The Abandoned Cabin
721 Words
Chapter 3: The Abandoned Cabin*
We didn’t stop running until the sky started to turn grey.
Dawn.
Which meant the Order would have reinforcements by noon.
Lyra stumbled and I caught her. Again.
Her hands were ice cold. Her magic was gone. Healing me had drained her.
“We need shelter,” I said. My voice was rough from running, from shouting, from everything.
She nodded, too tired to argue.
Ten minutes later, we found it.
An old cabin. Half-collapsed. Hidden by trees and vines. Probably abandoned during the last plague wave.
I checked it first. Habit.
Empty. Dusty. One bed, a fireplace, a table.
Safe. For now.
Lyra sank to the floor the second we were inside.
“I can’t—” she started, then cut off.
Her breathing was shallow.
“You used too much magic on me,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
She gave a weak laugh. “And you’re welcome.”
I should’ve said something smart. Something cold.
Instead I knelt next to her and pulled off my cloak. Draped it over her shoulders.
She looked up at me, surprised.
“Don’t get used to it,” I muttered. “Warlocks don’t do blankets.”
“Liar,” she whispered. But she pulled it closer.
The fire was dead. The cabin was freezing.
I built one. Old skills. Before the Order.
The flames caught, throwing shadows across her face.
For a while, neither of us talked.
The only sounds were the crackle of wood and the rain on the roof.
Finally, she spoke.
“They’ll kill you for this. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“They’ll call you a traitor. Like they called me.”
“I know.”
She shifted, pulling the cloak tighter. “Then why? Why did you let me go in that village?”
I stared at the fire.
“My sister,” I said. The words felt like glass in my throat. “Elara. She’s cursed. The Order says they’re helping her. But they’re not. They’re just… keeping her alive. Barely.”
Lyra went still.
“When I saw you heal that boy,” I continued. “I saw something I haven’t seen in two years. Hope.”
I looked at her. “Your magic is different. It’s not dark. It’s not curse magic. It’s… life.”
Her gold eyes were wet. “You think I can help her?”
“I think you’re the only one who can.”
There. I’d said it.
She was quiet for a long time. Then: “If I help her, the Order will hunt us both forever.”
“I know.”
“If I help her, I could die trying.”
“I know.”
She sat up, wincing. “Then why are you asking?”
“Because I’m desperate,” I admitted. “And because…”
The words stuck.
Because I trust you.
Because I don’t want to let you go.
Because when you touched me, it didn’t feel like magic. It felt like coming home.
I didn’t say any of that.
Instead I said, “Because it’s the right thing.”
Lyra studied me. Like she was trying to see through all the armor and lies to the man underneath.
“Okay,” she said finally.
My heart stopped. “Okay?”
“Okay. I’ll try to help your sister.”
She held up a hand before I could speak. “But on one condition.”
“Anything.”
“You don’t lie to me again. Not about this. Not about us.”
_Us._
The word hung in the air between us.
I nodded. Slowly. “Deal.”
She exhaled, like she’d been holding her breath. Then her eyes drifted shut.
“Wake me if the Order comes,” she murmured. “I’m so tired, Kael.”
And just like that, she fell asleep.
Curled up in my cloak, in front of my fire, in a cabin I was supposed to burn down with her inside.
I sat there and watched her.
The witch I was sent to kill.
The only person I trusted in the entire world.
Outside, the forest was quiet.
But I knew they were coming.
And when they did, I’d burn the whole Order down to keep her safe.
*END OF CHAPTER 3*
- Writer
