What Was Left Behind
1167 Words
The creature was already mid-air.
Aurelia couldn’t move.
Its eyes—dark, hollow, wrong—locked onto hers as its body twisted unnaturally, too fast, too silent. The world narrowed to that single moment, her breath caught somewhere between fear and disbelief.
Then—
The chain snapped tight.
A sharp pull yanked her sideways just as the creature’s claws sliced through the air where her throat had been.
Aurelia stumbled hard, crashing against something solid.
No—
Someone.
Kael.
His arm locked around her waist, pulling her back with force as his other hand drove forward—
Steel met flesh.
A sickening sound followed.
The creature jerked violently as Kael’s blade sank deep into its chest. It didn’t scream. It only twitched, its body convulsing before collapsing to the ground like something empty inside had finally given way.
Aurelia’s breath came in short, broken bursts.
Her fingers clutched his coat without thinking.
“Stay behind me,” Kael said, his voice low and sharp.
She nodded, even though her legs felt like they might give out.
More of them were coming.
From the trees.
From the shadows.
Moving in ways no human should.
Kael stepped forward, placing himself fully between her and them. The chain between their wrists glowed faintly now, reacting, tightening with every shift of danger.
Aurelia swallowed hard.
“What… are they?” she whispered.
Kael didn’t look back.
“Not something you should have met this soon.”
Soon?
The word barely settled before another creature lunged. Kael moved faster this time, his blade flashing in the dim light, precise, merciless. It fell just as quickly as the first.
But there were more.
Too many.
The guards were struggling.
Some were already down.
Aurelia’s chest tightened, panic rising again—but then—
Something flickered.
Not outside.
Inside.
A sudden, sharp pulse beneath her skin.
The mark.
She gasped softly, her hand flying to her wrist.
It was glowing again.
Stronger than before.
The chain responded instantly—tightening, humming faintly like it was alive, like it recognized something she didn’t.
Kael stilled for just a second.
Only a second.
But it was enough.
He glanced back at her.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t—” her voice shook. “I don’t know—”
Another creature rushed them.
Kael turned just in time to strike it down, but this time, it didn’t fall completely. It clawed forward even as it collapsed, dragging itself across the ground toward Aurelia.
She froze.
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.
The world blurred.
And suddenly—
She wasn’t there anymore.
—
She was a child again.
The palace was brighter then. Warmer. Full of laughter that echoed through the halls like it would never end.
Aurelia stood barefoot on the polished floors, her small hands clutching a piece of parchment as she ran down the corridor.
“Mother!” she called, her voice light, hopeful. “Look what I—”
The doors at the end of the hall were already open.
But the room inside—
Was empty.
Her steps slowed.
“Mother?” she tried again.
No answer.
Only silence.
Aurelia’s small fingers tightened around the parchment.
“They said she’s busy again,” a voice came from behind her.
She turned.
Her older cousin leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her with something that wasn’t quite pity.
“They’re always busy,” Aurelia said quickly, almost defensively.
Her cousin didn’t argue.
Didn’t need to.
Because even then—
Aurelia knew it wasn’t true.
—
The memory shifted.
Faster now.
Blurred edges. Fading warmth.
Aurelia sat alone at a long dining table, her legs too short to reach the floor. The food in front of her was untouched.
Across from her—
Two empty seats.
Always empty.
“They’ll join you later,” a servant said gently.
They never did.
—
Another shift.
Another memory.
Older now.
Aurelia stood outside a closed door, voices echoing from within.
Her father’s voice.
Sharp. Urgent.
“…we don’t have a choice.”
“And if the prophecy is true?” her mother whispered.
Aurelia froze.
Prophecy.
The word sent a chill down her spine even then.
There was a long silence.
Then—
Her father again.
Colder this time.
“Then she was never ours to keep.”
Aurelia’s breath caught.
Her small hand slipped from the door.
She didn’t wait to hear more.
Didn’t want to.
—
The memory shattered.
Aurelia gasped, stumbling back into the present as the world rushed in all at once—the screams, the clash of steel, the cold air biting against her skin.
“No…” she whispered, her chest heaving.
The creature was still crawling toward her.
Closer now.
Too close.
Her hand lifted without thinking.
The mark burned.
And this time—
She didn’t stop it.
Light exploded from her wrist.
Blinding.
Sharp.
The creature let out a sound—something between a hiss and a crack—as the light struck it. Its body twisted violently before going still, collapsing into nothing but ash that scattered across the ground.
Silence fell.
Not completely.
But enough.
Aurelia stared at her hand.
Shaking.
“What… did I just do…?”
Kael was already in front of her.
Closer than before.
Too close.
His gaze locked onto hers, something intense and searching burning behind it.
“Where did you learn that?” he demanded.
Aurelia shook her head slowly.
“I didn’t… I’ve never—”
The chain pulsed again.
Hard.
Kael’s grip on her wrist tightened.
“Your family,” he said, his voice quieter now, but far more dangerous. “What didn’t they tell you?”
Aurelia’s chest tightened.
The memories still lingered.
The empty rooms.
The whispered words.
She was never ours to keep.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice breaking just slightly. “They were never… there. Not really.”
Kael studied her face.
Like he was searching for something deeper than her words.
Then—
The sound came.
Low.
Distant.
But growing.
Aurelia’s head turned sharply toward the forest.
The air shifted.
Heavier now.
Darker.
Even the surviving guards seemed to feel it—they backed away slowly, unease creeping into their movements.
“What is that…?” Aurelia whispered.
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
His gaze was fixed on the trees.
On the shadows that were beginning to move again.
But this time—
They weren’t alone.
Something stepped out from the darkness.
Taller than the others.
Still.
Watching.
Aurelia’s breath caught.
The chain burned against her skin.
And then—
The figure spoke.
Her name.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Aurelia…”
Her heart stopped.
Because she knew that voice.
Even after all these years.
Even after all the silence.
Her lips parted.
“…Mother?”
The figure stepped forward—
And the shadows around it began to twist into something far worse.
—
And Kael’s grip on her tightened as he whispered,
“Stay back.”
- Writer
