Sera's POV
The magic never hit us.
It stopped inches from our faces. Frozen in mid-air like time itself had paused. The dark energy crackled and sparked but didn't move forward.
The robed figure who'd revealed their face tilted their head. "Interesting. The blood bond is stronger than we thought."
My heart hammered so hard I thought it would break through my ribs. I could barely breathe.
The figure lowered their hand and the frozen magic dissolved into nothing. "Killing you now would be wasteful. The Void Queen wants the girl alive. She has plans for her."
"What plans?" Kael's voice was hard. Angry. His sword was still raised.
"You'll find out soon enough." The figure pulled their hood back up, hiding their face again. "Run while you can, hunter. Enjoy your last few days of life."
Both robed figures turned and walked into the forest. Within seconds, they vanished into the darkness like ghosts.
I stood frozen. My legs felt like water.
Kael grabbed my arm. "We need to move. Now. Before they change their minds."
He pulled me away from the shed. We ran through the forest, not caring about noise anymore. Just distance. Just escape.
My lungs burned. My legs screamed. But I didn't stop.
Finally, Kael slowed down. We were deep in the woods now. So deep I couldn't see the shed or any torchlight behind us.
He led me to a fallen tree and we collapsed behind it. Both of us gasped for breath.
My whole body shook. Not from running. From terror.
"They're going to kill someone tomorrow," I whispered. "Someone named Devon. We have to warn him."
"We can't go back to the Tower. They'll arrest us on sight."
"Then what do we do? Just let Devon die?"
Kael ran his hand through his hair. He looked as lost as I felt. "I don't know. I need to think."
Silence stretched between us. The forest whispered and creaked around us. Every sound made me jump.
"Why did you help me?" I asked suddenly. "Back at the Tower. You could have let them arrest me. You could have walked away."
Kael was quiet for a long moment. "Because something felt wrong. The evidence was too perfect. Too convenient."
"You're a hunter. You kill people like me. People with magic."
"I hunt rogue mages. People who use magic to hurt others." He looked at me. "You're not hurting anyone. You're just scared."
"How do you know that? Maybe I am a killer. Maybe everyone's right about me."
"You're not." His voice was certain. Final.
"You don't know me. We just met today."
"I know enough." He touched his hand where we'd done the blood bond. "I can feel your emotions through this. Your fear. Your confusion. Your desperation to prove you're innocent. Killers don't feel like that."
Tears burned my eyes. No one had believed me in so long. Hearing him say it made something break inside me.
"I don't trust you," I said, even though it felt like a lie. "You hate magic. You hate everything I am."
"I don't hate you."
"But you hate what I can do. What I might become."
Kael sighed. "Magic killed my sister. So yeah, I'm afraid of it. But that doesn't mean I hate you." He paused. "Those people back there. They're using you. Framing you. Planning to destroy the Veil and let monsters into our world. We need to stop them."
"We? There's a we now?"
"Like it or not, we're bonded. Connected. We're in this together."
I hugged my knees to my chest. He was right. I didn't like it. But I didn't have anyone else.
"There's a place we can go," I said quietly. "My old teacher, Master Elena. She retired five years ago. She has a cabin deep in the Whispering Woods."
Kael's eyes widened. "The Whispering Woods? That forest is cursed. The trees attack people."
"I know. But the Tower guards won't follow us there. They're too scared."
"With good reason. People who go into those woods don't come back."
"Do you have a better idea?"
He thought about it. "No. I don't."
"Then we go to the woods. Master Elena will help us. She's powerful. She knows more about magic than anyone I've ever met."
"If she's even still alive."
"She is. I know she is." I had to believe that. Because if Master Elena was dead, we were completely alone.
Kael stood and offered me his hand. "Alright. Lead the way."
I took his hand and let him pull me up. His grip was warm. Strong. For just a second, I felt a tiny bit safer.
We started walking. I tried to remember the way to the Whispering Woods. Master Elena had taken me there once when I was twelve. It was a two-day journey from the Tower.
The forest got darker with each step. The trees grew taller. Older. Their branches twisted in strange shapes.
"How far is it?" Kael asked.
"Two days walking. Maybe less if we don't stop much."
"We'll need to rest eventually. Find food. Water."
"I know."
We walked in silence. My feet hurt. My whole body ached. But I kept moving.
After a while, the darkness became complete. No moon. No stars. Just black.
"We need light," Kael said. "I can't see anything."
I hesitated. "My magic doesn't work right. You know that."
"Try anyway. Even a little light is better than none."
I stopped walking and raised my hand. I whispered the words for a simple light spell. The easiest magic any Veil Keeper could do.
A spark appeared in my palm. Blue at first. Then it flickered. Twisted. Turned black.
I waited for Kael to step back. To flinch. To show disgust.
He didn't move.
The black spark grew brighter. It cast strange shadows but it gave us light. Enough to see the path ahead.
"That works," Kael said simply.
Something in my chest loosened. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't running. He just accepted it.
That small gesture meant more to me than any words could have said.
We kept walking. The black light flickered in my palm. The forest grew stranger around us.
The trees started to look different. Their bark was darker. Their branches moved even when there was no wind.
"We're getting close to the Whispering Woods," I said quietly.
"How can you tell?"
"The trees. They're alive here. Really alive. Not like normal trees."
As if hearing me, a branch reached down and brushed my shoulder. I jumped and the branch pulled back.
"Did that tree just...?" Kael's hand went to his sword.
"Don't attack it. That'll just make things worse."
We walked faster. More branches reached toward us. Curious. Testing.
Then I heard it.
Whispers. Hundreds of them. Thousands. All around us.
Words I couldn't understand. Voices that sounded like wind and leaves and creaking wood.
"Sera?" Kael's voice was tight with fear. "What's happening?"
"The forest is waking up. It knows we're here."
The whispers got louder. Angrier.
A root erupted from the ground and wrapped around Kael's ankle. He fell hard.
"Kael!" I ran to him and tried to pull the root off. It tightened.
More roots burst from the earth. They grabbed at us both. Wrapping around our legs. Our arms. Pulling us down.
"The forest is attacking!" Kael shouted. He cut at the roots with his sword but more just appeared.
I tried to use magic to burn them away. But my black sparks just made the forest angrier.
The roots dragged us toward the ground. Toward the earth. Like the forest wanted to bury us alive.
Through the chaos, I saw something ahead. A figure standing between the trees. Watching us.
They wore a dark cloak. Their face was hidden in shadow.
"Help us!" I screamed.
The figure didn't move. Didn't speak.
The roots covered my mouth. My nose. I couldn't breathe.
Everything started to go black.
The last thing I saw was the figure raising one hand.
And the entire forest went completely silent.