The forest stretched endlessly ahead, its towering trees closing in like ancient sentinels. They blocked out much of the sky, casting the path into a murky gloom where even the pale morning light struggled to seep through. The air was thick with the scent of moss and damp earth.
Their boots pressed softly into the underbrush, the sound muted by layers of fallen leaves. Eira walked between Kaela and Torin, her eyes darting to every shadow that moved just a little too much. Each rustle in the undergrowth made her spine stiffen. She couldn't see anything, but she felt it, something behind them, out of reach, watching.
They were being hunted. She didn't need Kaela to say it again. She could feel it like a thread pulled too tight beneath her skin.
She looked at the two who walked with her. Kaela moved with a quiet purpose, her eyes scanning the trail ahead, her movements fluid and careful. But there was a tension in the set of her shoulders, the slight twitch of her fingers near the hilt of her blade. She was ready to act at any moment, and that readiness made Eira's stomach churn.
Torin, in contrast, looked almost casual. His steps were steady, his grip on his sword loose, but his eyes missed nothing. They flicked constantly from tree to tree, calculating, cold, and somehow distant. He looked like someone who had seen ambushes too many times to flinch.
They made an odd pair, Eira thought. Kaela with her quiet fire, Torin with his detached calm. And yet, there was trust between them, even if it was never spoken. She wasn't sure when she had started to feel safer around them, but now she wasn't certain how she would keep going without them.
"Are we close?" Eira asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Kaela's gaze flicked toward her. "Close? No. But we're heading in the right direction."
Torin gave a dry, humorless snort. "Close enough to feel the Veil's breath on our necks."
Eira tensed. "What do you mean?"
Kaela's eyes swept the woods. "They've been tracking us since we left the ruins. They're clever. They wait. Watch. They don't need to chase us… not yet."
Eira's stomach twisted. "But how? We haven't seen anyone."
Kaela didn't answer right away. Her expression darkened. "The Veil has spies everywhere. Not just people. Sometimes places. Creatures. Magic twisted to their will. You don't always see them. But they see you."
Torin's tone was level, but there was a hard edge beneath it. "They know we're heading for Ascarith. It's just a question of when they strike."
The silence that followed felt heavier than the trees pressing in around them.
Eira swallowed hard. "Why is Ascarith so important? Why can't we fight the Veil now? We have power, don't we?"
Kaela slowed her pace, then turned to face her. "Power alone won't save you. What you have inside you, what you're becoming is only the beginning. The Mageborn weren't just warriors. They were keepers of knowledge, of balance. What they left behind in Ascarith is more than magic. It's the memory of who we were."
"So we're looking for history?" Eira asked. "Is that really what's going to stop them?"
"History," Kaela said slowly, "is the one thing the Veil fears most. Because it tells the truth."
Torin looked at her, the sharpness in his eyes softening for a moment. "And buried in that truth might be the one thing that can undo them."
"But if they've tried to erase it all," Eira said, her voice quiet, "how will we find it?"
Kaela's eyes met hers. "Because you're the key. The last Mageborn. The prophecy didn't just say you'd return. It said you would unlock the way."
The weight of her words settled on Eira's chest like stone. Her breath caught. "But I don't know how. I don't remember anything."
"You will," Kaela said. "The magic remembers. Even if you don't."
Eira wanted to believe her. She truly did. But the doubt was still there, crawling beneath her skin.
How could she be what they needed? How could a girl who didn't even know where she came from carry the weight of a world?
They pressed deeper into the forest. The trees thickened, the light thinned. It had rained recently. The trail had turned to mud, and their boots sank with each step. Despite Kaela's certainty, the woods began to feel endless. And the feeling of being watched grew stronger.
Eira tried to brush it off, but the hairs on her neck stood on end. Her fingers kept twitching toward her wrist, the strange mark that had burned there since the night of the ruins. She still didn't know what it meant. Only that it pulsed when she was afraid. Or angry. Or ready.
Torin suddenly stopped. His body went rigid, every muscle coiled tight.
"What is it?" Eira asked, her voice hoarse.
He didn't look at her. His hand dropped to his sword.
"We're not alone," he said quietly.
Kaela was already moving. She grabbed Eira's arm and pulled her behind her.
"Get down."
Before Eira could ask why, Kaela shoved her to the ground and threw herself over her.
A sharp whistle cut through the trees. An arrow flew past, inches from Eira's face, embedding itself into the trunk of a nearby tree with a dull thud.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"Ambush," Kaela hissed. "Veil hunters."
More arrows followed, slicing through the air. Torin was already up, blade drawn, deflecting one mid-flight with a sharp clang. Kaela rose beside him, her hands a blur of motion. A shimmer of golden light erupted in front of them, forming a dome that deflected the incoming fire.
"Stay low," Kaela barked. "And don't move unless I say."
Eira crouched, her hands pressed into the mud, her heart thudding against her ribs like a war drum. Through the flickering light of the shield, she saw them, figures emerging from the trees, cloaked in black, masks covering their faces, their movements too fluid, too silent. The Veil's enforcers. The same kind who had come for her before.
But this time, she wasn't going to run.
Something stirred inside her. A heat, low in her chest. Her wrist glowed faintly through the dirt and grime. The mark was no longer dormant. It pulsed now, like a second heartbeat.
She raised her hand, uncertain, trembling.
And the magic came.
Not like before, not like a wild, uncontrollable force. This time it answered her. It flowed through her arms, her fingertips, her breath. It didn't frighten her. It felt like something that had been waiting all along.
Her fingers traced the air.
Light burst from her palm with a sound like breaking glass. It struck one of the hunters square in the chest, sending him flying back into the trees with a sickening crack.
The others paused.
Even Kaela turned, the surprise flashing across her face before she masked it.
Torin's voice was tight, but there was something new in it, approval.
"You're not just waking up," he said. "You're remembering."
Eira stood, magic still crackling at her fingertips. Her breathing was ragged, her body trembling with the aftershock.
She didn't feel like the girl from the orphanage anymore. Not completely.