chapter 10 continue
565 Words
Selene’s chest rose and fell fast. The glow in her palm dimmed until only faint lines burned like silver veins beneath her skin. She swallowed hard, eyes flicking from the Wise One to Kael.
“You—” she pointed at him, her voice trembling. “Who are you really? You can’t just appear with a sword and eyes that glow like the moon and act like this is normal. What’s your name? Where did you come from? And—” she stopped, breath catching— “how old are you?”
Kael stiffened. His hand lingered near the hilt of his blade, as if instinct told him to hide behind silence. But Selene’s eyes—bright, confused, demanding—would not let him.
The Wise One smirked knowingly from her chair. “Ah. The questions finally begin.”
Kael let out a slow, ragged breath. “You ask too much.”
“I don’t care,” Selene snapped, heat rising in her voice. “You’ve been following me, saving me, and I deserve to know why. Who are you?”
For a moment, silence. The fire crackled low. Shadows shifted on the walls.
Then Kael’s lips moved, the words heavy as stone.
“My real name…” he paused, as if speaking it broke a chain inside him. “Zamile.”
Selene blinked. “Zamile?”
The Wise One’s smile widened, eyes glittering. “So the hunter speaks his truth at last.”
Selene frowned. “Hunter? What are you talking about?”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “It doesn’t matter. Not yet.”
“No!” Selene stepped closer, refusing to be brushed aside. “It matters to me! You— you fight like someone out of a story, you know about runes, you—” She glanced at the Wise One, then back at him. “You said I was stronger than they know. They? Who are they?”
Kael turned away as if her gaze cut deeper than a blade. His shoulders trembled once, then stilled.
“I am older,” he said finally, his voice low, rough. “Older than the oldest here. Older than that woman sitting in her chair smiling at us.”
Selene’s heart lurched. She looked at the Wise One—who only nodded slowly, as though she’d expected this.
“What?” Selene whispered. “That can’t be possible.”
Kael turned his eyes back to her, silver burning in the dim room. “Possible? Selene… I have walked this world for six thousand years. I have watched empires rise and fall. I have buried friends, families, kingdoms. I am not like you.”
Selene stumbled back, her pulse thundering in her ears. The room seemed to spin. Six thousand years? Older than history? Older than stories?
“Then…” she whispered, almost afraid to ask. “Why are you here? Why are you— with me?”
Kael’s hand tightened at his side. He opened his mouth, but the Wise One’s laugh cut through the heavy air.
“Because, child,” the old woman said, eyes fixed on Selene, “your fates are tied by a bond neither of you chose… and one that may yet destroy you both.”
The firelight dimmed, throwing their faces in shadow. Selene’s breath caught, Kael’s jaw clenched, and for the first time—neither could find the words.
- Writer
