Silver Veins
712 Words
The forest whispered differently after Ariel’s vision. The Veil, once shimmering with light and memory, now dimmed behind them like a dream dissolving at dawn. She hadn’t said a word since they left the clearing. Her steps were careful, as though the earth beneath her feet might c***k open and pull her into another truth she wasn’t ready for.
Kai glanced sideways at her, his brows furrowed. He had seen the change in her eyes how distant they’d become. Whatever she had remembered, it shook her to her core.
“We should rest soon,” he said gently, breaking the silence. “There’s a spring nearby. Safe enough to camp.”
Ariel nodded, but her voice was missing. It had stayed behind with the memory of a woman’s scream, Kai being called the Phoenix son, the flash of silver veins, and a name that tasted both foreign and familiar on her tongue: Elara.
They reached the spring just as twilight crept over the treetops. The water shimmered under the fading light, reflecting the moon that had begun to rise. Kai knelt beside it, cupping water into his hands, while Ariel sat on a mossy rock, staring at her reflection.
Her face looked the same young, uncertain but her eyes… they were deeper now, haunted.
“What did you see?” Kai finally asked.
Ariel flinched. She had hoped he wouldn’t ask. “I saw… someone. A woman. She was afraid. Then pain. Screaming. Her skin her veins turned silver like fire under her skin.”
Kai went still. His hands stilled in the water, and his gaze locked onto hers.
“You’ve seen this before?” she asked, catching his reaction.
“No,” he said too quickly. “But… I’ve heard stories.”
“You’re lying.” Her voice was low but steady.
Kai looked away. “Sometimes stories are safer than truth.”
Ariel stood, her fists clenched. “You know something. You keep acting like we’re on the same journey, but I’m starting to think you’re just watching me. Waiting for me to remember something.”
He didn’t answer.
“Why won’t you tell me the truth?” she demanded. “Why are you here, really?”
Kai met her gaze, his expression unreadable. “Because the moonflower isn't just for you, Ariel. I need it too.”
Her breath caught. “For your kingdom?”
“Yes. But not just that.” He stepped closer, his voice low. “There’s something broken inside me… memories that come like echoes, pain that doesn’t belong to this life. And every time I look at you, it feels like I’m supposed to remember something, but I can’t.”
Ariel’s anger faded into confusion. “You’ve seen me before?”
“In dreams,” he admitted. “Even before the forest. You were always there.”
She looked at him, heart pounding. “Me too.”
The silence between them was no longer heavy it shimmered with possibility. But neither of them reached for it.
The moon rose higher, casting silver across the trees. Ariel rubbed her arms as the wind picked up. “Do you think we’ll find it?” she asked. “The moonflower?”
Kai stared into the sky. “If it wants to be found.”
“But it doesn’t call anyone,” she said, repeating the words she had heard growing up.
“No,” he said. “But maybe… just maybe… it recognizes who is meant to find it.”
Ariel turned back to the spring, watching the ripples twist her reflection. Behind her, the forest had gone silent again, as if listening.
“I don’t know who I am anymore,” she whispered.
Kai stepped behind her, his voice soft. “Maybe none of us do. Not until we face what we've forgotten.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Then we keep going?”
He nodded. “We keep going fast, we aren't the only ones seeking for it.”
And in that moment, under the watchful moon, the two strangers tied by fate and memory continued their journey each carrying secrets, each hiding scars.
But ahead of them, deeper into the forest, the shadows were waiting.
And so was the moonflower.
- Writer
