The forest was suffocating in its silence. The canopy of gnarled branches blotted out the moonlight, leaving the air thick with shadow. Every step Lyra and Kieran took seemed to echo, the rustle of leaves underfoot far too loud in the unnatural stillness.
Lyra's light magic glimmered faintly at her fingertips, her nerves on edge as she scanned the darkness around them. The silence was worse than the growls, worse than the pursuit. It was as if the Duskwraiths were waiting and watching.
Kieran moved ahead of her, every muscle in his body taut with tension. His shadowed armor caught the dim glow of her light, and for a fleeting moment, he looked like the very darkness they were fleeing from.
"Kieran," Lyra whispered, her voice tight. "Do you feel that?"
He glanced back at her, his jaw set. "They're herding us," he muttered.
Her heart sank. "Why?"
"I don't know," he admitted. His voice softened as he added, "But whatever happens, stay close to me. I won't let them take you."
Lyra swallowed hard, her chest tightening at the protectiveness in his voice. She nodded, forcing herself to push aside the fear threatening to consume her.
The sound of a branch snapping to their left made them both freeze. Kieran's hand went to the hilt of his sword, and Lyra's light flared brighter instinctively, casting eerie shadows across the trees.
A pair of glowing eyes blinked into existence, then another, and another. Duskwraiths. Their shadowy forms oozed malice as they crept closer, their guttural growls vibrating through the air.
"Run," Kieran said, his voice a sharp command.
Before Lyra could argue, he stepped forward, his sword gleaming as he slashed at the first Duskwraith to lunge. Black mist exploded from the creature, but more surged forward, their movements unnaturally fast.
Lyra hesitated, her heart warring with her instincts. Every fiber of her being screamed to stay and fight alongside him, but Kieran's voice cut through her panic.
"Lyra, go!" he shouted, his tone fierce but laced with desperation.
She turned and ran, her feet pounding against the forest floor. The trees blurred past her, and her light magic pulsed erratically as her emotions spiraled out of control. She hated leaving him behind, but she trusted him. He would find her again he always did.
The ground sloped sharply downward, and Lyra stumbled, catching herself against a tree. She risked a glance over her shoulder, but Kieran was nowhere to be seen.
Her breath came in short, panicked bursts as she tried to focus. She couldn't just keep running aimlessly. If the Duskwraiths were herding them, there had to be a reason, a destination.
A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she spun around, her light flaring brighter. Shadows danced at the edges of her vision, taunting her. She pressed her back against the tree, her hands trembling as she clung to the fragile magic keeping the darkness at bay.
"Keeper," a voice hissed, low and serpentine.
Lyra's heart stopped. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, seeping into her mind like poison.
"Your light cannot save you," it continued, mocking and cold. "You think you can protect him? You think he can protect you?"
She clenched her fists, forcing her magic to burn brighter. "Show yourself!" She demanded, her voice shaking but determined.
The shadows coalesced into a figure, tall and cloaked in darkness. Its face was hidden, but the malevolence radiating from it was palpable.
"You are weak," the figure sneered. "Unworthy of the Keeper's power. It will consume you, just as it consumed those before you."
Lyra's chest heaved, her fear warring with anger. "I'm not afraid of you," she said, though her trembling hands betrayed her.
The figure chuckled, the sound grating and hollow. "Oh, but you should be." It stepped closer, and Lyra's magic flickered. "Do you even know the truth about your precious warrior? The darkness he hides within himself?"
"What are you talking about?" She demanded, her voice cracking.
The figure tilted its head, as if amused. "Ask him about the night the darkness first touched him. Ask him who he failed to save."
Before Lyra could respond, the figure dissolved into smoke, vanishing into the shadows.
"Kieran!"
Lyra's voice echoed through the forest as she stumbled forward, her light magic illuminating the trail of black mist left by the fallen Duskwraiths.
"Kieran, where are you?"
Panic clawed at her chest, the memory of the shadowy figure's words echoing in her mind. She didn't know what to believe, but she had to find him.
A sound ahead made her heart leap, and she rushed toward it. She broke through the undergrowth and found Kieran kneeling on the ground, his sword embedded in the earth beside him.
"Kieran!" She cried, dropping to her knees beside him.
He looked up, his face pale and streaked with blood. Relief flickered in his dark eyes as he saw her, but it was quickly replaced by something else, something heavy with guilt.
"Lyra," he said, his voice hoarse. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, her hands trembling as she reached for him. "I'm fine, but you?"
"I'm fine," he cut her off, his tone firmer than she expected. "It's not my blood."
Her brow furrowed, but before she could press him further, he reached out and cupped her face with a blood-streaked hand.
"I told you to run," he said softly, his eyes searching hers. "You shouldn't have come back."
"I couldn't just leave you," she replied, her voice breaking. "I thought."
He pulled her into a sudden embrace, his arms wrapping around her tightly. She froze for a moment, then melted into him, her hands clutching at his armor.
"You're safe," he murmured, his voice filled with both relief and something deeper. "That's all that matters."
Lyra pulled back just enough to look into his eyes, her heart pounding. "That figure… it said things about you. About your past. Is it true?"
Kieran's expression darkened, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Lyra, I…" He hesitated, the weight of his secrets pressing down on him.
"Please," she whispered. "I need to know."
Before he could answer, the forest erupted with the sound of footsteps heavy and deliberate. Both of them tensed, Kieran drawing his sword as Lyra's light flared.
A group of figures emerged from the shadows, their weapons glinting in the faint light. They weren't Duskwraiths. They were human.
"Stand down, Keeper," the leader said, his voice cold and commanding. "You're coming with us."
Kieran stepped in front of Lyra, his blade raised. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me."
The leader smirked. "That can be arranged."
The tension snapped like a bowstring, and the forest erupted into chaos once more.