Betrayal in the light 2
441 Words
For three days, Rael traveled with them.
He shared food, helped carry packs, and sat beside Ariah as she read from the scrolls. He asked questions — sharp ones. About the Eternal One. About the Flame. About what it meant to carry truth.
Tovin didn’t trust him. “People don’t show up in dark cloaks with soft voices and pure motives.”
But Ariah believed the best. “He’s broken, like all of us. Maybe he just needs a reason to hope again.”
On the fourth night, as they camped in the ruins of an old chapel, Ariah woke to silence.
Her lantern was gone.
So was her scroll.
And Rael.
She bolted upright. “He took them!”
Jalen and Mira scrambled to their feet. “Where?”
Tovin pointed. “South. I saw footprints.”
They ran through the night, lightless but determined.
By dawn, they reached a ridge overlooking a field — and there he was.
Rael.
Standing before a black-cloaked messenger — a servant of Prince Kael.
He handed the scroll over.
“No!” Ariah cried.
Rael turned, startled — then ashamed.
The messenger vanished in smoke, taking the scroll with him.
When they reached him, Rael fell to his knees.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I thought… I thought if I gave him the scroll, he’d let my sister go.”
Tears streamed down his face.
“He has her. In the Tower of Doubt. I had no choice.”
Ariah stood above him, shaking.
“You stole the truth. You handed it over to darkness.”
Rael looked up, pleading. “I never meant to betray you. I just didn’t believe… that the Eternal One could help me.”
Silence.
Jalen raised his sword slightly. “We should leave him.”
Tovin nodded. “He made his choice.”
But Ariah knelt down.
Her wrist glowed faintly. She placed it on Rael’s shoulder.
“You didn’t betray me,” she said. “You betrayed Him.”
Rael closed his eyes in shame.
Ariah continued, voice trembling: “But He still wants you. Even now.”
She stood and turned to the others. “We’re not going to abandon him. We’re going to the Tower of Doubt — to save his sister… and to take back what was stolen.”
That night, around a cold fire, Rael wept in silence.
And Ariah whispered into the stars, “Eternal One… I don’t understand. But I trust You.”
A warm wind swept over them, and the flame returned to her lantern — brighter than before.
Because forgiveness is where the light shines clearest.
- Writer
