Chapter 5
1073 Words
The raven soared through the gray afternoon sky without making a sound.
Its crimson eyes never left the royal messenger galloping below.
Every beat of its wings seemed guided by an ancient purpose.
It did not fly like an ordinary bird.
It watched.
As if the birth of one child had awakened something that had slept for generations.
Back in Ashmoor, the captain ordered his soldiers to remain on guard around Clara’s cabin.
“No one enters.”
“No one leaves.”
The soldiers obeyed immediately.
Some stood outside the front door.
Others patrolled the narrow paths between the cabins.
The villagers watched from a distance, whispering among themselves.
Fear spread faster than fire.
One young mother pulled her children close.
“Stay away from that house.”
“But why?” her little boy asked.
“Because strange things follow that child.”
Nearby, an elderly farmer shook his head.
“She is only a baby.”
Another man answered quietly,
“Perhaps.”
“But kingdoms have fallen because of babies before.”
Those words settled heavily over the crowd.
Inside the cabin, Clara sat beside the fireplace with Nelly sleeping peacefully in her arms.
She brushed a finger gently across her daughter’s tiny cheek.
“So many people are afraid of you”
A tear escaped her eye.
“But all I see is my little girl.”
The mark beneath Nelly’s collarbone shimmered softly beneath the blanket.
Not brightly.
Only enough for Clara to notice.
The old midwife watched in silence.
She had delivered children for nearly fifty years.
She knew every cry.
Every sickness.
Every miracle that life could bring.
Yet nothing had prepared her for this child.
Finally, she spoke.
“Clara”
“If the stories are true”
“You must be ready.”
Ready for what?
The old woman stared into the dancing fire.
“For people who will call your daughter a blessing”
“and others who will call her a curse.”
Clara tightened her embrace around Nelly.
“I don’t care what anyone believes.”
“I will protect her.”
The midwife smiled sadly.
“So did another mother once.”
Before Clara could ask what she meant, loud voices echoed outside.
The soldiers were arguing.
The captain stepped into the square.
What happened?
One guard pointed toward the eastern fields.
“The horses.”
Every horse had become restless.
They pulled violently against their reins.
Several refused to face the cabin.
One powerful warhorse suddenly broke free and galloped wildly toward the hills.
Another collapsed onto its knees, trembling.
The captain frowned.
What’s wrong with them?
No one answered.
An old stable keeper slowly approached.
His face had gone pale.
“I’ve raised horses all my life.”
“I’ve only seen them behave like this once.”
When?
The old man swallowed.
“The night King Oliver marched to his last battle.”
Silence swallowed the square.
The captain dismissed the man with a wave, but his own heartbeat had begun to quicken.
Could an infant truly awaken memories buried in beasts?
He glanced toward Clara’s cabin.
For the first time since arriving
Doubt slinked into his mind.
As evening approached, Ashmoor grew strangely quiet.
No birds sang.
No dogs barked.
Even the wind seemed reluctant to move through the village.
Inside the cabin, Nelly suddenly opened her soft gray eyes.
She was no longer crying.
Instead, she stared toward the window.
Her tiny hand slowly lifted into the air.
The room grew colder.
The candle flames bent toward her as though drawn by an invisible breath.
Clara looked around nervously.
Did you feel that?
The midwife nodded.
“I did.”
Neither of them noticed the silver mark glowing faintly beneath the blanket.
Outside
A long, mournful howl echoed across the distant hills.
Every soldier reached for his weapon.
Another howl answered.
Then another.
The sound rolled across the valley like a forgotten song carried by the wind.
One frightened villager whispered,
“Wolves”
“But there haven’t been wolves in years.”
The captain stared toward the darkening forest.
“There are now.”
Far beyond Ashmoor, hidden deep within the ancient forests that once belonged to the Wolf Kingdom, shadows stirred.
From caves hidden beneath cliffs…
From forgotten dens beneath towering pines…
Wolves emerged.
Some were old, their fur streaked with silver.
Others were young enough never to have seen the kingdom that had fallen before they were born.
Yet every one of them lifted its head at the exact same moment.
Their golden eyes turned toward the east.
Toward Ashmoor.
Toward the child.
None of them understood why.
Only that something deep within their blood called them.
An enormous silver wolf stepped onto a rocky ledge overlooking the valley.
Its scarred muzzle lifted toward the evening sky.
It released a single powerful howl.
The others answered immediately.
Not as hunters.
Not as a pack.
But as loyal subjects greeting the return of a forgotten royal bloodline.
The royal messenger rode without stopping.
His horse stumbled from exhaustion but continued forward.
“The King must know,” he muttered.
“The King must know before anyone else.”
Above him, the crimson-eyed raven remained unseen.
Watching.
Following.
Waiting.
That same evening…
Far beyond the forests…
Beyond the rivers…
Beyond every road leading to Ashmoor…
A young girl suddenly stopped walking.
She frowned and placed a hand against her chest.
A strange warmth spread through her body.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Recognition.
The breeze around her became still.
Leaves that had danced only moments before froze in place.
Somewhere…
Someone had awakened.
She slowly lifted her eyes toward the eastern horizon.
A feeling she could not explain settled deep inside her heart.
It felt as though an invisible thread had stretched across the kingdom…
Connecting her to someone she had never met.
“Who are you?” she whispered softly.
No answer came.
Only the distant cry of a raven echoing through the evening sky.
Hundreds of miles away, little Nelly opened her pale gray eyes at that exact same moment.
The silver mark upon her chest pulsed once.
Then faded.
Neither of the two girls knew the other existed.
But destiny had already taken its first step.
And before long…
The paths of Kaelyn and Nelly would collide in a way that would change the fate of the Kingdom of Zuru forever.
- Writer
