Aerin stepped onto the damp ground, her boots sinking slightly into the soil. She cast a glance behind her; Talon was already speaking in hushed tones with Mara, who looked pale and distant as her eyes roved the jagged cliffs ahead. Elden, his jaw set, followed in silence, but his gaze was on her—always watching, always calculating.

Ahead of them, Kael strode with purpose, his dark curly hair catching the faint glimmer of the sun as it began to peek through the clouds. His presence commanded the space, as it always did; confident and assured, though the tension between them still simmered beneath the surface. Since they had reunited back in Yaveria, Aerin couldn’t shake the weight of his betrayal, the years of silence when she had needed him most. Now, they were allies—barely—but the sting of his absence clung to every word he spoke. She watched him from behind.

Thalindria loomed ahead, its ancient trees rising like giants from the earth, their leaves glistening with dew. This was Mara's home, the place where she had learned her magic—her prison and her sanctuary.

"Where are we going?" Aerin asked, quickening her pace to match Kael’s.

He didn’t turn to look at her, but his voice was steady. “My contact is in the heart of the island. She’ll have the information we need about Hazrael’s movements and the rebellion's current strength.”

Aerin narrowed her eyes. “She? Your contact? Another secret you've been keeping?”

Kael’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he kept walking, the steady rhythm of his boots striking the path a stark contrast to the turmoil in her chest. After a long pause, he finally spoke, voice low. “Not everything is a secret, Aerin. But some things… some things need time.”

“Time?” she snapped, her frustration boiling over. “You’ve had years, Kael. Years while I lost everything—while you did nothing.”

He stopped abruptly, turning to face her. His dark eyes met hers, and for a moment, the air between them crackled with unsaid words, with history too painful to speak aloud. “I wasn’t doing nothing,” he said quietly. “But you wouldn’t understand.”

“I understand perfectly well,” she shot back, her voice sharp as a blade. “You ran.”

Kael’s gaze flickered with something unreadable—pain, perhaps, or regret. But before he could reply, Talon’s voice interrupted.

“Maybe now’s not the time for this,” Talon said, his tone clipped as he joined them. “We’ve got other problems.”

Aerin turned to him, her anger still simmering, but she bit her tongue. Talon was right. There were more pressing matters—like the uprising they were trying to plan, and the fact that Elden was still a strange wildcard at their side.

Elden stepped forward, his presence as cold as the mist clinging to the trees. “Are we going to stand here and bicker, or are we going to move? I don’t exactly feel like waiting around for another ambush.”

Aerin cast him a sideways glance. His words were cutting, but his eyes held something softer. He had changed—just as she had—but the scars between them were too deep to heal quickly.

They continued up the winding path through the trees, the dense forest swallowing the sounds of their footsteps. Mara walked beside Aerin, her face pale and drawn, her eyes flicking nervously to the shadows that clung to the trees.

“How are you?” Aerin asked softly.

Mara shook her head. “At every phase in our life, we make memories that we remember all our lives. It’s… it’s strange being back here.”

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Aerin felt the weight of those memories in Mara’s voice, the unspoken pain that still lingered. “You never told me much about your time here.”

Mara’s lips pressed into a thin line. A long sigh left her lips, “There’s not much to tell.”

Her hands fidgeted along the hem of her dress, curling the fabric between her fingers. Her eyes darted back and forth between the woods and the narrow path. She had much to say, but no words.

As they walked the trees grew closer, making the path harder to navigate. Roots, large boulders and fallen trees covered much of their way. Mara started to pant harder, her small slender frame climbing through every obstacle. Talon made his way closer to her. Moving close behind her, moving with her, ready to catch her if she stumbled.

They reached the heart of the island, where an ancient stone building loomed through the trees. It was weathered by time, its walls covered in moss, but there was a power here—old magic that pulsed in the air. Aerin could feel the magic as it touched everything around them, every small speck of dust in the air. As she breathed it in it pulsed in rhythm with her heart. A strange sensation flowed through her, a familiar feeling, but strange.

Kael stopped at the entrance, his hand resting at the door, turning to the group. “Wait here. I’ll speak with my contact alone.”

“Alone?” Aerin raised an eyebrow. “You don’t trust us now?”

Kael’s gaze met hers, hard and unyielding. “It’s not about trust. It’s about safety. This isn’t a simple ally. She’s powerful—and she doesn’t trust easily.”

Aerin clenched her fists, but before she could argue further, Mara’s soft voice cut through the tension.

“We need to see my priestess,” Mara whispered, her eyes wide with apprehension. “She’ll know we’re here.”

Talon stepped forward, his hand hovered above Mara’s shoulder nearing to touch her, concern etched into his features. He dropped his hands to his sides, “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Mara’s hand trembled slightly as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, squaring her shoulders. “No. But I don’t have a choice.”

Aerin touched her arm gently, offering silent support. Whatever Mara had gone through here, it had shaped her into the person she was now—a powerful mage, but also someone who had suffered greatly.

Kael nodded as he stepped inside through the threshold as they left him behind, following Mara deeper into the woods.

When the path slowly started to clear up, Mara slowed her pace to Talon’s, "The wind carries secrets, whispers of things unsaid." Her eyes distant, fingers tracing the branches of the trees as they passed, "Can you hear it?”

"All I hear is the sound of you avoiding the point." He crossed his arms, keeping his eyes forward. "Why don’t you ever just say what you mean?"

She smiled softly, still touching every branch as they passed, grazing her fingers lightly over the leaves. "Because words, Talon, are like rivers. They flow, they bend, they carry more beneath their surface than one can ever see." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Do you truly want me to strip away the mystery?"

He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Sometimes, yes, I would. But I know you too well to expect that." His lips twitched into the ghost of a smile. "Besides, if you were straightforward, you'd be less...you."

She turned slightly towards him, her gaze catching his. "And would you have me any other way?" There was a glimmer of challenge in her eyes, but it quickly faded away.

He hesitated, his jaw tightening for a moment before he looked away. Several heartbeats passed as they walked side by side in silence. "No." His voice was quiet, almost as if the word slipped out before he could stop it. "I wouldn’t."

They continued walking until they reached a small clearing. The willow trees hung low, the trunk appeared to twist around and had silver-brown cracked bark. The leaves were long, narrow, pointed at the tip, and a light green color. They were arranged in spirals on long yellow-green stems that dangled down from the crown of the tree. Light seeped through, lighting the ground in soft hues. In the center stood a lone figure, cloaked in shadow, her presence both ominous and magnetic.

Mara stopped, her breath catching in her throat. “Priestess.”

The cloaked figure turned, her face hidden beneath a hood, but the aura of power that radiated from her was unmistakable. Her face was young, yet old. Her hair was gray but glowing with the sun. Her hands were thin and worn but smooth and silky at the same time. “You’ve finally returned, I have sensed your arrival” the priestess said, her voice cold as ice. “I wondered if you ever would.”

Mara’s shoulders tensed, and Aerin could see the fear in her friend’s eyes. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“No,” the priestess agreed. “You didn’t.”

There was a long silence, the air heavy with unspoken history. Mara had fled this place, left behind whatever darkness had taken root here. She had never told the full story before. Just bits and pieces, sometimes when she wasn’t aware and stopped herself before she revealed too much.

“I need your help,” Mara said finally, her voice trembling but steady.

The priestess slowly tilted her head, her eyes glittering in the dim light. “Help? After all this time? Why?”

Aerin stepped forward, her heart pounding, still feeling the air around her pulsing in time with her heartbeat. “She’s not here for herself.”

The priestess’s gaze shifted to Aerin, cold and calculating. “And you think that matters to me?”

Aerin held her ground, the magic within her stirring, restless. As per Mara’s request she held her magic deep, deep, deep down. As they were surrounded with such magical forces, she wouldn’t be able to contain it for long. “It should. Because if we fail, Thalindria won’t be safe from King Hazrael’s reach.”

The priestess smiled, showing a small hint of teeth. A slow, dark smile. “You brave, brave girl. But bravery won’t save you from the truth.”

Mara swallowed hard, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes went between Aerin and the priestess. “What truth?”

The priestess stepped closer, Aerin shifted slightly between her feet, her eyes never leaving her. She could feel the Priestess magic searching for her, a thin string forming as she came closer. Her eyes finally landed on Mara’s, “The truth of what’s inside you. And the truth of what you left behind, Mara.”