The escape felt endless. How much longer could they run? How long before someone picked up their trail again? Lyra moved with unshakable purpose, gathering roots and leaves as they walked, her motions swift, precise. She was made for survival — Alex only observed, learning by watching.
At one point, he paused, sensing something. The river murmured beside him, telling a story he couldn't understand. The sound was both familiar and foreign — like fragments of a dream.
He stared at the water, then reached out to touch it. And something new happened.
A tremor ran down his spine, and his skin shivered. A faint green glow shimmered on his hand — weak, barely visible, but undeniably real.
He slowly dipped his hand into the stream. The water reacted instantly. Its surface rippled, as if recognizing his presence. Light danced across the waves, and Alex's eyes lit up with awe.
Subtle, glowing lines appeared on his fingers — like runes carved in light. Lyra froze beside him, eyes wide. She said nothing, just watched in silence.
Alex reached again. His fingertips brushed the current, and the water responded with a flare, like an echo of something ancient. It was impossible. He squinted, trying to confirm he wasn't dreaming. Magic? Real?
What had just happened?
The glow remained, and in his eyes bloomed disbelief — and a strange, unsettling wonder.
He sensed another reaction in the water. With his touch, a presence stirred — something vast, unknown. Like shadows circling, waiting. He knew what it was.
"There!" he gasped, startled. It wasn't chance. It was intuition — one that never failed him.
Across the water, he saw dark shapes moving low to the ground. Large ridged backs and jagged jaws surfaced like a nightmare. Crocodiles — but bigger, with nearly black skin and blade-like teeth.
The green glow pulsed. He clenched his fists and stepped back, as if instinct could suppress the power bubbling within him.
"In this world, power is hunted. Be careful who sees it," Lyra said quietly, but firmly.
Alex barely heard her. He stared at his hand, still glowing faintly. He couldn't shake what had just occurred. No logic explained it. Only the glow. And the feeling that something ancient had awakened inside him.
"This can't be real," he repeated in his mind. He shut his eyes and turned away. The glow faded, but something remained — like a question that refused to be silenced.
"How?" he asked softly, as if learning to speak again.
Lyra hesitated. She looked like she didn't fully know the answer herself. But when she finally spoke, her voice was calm.
"Magic… is a rare gift. There used to be more of it. But now?" She shook her head. "Only a few remain. Those who have it can control the elements — fire, wind, water, earth. But they're hunted. People believe mages brought demons into the world. That everything began because of them."
She fell silent for a moment, thinking.
"But it's also fear. They're afraid of what they don't understand. Magic reminds them of old times — war, death. Anyone who shows it draws danger."
She stepped closer, her gaze serious.
"Don't show this power. Not yet. Not until you understand it. I'll try to help… if we reach my people. Maybe someone there can teach you how to live with it."
Alex nodded, though his eyes still held more questions than answers.
They left the river and headed toward the dunes. The desert slowly swallowed them — light fading, sand swirling like a living shadow. Alex felt the grains burn his eyes and throat. He wrapped his face and walked in silence, lost in thought. Thoughts of the power that had awakened.
They marched all day, stopping only to refill their water. The desert showed no mercy. The sand, deep red, clung to them like a living thing. The sun dipped low, and the sky turned amber. Ruins appeared on the horizon.
Tension coiled under Alex's skin — something inside him wanted out, to be free. The power from the river wouldn't return to sleep.
The ruins drew closer. Crumbling walls reflected the last light. Faint, forgotten runes shimmered on the stones like relics of a different age.
They stopped.
"Here," Lyra said, her voice tired but firm.
She gathered dry branches while Alex explored. He found shelter by a half-collapsed wall, where old runes still glowed faintly — as if guarding the place even now.
They made camp. Fire bloomed slowly, shyly. Silence fell — not heavy, but peaceful. For the first time in a long while, they felt they'd truly left something behind. That for a moment, they were safe.
But neither of them knew… that someone had been following them. That out there, in the shifting sands, something still hunted their trail.