The Silver Oath Between Us

The Shadow That Remembers

The village fell silent.

The screams.

The crackling fire.

Even the wind.

Everything seemed to vanish as the figure of living darkness rose from the frightened little girl's hand.

His body wasn't solid.

It shifted like black smoke, constantly changing shape, yet his crimson eyes remained fixed on Aria.

They were ancient.

Patient.

Hungry.

Lucian stepped in front of her without hesitation.

His silver wolf emerged in a flash of moonlight, muscles tense, every strand of fur standing on end.

A deep growl rolled from his chest.

The shadow only smiled wider.

"So..."

His voice echoed through every corner of the ruined village.

"The king still hides behind his wolf."

Lucian bared his fangs.

"You're not welcome here."

The shadow chuckled.

"I never intended to stay."

He looked past Lucian.

Straight at Aria.

"I only came to see if your eyes still carried the same light."

Aria felt her heartbeat stumble.

"I don't know you."

"No."

The smile deepened.

"You've forgotten."

He sounded almost... disappointed.

"But I remember everything."

---

The little girl collapsed into Elder Mira's arms, unconscious.

The black mark vanished from her skin as though it had never existed.

Mira quickly examined her.

"She's alive."

Cassian released the breath he had been holding.

"What is that thing?"

Lucian never looked away from the shadow.

"Not a thing."

"A person."

The shadow bowed dramatically.

"How kind of you to remember your oldest enemy."

Cassian frowned.

"So you're Malachar."

The crimson eyes shifted toward him.

"I was."

The answer confused everyone.

"I've had many names since then."

"Monster."

"Executioner."

"The King Without a Soul."

He laughed softly.

"I've grown rather fond of the last one."

Aria swallowed.

This...

This was the man everyone feared.

Yet he wasn't shouting.

He wasn't attacking.

He simply stood there, watching her as though she'd become the center of his world.

It was somehow even more terrifying.

---

"What do you want?"

Aria forced the question out.

Malachar smiled.

"The same thing I've wanted for five hundred years."

"And what's that?"

"You."

Lucian lunged.

The silver wolf crossed the distance in an instant.

His claws sliced through Malachar's chest.

Or...

They should have.

Instead, they passed through nothing but smoke.

Malachar's body dissolved into shadows before reforming several feet away.

"You've become slower."

Lucian growled.

"And you've become predictable."

Malachar laughed.

"Perhaps."

His expression suddenly hardened.

"But unlike you..."

"...I cannot die."

---

The words lingered in the cold night air.

Aria looked toward Lucian.

His silence told her enough.

Malachar wasn't bluffing.

"Why?"

She whispered.

"What happened to you?"

Malachar's eyes softened.

For the first time...

There was sadness hidden beneath the cruelty.

"I loved someone."

The answer caught everyone off guard.

"And I made a bargain to keep that love."

His smile returned.

"But bargains always demand payment."

Darkness rippled beneath his feet.

"I paid with my humanity."

Mira quietly whispered a prayer.

Cassian tightened his grip on his sword.

Lucian's growl became louder.

"Don't listen to him."

Malachar ignored the warning.

"You deserve to know the truth, Aria."

"No."

Lucian's voice echoed across the village.

"You don't get to twist it again."

Again?

Aria's head turned sharply.

"Again?"

Malachar laughed.

"He still hasn't told you."

"Told me what?"

Lucian closed his eyes.

The hesitation lasted only a heartbeat.

Too long.

Malachar seized it.

"He was the one who brought me into your kingdom."

Silence.

Aria frowned.

"What?"

Lucian didn't answer.

"He trusted me."

Malachar continued calmly.

"He called me brother."

Cassian's face drained of color.

Mira whispered, "Moon Goddess..."

Aria stared at Lucian.

"Is he lying?"

Lucian slowly looked at her.

"No."

Her breath caught.

"He was my brother."

---

Everything inside Aria seemed to stop.

Brother.

The monster before them...

Had once been Lucian's brother.

She looked between them.

The resemblance was impossible to miss now.

The same height.

The same sharp jaw.

Even their eyes...

Perhaps Malachar's had once been blue.

Before they turned crimson.

"You..."

Aria whispered.

"You were family."

Malachar's smile disappeared.

"We were."

Lucian looked away.

"I failed him."

Malachar laughed bitterly.

"No, Lucian."

"You abandoned me."

Dark clouds rolled across the sky.

The moon disappeared behind them.

Shadows stretched across the ruined village.

"You chose your kingdom."

"You chose your precious Silver Oath."

"And you left me to die."

His voice cracked for the first time.

"I begged you to save me."

Lucian remained silent.

"I remember every word."

Malachar took one slow step forward.

"You looked me in the eyes..."

"...and let them seal my fate."

Aria's heart tightened.

She had never seen pain like the one hidden beneath Malachar's hatred.

This wasn't simple revenge.

This was heartbreak.

Centuries of it.

---

"No."

Lucian finally spoke.

His voice was rough.

"I made the only choice I had."

"You always say that."

"You know why."

"I know what you told yourself."

The brothers stared at one another.

The village disappeared around them.

For a moment...

It felt as though only they existed.

Then Malachar looked back at Aria.

"Would you like to know how you died?"

Lucian roared.

"No!"

The sound shook the burning houses.

Malachar merely smiled.

"Interesting."

He folded his arms.

"So that's the secret you still refuse to share."

Aria looked at Lucian.

"You know."

He remained silent.

"You know how I died."

Silence.

The bond between them pulsed painfully.

She could feel his guilt.

His sorrow.

His fear.

It flowed into her own heart.

He wasn't hiding the truth to protect himself.

He was trying to protect her.

But from what?

---

Without warning...

Pain exploded inside Aria's head.

She cried out.

The world blurred.

Fire.

Smoke.

The palace.

People running.

Someone shouting her name.

Lucian.

She turned.

He was fighting dozens of enemies.

Blood covered his armor.

Then...

She saw another man.

Dark hair.

Blue eyes.

Not crimson.

Blue.

Malachar.

Before the darkness had claimed him.

He was kneeling.

Chains wrapped around his body.

He reached toward Lucian.

"Brother..."

Lucian took one step toward him.

Then stopped.

Soldiers surrounded the Silver Altar.

The Moon Priestess screamed.

"The oath!"

"If you leave now, the kingdom falls!"

Lucian looked between the altar...

And his brother.

Agony filled his face.

"I'm sorry..."

The vision shattered.

Aria collapsed.

Lucian caught her before she hit the ground.

"It's over."

She shook her head.

"No..."

Tears streamed down her face.

"You really left him."

Lucian's eyes closed.

"I did."

Malachar laughed.

Cold.

Empty.

"And that was the day I learned..."

"...love always chooses someone else."

---

The air suddenly trembled.

Malachar frowned.

"Hm."

He looked toward the sky.

"Our time is ending."

His body began dissolving into smoke.

Lucian immediately stepped forward.

"What are you planning?"

Malachar smiled one last time.

"Nothing."

"I've already won."

Cassian shouted.

"He's escaping!"

"No."

Malachar's crimson eyes locked onto Aria.

"I'm inviting you."

She frowned.

"Inviting me where?"

"To remember."

His smile became strangely gentle.

"When your memories return completely..."

"...come find me."

"You deserve to hear the whole story."

Lucian's voice thundered.

"Stay away from her!"

Malachar ignored him.

"You'll discover something interesting."

"What?"

"The woman you believe yourself to be..."

He paused.

"...never existed."

Aria's breath caught.

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see."

His body completely dissolved into shadows.

Only his final words lingered in the night.

"Not every memory belongs to the person who carries it."

The darkness disappeared.

He was gone.

---

No one spoke for several long moments.

The flames continued consuming the ruined village.

Lucian slowly helped Aria to her feet.

"Can you stand?"

She nodded weakly.

But she couldn't stop thinking about Malachar's last words.

Not every memory belongs to the person who carries it.

What did that mean?

Before she could ask—

The silver mark on her wrist flared painfully.

She gasped.

A beam of moonlight broke through the clouds.

It struck the mark directly.

The glowing symbol spread across her entire arm.

Then...

Another mark appeared.

Not silver.

Black.

It formed beside the first one.

Perfectly identical.

But made of shadow.

Elder Mira stumbled backward in horror.

"No..."

Cassian stared in disbelief.

"It can't be."

Lucian grabbed Aria's hand.

His face had gone completely pale.

The two marks began circling each other.

Silver.

Shadow.

Light.

Darkness.

Then the ancient voice of the Silver Oath echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"The two heirs have awakened."

Another sentence followed.

One that made Lucian's hands begin to tremble.

"Only one shall inherit the Moon."