Hunters In The Dark
456 Words
Chapter 7: Hunters in the Dark*
Lyra’s breath caught as Kael yanked her into the shadows of the stone corridor. Above them, heavy footsteps echoed through the chapel ruins.
“They found us,” he whispered. “Too fast.”
“Can we fight them?” she asked.
Kael gave her a tight glance. “Not yet. You don’t know what you’re capable of—and I’m not losing you in the first week.”
They moved silently through a narrow side tunnel that curved away from the main chamber. Behind them, voices grew clearer.
“She triggered the vault.”
“The prophecy is in motion.”
“She must be contained before the mark fully awakens.”
Lyra’s fingers tightened in Kael’s. “They’re talking about me like I’m some... weapon.”
“To them, you are.”
They emerged behind the old gardens—long-abandoned, overgrown, and shielded by magical wards. Kael raised a hand, slicing through the invisible veil with a clawed finger, and pulled her through.
For a moment, silence returned.
Lyra collapsed against a tree, breathless. “They were going to trap me.”
Kael nodded. “Or worse. If the Council fears your power, they’ll act before you can learn to use it.”
“I thought this school was meant to protect people like me.”
Kael’s expression darkened. “This school protects the old rules, Lyra. You break them just by existing.”
She looked up at him. “Why are you helping me?”
He paused, gold eyes meeting hers. “Because I know what it’s like to be hunted for what you are. And because—” He stopped himself.
“Because what?”
Kael looked away. “Forget it.”
But Lyra’s heart was already racing, and not from the chase. There was something deeper between them—something that hummed in the air when they were near each other, like the pull of the tide to the moon.
She took a shaky breath. “So what do we do now?”
“We train,” Kael said. “We uncover what the prophecy really means. And we stay ahead of the Council.”
A wolf’s howl rang out from the forest—long, low, and close.
Kael’s jaw clenched. “They’ve released the Sentinels.”
“Sentinels?”
“Elite wolf trackers. Loyal to the Council. Once they catch your scent, they don’t stop.”
Lyra’s fingers brushed the mark on her wrist, which now pulsed with a soft light.
“If they want to hunt me,” she said, voice steady, “let them try.”
Kael blinked, then gave a rare, dangerous smile. “Now you’re talking like a Moonhart.”
- Writer
