CHAPTER 8 — The Thorned Pact
1175 Words
The journey north pressed on, taking Lyra and Kassian across forests dense with whispering leaves, through fog-choked valleys where shadows moved in ways neither wished to question, and over ridges that gave fleeting views of distant, storm-lit mountains. The air had grown colder each day, sharpening their breaths and thinning their patience.
But it wasn’t only the land that chilled.Something was changing between them — something neither invited and both feared.
They kept walking.
By late afternoon, the sky had grown bruised with purples and coppery golds, the sun sinking behind the skeletal pines. The old Warden Road stretched before them, cracked with age, overtaken by creeping moss.
Lyra brushed her fingers along her cloak, shivering despite the steady pace.
Stop thinking of him.Stop thinking of the way he watches you when he thinks you’re not looking.
But every time she tried, her mind circled back.
“You’re quiet,” Kassian said without looking at her.
“I prefer silence,” she muttered.
“You prefer pretending you do.”
Her jaw tightened. “And you prefer pretending you know me.”
For once, Kassian didn’t fire back. He simply walked, boots crunching on frost-stiff weeds.
It aggravated her more than any of his remarks.
After a long stretch of silence, she asked, “How far until we reach Vorynth Hold?”
“Two days, if the road behaves,” he said. “Less, if the forest leaves us alone.”
The way he said it made her look sharply at him.
“What do you mean, ‘if the forest leaves us alone’?”
He exhaled through his nose. “The closer we get to the northern ley rifts, the more the boundary between realms thins. Shadows take shape. Old things wander.”
“Wonderful,” she muttered.
Kassian smirked. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
She scoffed. “From yourself? Generous.”
When darkness fell fully, they made camp near a crumbling stone watchtower. The air had a metallic bite, like storm-charged steel.
Lyra coaxed a flame from flint. It flared then steadied, bathing them in amber light.
Kassian sat across from her, one knee drawn up, eyes half-lit by the fire. There was something unreadable about him tonight — not hostile, not smug. Something quieter.
“Your magic’s changing,” he said.
She looked up sharply. “What?”
“I can feel it. It’s… different than before.”
She hesitated. “Stronger or weaker?”
His gaze held hers. “Stronger. Wilder. Like it’s waking up.”
A cold ripple ran through her. “Don’t pretend you care.”
“Maybe I don’t,” Kassian said softly. “But I do care if it gets you killed before we reach the truth.”
Her breath caught.
They had been enemies for so long — entire years defined by that single fact. And yet here they were, sitting on opposite sides of a fire, speaking as though they were simply two lost souls trying to survive the same cursed path.
She tore her gaze away, focusing on the flames.
“Tomorrow,” Kassian said, “we cross into the Wilds. If the Thorned Pact is real, that’s where we’ll find the next piece.”
Lyra swallowed, throat tight. “And if it’s not real?”
“Then we’re both in more danger than either of us realizes.”
A wind stirred the trees, sounding almost like a whisper.
Lyra hugged her knees to her chest. “Kassian… do you ever wonder if we’re doing the right thing? If breaking the binding mark isn’t supposed to be possible?”
His eyes flicked to the faint glow on her skin — the shared mark that tied their fates.
“Everything can be broken,” he said quietly. “Even curses. Even enmity.”
Her heartbeat stumbled.
But before she could reply, something snapped in the darkness behind them.
Both were on their feet in an instant.
Shapes slithered between the trees — tall, skeletal figures with limbs too long and heads bending at impossible angles. Their bodies shimmered like half-formed shadows.
Lyra’s voice came out in a whisper. “Riftborn…”
Kassian’s blades flashed into his hands. “Stay behind me.”
She bristled. “I’m not helpless!”
“Not what I said.” His stance shifted. “But they can sense emotions. Yours are… loud.”
Whether that was an insult or concern, she didn’t know — and didn’t have time to ask.
Three Riftborn stepped into view, eyes glowing faint silver.
They moved toward the fire, drawn to its warmth.
Kassian stepped forward. Lyra’s magic surged, the air vibrating around her.
“On my mark,” he murmured.
But the leader of the Riftborn tilted its head, studying Lyra.
Then it spoke in a voice like cracking ice, “Child of the Thorned Pact. We smell the waking.”
The words paralyzed her.
Kassian’s eyes snapped to her. “Lyra— what does it mean?”
“I— I don’t know.”
The creature extended a skeletal hand.“He waits for you in the dark roots. He remembers what was promised.”
Lyra’s breath vanished. Her stomach lurched.
Promised?To who?
Before she could speak, the Riftborn lunged.
Kassian moved like lightning — blades carving arcs of silver, each strike splitting shadow-flesh and sending it shrieking back.
Lyra unleashed a burst of emerald light, her magic instinctively targeting another creature, blasting it against a tree.
The third Riftborn hissed and darted behind her.
She spun, but not fast enough—
Kassian slammed into her, dragging her aside as a clawed arm slashed the air where she’d stood.
They landed tangled together, his arm shielding her, his breath warm against her cheek.
For a single beat, the world froze.
Then he whispered, low and urgent, “Focus. I need you with me.”
And she was.
Lyra thrust her palm forward, unleashing a wave of raw power that crackled through the clearing. The creature dissolved into drifting black smoke.
Silence fell.
Only the fire crackled.
Kassian slowly stood, offering her a hand.
She hesitated—Then took it.
Kassian’s voice was tight. “Explain. Now. What was that thing talking about?”
Lyra stared into the dying embers.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But it wasn’t lying.”
Kassian stepped closer. “Lyra—”
“There’s something inside me,” she said softly. “Something I don’t remember. Something waking.”
She hugged her arms around herself.
“And I think… someone is waiting for me.”
The wind moaned through the trees.
Kassian’s expression darkened with worry. “Then we’re running out of time.”
Lyra swallowed.
This journey had always been dangerous.
But now she realized—
She wasn’t only being hunted.She might be the one the darkness wanted to claim.
And Kassian…Kassian might be dragged down with her.
She stared into the distance, to the black line of the horizon.
The Thorned Pact was real.
And she was at the center of it.
- Writer
