Chapter 54: The Mark in the Forest
578 Words
The celebration in the castle continued long into the night.
Music echoed through the halls, and warriors filled the courtyard with laughter and stories of the battle.
But not everyone was celebrating.
Aria stood quietly in the shadow of the castle gate, pulling a dark cloak over her shoulders.
The cold night wind brushed against her face as she looked toward the northern forest.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what Commander Roran had said.
Dark rituals.
Symbols carved into trees.
Something inside her told her she needed to see it herself.
A voice suddenly spoke behind her.
“You’re sneaking out.”
Aria jumped slightly and turned around.
Kael stood a few steps away, his arms crossed.
His golden eyes were filled with amusement.
Aria sighed.
“I thought I was being quiet.”
“You were,” Kael replied. “Just not quiet enough.”
She hesitated.
“I need to see that place.”
“The ritual site?”
She nodded.
Kael studied her for a moment before speaking again.
“Then you’re not going alone.”
---
A short time later, a small group rode through the forest.
Kael led the way on his black horse while Aria rode beside him.
Commander Roran and two elite warriors followed behind them.
The deeper they moved into the forest, the colder the air became.
The trees grew thicker.
The moonlight barely reached the ground.
Finally, Roran raised his hand.
“We’re close.”
They dismounted and continued on foot.
After a few minutes, the trees suddenly opened into a small clearing.
And the moment Aria stepped inside, she felt it.
A dark energy in the air.
Cold.
Heavy.
Unnatural.
The ground was covered in strange symbols burned into the soil.
Trees around the clearing had deep carvings in their bark.
Ancient runes.
Kael’s expression hardened.
“This isn’t the work of monsters.”
Roran nodded.
“No creature could carve symbols this precisely.”
Aria slowly stepped closer to the center of the clearing.
Something about the markings felt familiar.
Her wrist began to glow.
The crescent mark lit up softly.
“Aria?” Kael said.
But she barely heard him.
Her eyes were fixed on the largest symbol in the middle of the clearing.
A dark circle… surrounded by jagged lines that looked like claws.
Suddenly—
The symbol flared with red light.
A deep voice echoed through the clearing.
“Well… well…”
The warriors instantly drew their weapons.
“Who’s there?” Kael demanded.
A figure stepped out from behind the trees.
A tall man wearing a dark hood.
His face was hidden in shadow.
But his voice carried a twisted amusement.
“I wondered when the Moon’s Chosen would arrive.”
Aria’s heart raced.
“You’re the one who made these symbols.”
The hooded man chuckled.
“I merely prepared the door.”
Kael stepped forward.
“Door to what?”
The man slowly lifted his head.
His glowing red eyes appeared beneath the hood.
“To the return of my master.”
The symbol on the ground suddenly burned brighter.
Dark energy shot upward into the sky.
The forest trembled violently.
Aria felt the power inside her react instantly.
The crescent mark blazed like silver fire.
Kael grabbed her arm.
“Aria—”
But the hooded man laughed.
“Too late.”
The ground exploded with dark energy.
And from the center of the ritual circle…
Something began to rise.
- Writer
