CHAPTER FIVE: The First Shadow

Elianah

It started with a dream that wasn't hers.

Darkness folded over her like a cloak, thick and suffocating. She stood in a vast field under a blood-red sky, the air heavy with smoke and ash. Somewhere, a distant scream echoed — desperate, haunting.

A hand reached for hers — cold, trembling, urgent. She tried to hold it, but the fingers slipped away like smoke.

She woke gasping, heart pounding, drenched in sweat.

At school, the image stayed with her. When Isaiah caught her gaze across the hallway, she saw the same shadow in his eyes — a flicker of fear she couldn't explain.

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Isaiah

That afternoon, while sketching alone beneath the old oak, his pencil broke.

He closed his eyes and saw the same vision — a field ablaze, a cry lost to wind, a hand slipping through his own.

He felt a surge of helplessness, a cold whisper threading through his mind.

For a moment, he wondered if they were connected — if the dreams were warnings, or memories they hadn't yet lived.

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Their First Conversation

That evening, under the fading sky, Elianah found Isaiah waiting near the park fountain.

Neither spoke at first. The weight of the shared silence hung between them, heavier than words.

Finally, she whispered,

> "I dreamt something terrible last night."

He nodded.

> "Me too."

Their hands found each other's — tentative, seeking, grounding.

> "What do you think it means?" she asked.

Isaiah swallowed.

> "I don't know. But I think... we need to be ready."

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Narrator

Peace was never meant to last.

Beneath the calm, the past clawed back.

And the lives they once lived were calling — with dangers, debts, and choices that would test the very strength of their souls.