Shadows of the Past
The moon hung low and heavy in the night sky, casting its pale light over the stillness that blanketed the forest. Crickets sang in the underbrush, the wind threaded through the trees like a whisper, and somewhere in the distance, a lone owl called out. The forest lived and breathed in its quiet rhythm, but inside Aria, a storm raged.
She stood alone at the edge of the training field, her arms wrapped around her midsection, the cold biting at her skin but failing to numb the thoughts that wouldn't let her sleep. Her fingers curled tighter with each passing second.
Seraphina's voice echoed in her head—pleading, distant, terrified.
The memory of the rogue collapsing at her feet, whispering Kael's name with his dying breath, hadn't left her since. And that fire—wild, unpredictable, bursting from her like a second heartbeat. She had lost control. Again.
She closed her eyes.
"Couldn't sleep either?"