The First Marking
968 Words
Morning light filtered through the canopy, golden and warm, but Ariel didn’t feel it. She woke to a strange sensation, a dull ache beneath her collarbone like something hot and restless stirring just beneath her skin.
She sat up and touched the spot, wincing. There, right above her heart, a faint shimmer pulsed against her skin like moonlight trapped under flesh.
A symbol.
Delicate. Unfamiliar. Glowing faintly before fading again.
“Kai,” she whispered, panic flickering in her chest. “Kai!”
He stirred immediately, hand instinctively going to his sword. “What is it?”
She pulled aside her tunic enough to reveal the mark. His eyes widened as he moved closer, reaching out but stopping just before touching it.
“I’ve seen this,” he said. “In the scrolls. In the Temple of Orin.”
Ariel’s voice shook. “What does it mean?”
Kai hesitated. “It’s called a First Marking. It only appears on those who are chosen by the Vale... or cursed by it.”
“Chosen?” she echoed.
He nodded slowly. “The Vale the forest we’re in it was once home to a divine order. A place of trials. The moonflower doesn't bloom for everyone... only for those it marks.”
Ariel pulled her tunic back over the symbol. “So I’ve been chosen?”
“I think,” he said carefully, “you were always meant to find it. And now the forest knows it too.”
She tried to slow her breathing. “Why now?”
Kai stood, glancing around the clearing. “Because we’re getting close. And the forest is waking up.”
They packed in silence, tension thick between them. Ariel couldn't stop thinking about the mark, how it pulsed when she got too close to certain trees, how her dreams had shifted the night before filled with stars, blood, and a woman who looked like her, whispering a name she couldn’t remember.
As they followed the winding stream deeper into the woods, the air grew cooler, more alive. The birds quieted. The trees grew taller, older. Moss clung to every surface like memory. They passed ruins stones carved with symbols neither of them could read.
“What was this place?” Ariel asked.
Kai ran his fingers along one of the symbols. “According to legend, the heart of the Vale was once a sacred trial ground. Pilgrims came from all kingdoms to seek the moonflower. Few returned.”
“And those who did?”
“Were never the same.”
They moved carefully, each step echoing louder in the silence.
That’s when they heard it.
Laughter.
High, melodic, and distant.
Ariel froze. “Did you hear that?”
Kai drew his sword. “We’re not alone.”
They pressed on cautiously until the forest opened up into a small glade. At its center stood a tree unlike any other twisted silver bark, leaves like translucent glass, and a hollow that pulsed with pale light.
Beneath it sat a girl.
She looked no older than Ariel. Her eyes were silver. Her hair floated around her as though suspended in water. And she smiled when she saw them, as if she’d been waiting.
“I was wondering when you’d arrive,” she said.
Kai stepped in front of Ariel, protective. “Who are you?”
“I’ve been called many things,” she said, unfazed. “Spirit. Warden. Curse. But you may call me Eirian.”
Ariel stepped forward despite herself. “Did you give me the mark?”
Eirian’s smile widened. “No. That was the Vale. But I am here to give you something else.”
She stood, and in her hands appeared a shard of crystal light, no bigger than a coin. She walked toward Ariel and gently pressed it to her forehead.
Ariel flinched, but it didn’t hurt.
Instead, her mind exploded with light.
Images.
A castle by the sea. A woman in white, cradling a baby. Fire. Screaming. A man with eyes like hers shouting, “Protect her!”
Then, silence.
She staggered back, gasping.
“What... what was that?”
“Your first vision,” Eirian said. “A glimpse of your truth.”
Kai caught Ariel as she wobbled. “She’s not ready.”
“She’s exactly where she needs to be,” Eirian replied calmly. “The first marking opens the path. The rest depends on your choices.”
“Why us?” Kai demanded. “Why her?”
“Because the world is not what it seems. The moonflower is only part of the story. And so is she.”
Eirian looked at Ariel, her tone softer now. “You are more than you believe. And the blood in your veins is older than this forest.”
“What does that mean?” Ariel asked.
But Eirian was already fading, her form dissolving into motes of light.
“Seek the Shrine of Echoes,” she whispered. “Before the crimson moon.”
And then she was gone.
They camped near the silver tree that night. Ariel sat by the fire, staring at the mark on her chest as it pulsed gently with light.
Kai sat across from her, sharpening his blade, though his eyes often drifted to her.
“Are you afraid?” he asked quietly.
Ariel hesitated. “Yes. But not of the forest.”
He nodded. “Of yourself.”
She met his gaze. “Of what I’ll find when all the answers come.”
Kai tossed a stick into the fire. “We’ll face it together.”
Ariel leaned back, letting the warmth of the fire ease the ache in her chest. She didn’t speak, but in her heart, she clung to that promise.
Together.
Even if the Vale had other plans.
- Writer
