The Enchanted Five

Book 1 Chapter 19

Three days. Three long, quiet, suffocating days since the blow‑up in the field. Ari hadn’t spoken to Bram. Bram hadn’t tried again. And the castle felt… off. Like the air itself was holding its breath. Ari buried herself in research to avoid thinking about any of it. She lived between the library, her room, and the Great Hall, only long enough to grab food before disappearing again. She barely saw Moira. She didn’t see Torin at all. And she definitely didn’t see Bram. Good. She didn’t want to. She wanted answers. She wanted clarity. She wanted something that made sense. And finally, she found something. Ari sat hunched over her mother’s journal, flipping through pages she’d read a dozen times. But this time, something new caught her eye: a folded sheet tucked between two entries. A map. Her breath caught. It was hand‑drawn, old, and the ink faded, but it was still legible. The outline of the castle grounds was unmistakable. But what made her pulse quicken were the symbols scattered across the page, circles, runes, and markings that matched the ones she’d been studying. “The wards,” she whispered.

Her mother had mapped the ward stones. Ari traced the symbols with trembling fingers. There were five stones, each placed at a different point around the estate. One of them, the closest, was deep in the woods behind the barn. She grabbed her coat. She needed to see it for herself.

The forest was quiet, the winter air sharp and still. Ari followed the map, counting her steps, checking the tree markers, trying not to think about how she’d forgotten her phone on her desk. She found the first stone easily. It was half‑buried in moss, carved with runes that pulsed faintly under her fingertips, not glowing, not active, but humming with something ancient.

Ari’s heart raced. “This is real,” she whispered. “Mom was right.” She took notes, sketched the stone, and circled the area on the map. She felt alive again, focused, grounded, doing what she came here to do. But the sun dipped lower than she realized. And when she turned to head back…She wasn’t sure which direction she’d come from. Ari spun slowly, scanning the trees. Everything looked the same: dark trunks, tangled branches, patches of frost. Her stomach tightened.

“Okay,” she muttered. “Don’t panic. Just retrace your steps.” She tried. She failed. Within minutes, she was deeper in the woods than before. Branches snapped behind her. Ari froze.

“Going somewhere, little scholar?” Her blood ran cold. Kellan stepped out from behind a tree, hands in his pockets, smile sharp and hungry. “You really shouldn’t wander alone,” he said. “Makes things… easy.”

Ari backed up. “Stay away from me.”

Kellan chuckled. “Or what? You’ll hit me with your notebook?” He moved faster than she expected, too fast, grabbing her wrist and yanking her toward him. Ari reacted on instinct. She slammed her elbow into his ribs. Kellan hissed, surprised. “Feisty.” She kicked him in the shin. He stumbled. She tried to run, but he caught her arm again, grip tightening.

“Enough,” he growled. “You’re coming with...” A flash of light exploded between them. Kellan recoiled with a snarl, clutching his hand. Ari stumbled back, staring down at her chest. Her mother’s pendant was glowing. Bright. Fierce. Protective. Kellan’s eyes widened. “What? That shouldn’t...” Ari didn’t wait for him to finish. She grabbed a fallen branch and swung it with every ounce of adrenaline in her body. It cracked across his shoulder, sending him staggering. “You little...” The pendant flared again, brighter this time, forcing him to shield his face. Ari ran, and she didn’t stop running. Branches clawed at her coat, roots snagged her boots, and the cold air burned her lungs, but she kept going, desperate to put as much distance between herself and Kellan as possible. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know which direction the castle was. And she didn’t have her phone. Panic clawed at her throat. She stumbled over a fallen log and caught herself on her hands, breath shaking. The woods were darker now, shadows stretching long and thin between the trees. She needed shelter, somewhere hidden, safe.

A gust of wind pushed through the branches, and that’s when she saw it: a dark opening between two boulders, half‑covered in vines and snow—a cave. Ari hesitated only a second before scrambling toward it. The entrance was narrow, but inside it widened into a small hollow, dry and sheltered from the wind. She pressed her back against the stone wall, hugging her coat tighter around her.

Her mother’s pendant still glowed faintly, a soft, warm pulse against her skin. “Thank you,” she whispered, touching it gently.

Outside, the forest creaked and shifted. A twig snapped somewhere in the distance, too far to be Kellan, but close enough to remind her she wasn’t safe out here. Not completely. But safer than being out in the open. Ari curled up in the corner of the cave, exhaustion finally overtaking her. Her body shook from adrenaline, fear, and the chill, but the stone walls felt steady and safe. Safe enough to build a small fire for warmth, nothing large enough to be spotted from afar, just enough to keep from freezing, as her mother had taught her.

She would stay here until morning until the sun rose. Until she could find her way back. Her eyes drifted shut, the pendant’s warmth lulling her into a restless, uneasy sleep. And somewhere in the woods, far beyond her hiding place… Kellan searched. But he did not find her. Not tonight, anyway, so he headed back to the village to regroup, still wondering how she’d managed to get her hands on that pendant.