Chapter 18:
The Hunt Begins
The moment Aria's fingers closed around the book, the ground beneath her trembled. The air thickened, charged with unseen forces. Eldara gasped beside her, instinctively stepping back. The whispers that had been a faint hum in the ruins suddenly roared to life, circling them like an unseen storm.
"You were never meant to escape."
The voice echoed in Aria's mind, ancient and filled with malice. The shadows along the walls stretched unnaturally, twisting into monstrous forms. The ruins, once eerily silent, came alive with dark energy.
"Aria, put it down!" Eldara's voice was urgent.
But Aria couldn't.
Something inside her knew—this book held answers.
The whispers turned into screeches, and the ground cracked. From the darkness, a form began to emerge.
A creature, cloaked in shadows, its eyes burning like embers in a dying fire.
Aria's breath caught in her throat.
The Children of the Shadows had found her.
The creature stepped forward, its movements smooth and deliberate, like a predator toying with its prey. "You took something that does not belong to you." Its voice was layered, multiple tones speaking as one.
Aria held the book close. "Then why was it waiting for me?"
The creature let out a low chuckle. "Because it is part of your past. But some doors should never be reopened."
Eldara unsheathed a dagger, standing protectively beside Aria. "If you think we're going to hand it over, you're mistaken."
The creature tilted its head. "You are mistaken, child of the Eldon Tribe. You are already marked."
Eldara stiffened. Aria saw the slight flicker of fear in her usually composed expression.
The creature took another step, and suddenly, the room darkened completely. The torches that had lit the ruins extinguished, leaving them in suffocating blackness.
Aria barely had time to react before something cold wrapped around her wrist.
A shackle.
No—not real. A vision.
She was back in that hall again, her younger self chained in the center. The hooded figures stood around her, chanting. But this time, she wasn't just watching. She could feel it—the weight of the chains, the sting of the magic that held her captive.
They tried to take my power…
The memory surged forward, and suddenly, she saw him.
A figure, hidden in the shadows, watching. He wasn't one of them, but he hadn't stopped them either.
Who was he?
Why was he there?
The vision shattered as Eldara yanked Aria's arm, pulling her back to the present.
"Aria! We have to move!"
The creature lunged.
Aria threw up her hand, and a burst of raw energy exploded from her palm. The creature hissed as the force sent it skidding back, the shadows around it unraveling.
"Go!" Aria yelled, gripping the book as they turned and ran.
The ruins were collapsing around them. Stones fell, the walls groaned, and the darkness chased them like living tendrils.
The moment they broke through the entrance, the ruins behind them crumbled entirely. Dust and debris filled the air, and for a brief moment, everything was silent.
Then, the whispers returned.
Low. Taunting.
"The hunt has begun."
Aria tightened her grip on the book.
They had awakened something far worse than she had imagined.
The ruins lay in a heap behind them, but Aria knew better than to believe they were safe. The air remained heavy, charged with an unnatural presence. Eldara stood beside her, eyes scanning the thick forest ahead. Though the moonlight seeped through the trees, shadows twisted unnaturally at the edges of their vision.
"We need to move," Eldara whispered.
Aria nodded, gripping the ancient book against her chest. Every fiber of her being told her this book held the key to everything—her past, her powers, and the truth about the Children of the Shadows. But it also put a target on her back.
They walked in silence, moving carefully between the towering trees. Each step crunched against fallen leaves, the sound magnified in the suffocating quiet.
Then, a whisper.
"Aria…"
She froze.
The voice was familiar. It sent a chill through her bones, crawling under her skin like an unwelcome presence.
"Did you hear that?" she asked, turning to Eldara.
Eldara's grip tightened on her dagger. "Hear what?"
"Come home."
The voice was closer now.
Aria's breath hitched. It was his voice—the man from her visions. The one who had been there when she was chained.
She spun around, searching the darkness, but saw nothing. The forest was empty.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Eldara muttered, stepping closer.
"Maybe I have."
A gust of wind howled through the trees, carrying a scent that made Aria's stomach turn—smoke and decay.
Then, the shadows moved.
From the darkness, figures emerged, their bodies draped in cloaks made of pure night. Their faces were hidden, but their glowing eyes pierced through the veil of darkness like embers in a dying fire.
The Children of the Shadows.
They surrounded Aria and Eldara in complete silence. No movement. No breath. Just watching.
Eldara tensed. "They're waiting."
"For what?"
A new figure stepped forward, taller than the rest, his aura thick with something ancient and powerful. His hood was drawn low over his face, but Aria could feel his gaze locked onto her.
"You have something that belongs to us," he said, voice calm yet echoing with authority.
Aria clenched the book tighter. "This book is mine."
The man chuckled—a deep, knowing sound. "Child, you do not even know what you hold."
Aria's heartbeat pounded against her ribs, but she forced herself to stay still. "Then why don't you tell me?"
The man tilted his head. "You are not ready."
"Then why chase me?"
"You were never meant to remember."
At those words, the air shifted. The world seemed to darken, the edges of reality bending and twisting. Aria's mind reeled as images flashed through her mind—fragments of memories not her own.
A kingdom consumed by darkness. A girl standing in the center of it all. A power so great, even the gods feared it.
And then… a voice.
"She must be erased."
Aria stumbled back, gasping.
The man watched her carefully, as if measuring her reaction. "Now you understand."
Her chest tightened. "Understand what?"
"You were not meant to survive, Aria."
The words hit her like a blow.
Eldara moved, dagger raised. "You'll have to kill her first."
The man sighed, almost disappointed. "Do not waste your strength."
He raised a hand, and the shadows responded. They surged forward, twisting around Aria and Eldara like living chains.
Aria felt the weight of them—cold, suffocating. She tried to summon her power, but the darkness swallowed it whole.
"No… not like this…"
A voice inside her screamed.
She would not let them take her.
With every ounce of will she had left, she reached deep into herself—into the part of her she had always feared.
And then, she let go.
Light erupted from within her, bursting through the shadows like a second sun. The force sent the cloaked figures reeling, their forms unraveling like smoke in the wind.
The man in the center did not flinch. Instead, he smiled.
And in the moment before he vanished into the darkness, he whispered—
"You are finally waking up."
Then, silence.
The forest returned to stillness, the unnatural cold fading.
Eldara exhaled sharply, staggering forward. "What the hell was that?"
Aria stared at her hands, the fading light still lingering at her fingertips.
"I think…" Her voice trembled. "I think I just opened a door I can't close."
And somewhere, in the vastness of the unknown, the hunt continued