“Yes.I saw—no, Ifeltthem killing me.”She buries her head in her hands, hiding her face from me.
I say nothing.I let the words hang like a noose in the silence.I want to tell her that I saw it too—but confusion knots my thoughts.I don’t understand how it’s possible, and I won’t share the vision until I’ve untangled its meaning.
“This—” I begin, “this wasn’t in the histories.Not even in the forbidden texts I have from the Hollow.”
Her gaze snaps to mine.She wipes the tears from her cheeks, the wetness staining her grey tunic.“What did you say?”
I furrow my brow at the slip.“It’s my job to travel into the Hollow, but—” My mind warns me to stay silent, yet the voice purring in my head urges me on.“On one occasion, I was in need and encountered a stranger who helped me.An age of hardship had carved her features like nothing I’ve ever seen in Auria.But she was warm.Kind.She gave me texts that spoke of hidden truths and asked me to take them before the Luminary Patrols arrived.Something compelled me to listen.So I did.”
My fingers fumble with the miren crystal in my pocket, hoping my wavering faith isn’t affecting my resonance.“I studied those texts for years.Learnt things I’d never read about before.But none of them described how the war truly began—or how it ended.”
Seren rests her head against the wall, staring at the ceiling.“Why would there be?Most of my people died.Those who survived were left illiterate.Yourpeople believed the darkness clouded our minds, feeding us on manipulation.”She leans forward, her violet-ringed eyes boring into mine.“When in fact, it was your gods who sowed the seeds of deceit.They only reap them when it serves their purpose—at the destruction ofmypeople.”
She spits the last word, her chest heaving from the weight of her rage.
“Your people didn’t seem eager to help when they saw you in chains.”I bite.
“They’re scared!Of course they won’t help when they know what is waiting for them when they do.”
“Disparage my people, and I will do the same for yours.”
“You would still defend your precious gods?”she asks, her voice warbling the tears streaming down the stone walls.“After what you heard Calis admit in front of you?”
I say nothing.
“You haven’t felt the tide of desperation from people you call your own.Iwilltear the lies out by their roots.I will restore the balance.”
The words sink deeper than any blade.I should argue.I should remind her what the Light stands for—but a part of me doesn’t seem to know anymore.
We sit until the cave forgets the sun ever existed.Our breaths turning slower, quieter in the confined space until I’m almost asleep.Then, she stands.Shadows slide up her calves like a living soul, settling around her shoulders.For a heartbeat, she looks softer—like someone easing out of armour—but then the violet light in her eyes hardens, and the softness is gone.
“Where are you going?”I ask before she can walk away.The question tastes of guilt.
She tilts her head, a small, barbed smile lining her features.“Why should I stay with someone who thinks their gods are saviours?Why are you even here, Kael?”
Because I’m the only one who cares for the truth.Because I owe my people answers.Because, I have no idea myself, only that the voice tells me.
None of that comes out.Instead, I simply tighten my grip on the miren crystal in my pocket, grasping the last shred of my faith.
She kneels so close I can see the salt drying on her lashes.Her shadows rearrange themselves into a faint cage around her knees, as if they too, are listening for the voice that walks inside her.
“You saw the war,” I say quietly.“You saw the truth, and?—”
She doesn’t let me finish.“And you?”The corner of her mouth lifts into a snarl.“What did you see in there, Kael?Aside from the shrine’s pretty lights?”
I want to tell her everything—the whisper that crawled into my skull, the promise to burn the darkness out of me if I helped her, the needle of fear that set my bones humming.
Instead, I say, “I saw enough.”
“You saw nothing but a girl surrounded by lies, walking into a pool only to emerge with the truth.”
“You want vengeance,” I say, seeing the truth through her words.
She nods.“I want balance.”
“As do I.And that is why Iam here.Show me your truth, and I will shout it to my people until the world begins to right itself.”
The lines around her eyes ease, her jaw softening at the solidity of our allegiance.Though her body is here, her mind is somewhere else, wrapped in a silent conversation.
