost.
A sound echoed through the trees.
A branch breaking.
Then another.
Kael immediately moved in front of her.
Lyra noticed.
“You’re protecting me?”
“No.”
His answer was too quick.
“I’m protecting the mission.”
The words should not have bothered her.
But they did.
“Right.”
Kael looked at her.
“You think I’m lying?”
“I think you don’t know how to say anything that sounds human.”
For the first time, his expression actually changed.
A small breath of laughter escaped him.
It disappeared almost immediately.
But Lyra noticed.
So he could smile.
Interesting.
The shadows between the trees shifted.
Kael reached for something hidden beneath his coat.
Lyra stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure we leave alive.”
The confidence in his voice was unsettling.
Then she saw it.
A symbol carved into the tree.
The same symbol from her grandmother’s hidden room.
Her stomach dropped.
“You know that mark.”
Kael followed her gaze.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
He hesitated.
“The symbol of those searching for you.”
Lyra’s heart tightened.
“Who?”
Kael looked at her.
“The people who believe the last heir belongs to them.”
The words sent a chill through her.
“I’m not anyone’s possession.”
“No.”
His voice softened slightly.
“You’re not.”
A moment passed.
Then he added:
“That is why you are dangerous.”
Lyra frowned.
“How can someone who doesn’t know anything be dangerous?”
Kael looked at the pendant.
“Because power does not wait for someone to understand it.”
When Lyra returned home, the sky was beginning to brighten.
Kael had disappeared before she could ask more questions.
But he left her with one warning.
Do not trust the moon.
She still didn’t understand what he meant.
Inside the cottage, her grandmother was waiting.
The moment she saw Lyra’s face, she knew.
“You met him.”
Lyra stopped.
“You knew I would.”
Her grandmother closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Anger rose inside Lyra again.
“You knew everything.”
“No.”
Her grandmother looked at her sadly.
“I knew enough to be afraid.”
Lyra looked toward the window.
The Crimson Moon was fading.
But the fear it brought remained.
“Who is Kael?”
Her grandmother was silent for a long moment.
Then she whispered:
“Someone who has spent years fighting against the darkness that is coming for you.”
Lyra waited.
“But?”
Her grandmother looked at the pendant.
“But even the people who fight monsters can become monsters themselves.”
Deep within the forest, Kael stood alone.
Watching the village.
Watching the girl who had no idea what waited for her.
A voice came from behind him.
“You found her.”
Kael did not turn.
“Yes.”
“And?”
Silence.
Then:
“She is not ready.”
The unseen figure laughed softly.
“No one ever is.”
Kael looked toward the fading Crimson Moon.
Because he knew the truth.
Finding Lyra had been the easy part.
Keeping her alive…
Would be the impossible one.
- Writer
