CHAPTER THREE — Whispers in the Wraithwood
1748 Words
The forest felt colder now.
Not because the air had changed, but because Liora had. Her hands still tingled with faint warmth, though the golden glow had faded. Every time she blinked, she saw the burst of light again—saw the wraithbeast flying backward—saw herself doing something impossible.
She wrapped her arms around her chest and walked mechanically through the thick mist. Kael kept a few steps ahead, moving with smooth, silent confidence that made him seem like part of the forest rather than a stranger inside it.
The moon filtered through the glowing leaves, casting soft light across the uneven ground. Strange plants with pale blue petals grew in clusters, releasing tiny specks of floating light when disturbed. Roots curled like sleeping snakes beneath the soil. Everything felt alive.
Too alive.
Liora hugged herself tighter. “Are more of those things going to come?”
“Wraithbeasts?” Kael asked without turning around. “Possibly.”
“Possibly?” she echoed. “That’s not comforting.”
Kael didn’t respond. He seemed distracted, gaze sweeping the treeline as if listening to something she couldn’t hear.
After a long silence, Liora finally said, “What did that light mean? The one that came from me?”
Kael slowed, glancing back at her with those storm-colored eyes. “Magic answers magic. When the beast attacked, your old power responded.”
“But I’ve never used magic.”
“You have never needed to.”
Liora let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t even know magic like that existed.”
“Most don’t. The king ensured that.”
There it was again—that quiet bitterness in his voice. Liora frowned, stepping over a fallen branch.
“You keep talking about the king like he’s the villain in all this.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “His ancestors built a prison out of magic that wasn’t theirs. They used it to silence my kind and reshape the world to their liking. They feared what they couldn’t control.”
“And what about now?” Liora asked. “Why would I be a threat to him?”
Kael stopped walking completely. His expression softened with something like caution—or maybe regret.
“Because the Heartstone is gone,” he said. “And the balance it enforced is breaking. The king will be desperate to hold onto power. Anyone with awakened magic—especially old magic—will be seen as a danger.”
Liora’s stomach sank. “So he’ll come after me.”
“Yes,” Kael said. “And soon.”
A wave of cold dread rolled through her. She stopped walking, pressing a hand to her forehead.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she whispered. “I didn’t want any of it. I just wanted a normal life.”
Kael turned, his expression unreadable. “Normal was never meant for you.”
Liora let out a bitter laugh. “Then I must’ve missed the warning label at birth.”
Kael didn’t smile.
Another silence followed. This one stretched between them, heavy with unspoken fear.
Finally, Kael said, “We should rest.”
“Rest?” Liora blinked at him. “How am I supposed to rest? We were attacked, I nearly died, I apparently have magic, and the king wants me dead. Rest is not even on the list of possibilities.”
“You will collapse if you don’t,” Kael replied. “Magic awakening takes a toll on the body. You are trembling.”
Liora opened her mouth to deny it—then looked at her hands.
They were shaking uncontrollably.
Her chest tightened.
Kael scanned the forest and pointed to a cluster of ancient roots twisted into a natural arch. “There. It’s sheltered.”
Liora wasn’t eager to sit in a glowing forest with strange creatures lurking nearby, but her legs felt unsteady. Reluctantly, she walked to the roots and sat on a bed of soft moss. Kael remained standing, eyes fixed on the dark trees.
Liora hugged her knees. “Don’t you ever get tired?”
“I don’t sleep as humans do.”
“Of course you don’t,” she muttered under her breath.
The mist curled around them like slow-moving fog. Strange insects buzzed softly in the distance. The forest had a heartbeat of its own—quiet, ancient, watchful.
Kael finally sat across from her, folding his legs with unnatural grace. For a moment, he looked almost human… until the shadows flickered around his shoulders again.
Liora watched him carefully. “You said you were trapped for centuries.”
“Yes.”
“Then why were you the one imprisoned? You make it sound like there were others.”
Kael hesitated.
“There were,” he said slowly. “Hundreds of us. Thousands, perhaps. When the Heartstone was created, it consumed the essence of every Forgotten it touched.”
“Consumed?”
“Absorbed. Bound. Erased.” Kael’s voice dropped. “I was the last one pulled into its core.”
Liora shivered. “So everyone else—your people—they’re gone?”
Kael’s eyes darkened. “I do not know. Some may have escaped. Some may have been trapped in different ways. But I was the only one imprisoned so deep that I could see the world through the stone.”
Liora frowned. “See it? As in… watch it?”
Kael nodded faintly. “Every sunrise. Every king crowned. Every war fought. Every lie told about the Heartstone. I saw the kingdom prosper on a foundation of silence and buried truths.”
“That sounds awful,” Liora said quietly.
Kael looked up at the glowing canopy. “It was not the prison that tormented me most. It was knowing I could do nothing to stop what was coming.”
“What is coming?” Liora asked.
Kael’s pause was too long.
“The return of the old world,” he said at last. “And the collapse of the new.”
Liora felt her heartbeat jump. “That sounds… very bad.”
“It depends on who survives it.”
A branch snapped somewhere to their left. Liora gasped, but Kael lifted a hand.
“Not a beast,” he murmured. “Human footsteps.”
Liora stiffened. “Guards?”
“Too light,” he said. “Someone else.”
Another c***k echoed through the trees.
Then a voice—low, muffled by distance—called out:
“Liora!”
Liora’s breath hitched. Her heart leapt. She recognized that voice instantly.
“Mira?” she whispered.
Her best friend.
Her only friend.
Before Kael could stop her, she leapt to her feet. “Mira! I’m here!”
“Wait—” Kael began.
But it was too late.
A figure emerged from the mist—running, stumbling, covered in leaves and scratches. Mira’s dark curls were tangled, her face pale with terror. The moment she spotted Liora, she sprinted forward and pulled her into a tight hug.
“Oh thank the stars!” Mira gasped, shaking. “Liora, I thought you were dead! The citadel—the explosion—the guards said—”
She broke off, breathless.
Liora hugged her back, overwhelmed by relief. “I’m okay. I swear. I’m okay.”
Mira pulled away just enough to hold her shoulders. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “What happened to you? Everyone is saying you were involved—that the blast was your fault—”
Liora’s chest tightened. “Mira, no—listen—”
Then Mira noticed Kael.
Her smile faded instantly.
“Liora,” she whispered, “who is that?”
Kael didn’t move. He merely watched, eyes steady, expression unreadable.
“Mira,” Liora said carefully, “I need you to stay calm—”
Mira stepped back, fear creeping across her face. “Liora… his eyes. And the shadows—what is he?”
Kael rose slowly to his feet.
“Mira,” Liora said again, trying to steady her voice, “he’s not here to hurt us.”
But Mira wasn’t listening. Her gaze darted wildly between them.
“The king’s soldiers are searching everywhere,” Mira said, voice trembling. “They said the creature—the thing that escaped the Heartstone—kidn*pped you.”
Liora swallowed.
Kael’s expression tightened.
“And they said…” Mira took a deep breath. “They said you might have been corrupted by it.”
Liora felt like she’d been stabbed.
“I’m not corrupted,” she whispered. “Mira, you know me.”
Mira hesitated.
Just one heartbeat too long.
Liora’s stomach dropped.
Kael stepped forward. “We should leave. Now.”
Mira yelped and stumbled backward. “Liora—NO! Don’t go with that thing! Please!”
“He’s not a thing!” Liora snapped. “He saved me!”
Mira flinched.
Kael said nothing.
The silence thickened.
Then Mira’s eyes widened with fresh fear. “Liora—don’t move.”
Liora froze. “What? Why?”
Mira pointed shakily behind her.
Liora turned—
—and her breath left her body.
Six guards stood at the edge of the clearing.
Swords drawn.
Crossbows aimed.
Behind them, a robed mage held his glowing hands raised, ready to strike.
“There,” the captain said coldly. “Seize the girl.”
Liora’s pulse spiked. “No—wait—please—”
Mira stumbled backward, terrified.
Kael stepped forward, shadows rising around him like wings.
“Stand back,” he warned.
The captain sneered. “Creature, surrender or die where you stand.”
Kael didn’t move.
Liora’s breath quickened. “Please don’t hurt anyone—”
Kael glanced at her. “You must choose.”
Liora’s heart pounded painfully.
“Choose?” she whispered.
“Stand with them,” Kael said softly, “or stand with me.”
The guards stepped closer.
Mira shook her head desperately, tears falling. “Liora… come back home. Please.”
Kael held out his hand—calm, steady, certain.
“Your magic is awake now,” he said. “If you go with them, they will cage you. Like they caged me.”
Liora’s hands trembled.
Her world split in two.
Behind her: her best friend, her home, everything she had ever known.
Before her: the truth, the danger, the power she never asked for.
Mira whispered brokenly, “Please…”
Kael whispered quietly, “Choose.”
And the forest held its breath.
- Writer
