Chapter 6

Kaelen's POV

The silence in my villa had never felt so suffocating. It was the kind of quiet that crept under your skin, amplifying the smallest of sounds: a drip of water, the creak of wood, the rustle of the wind through the cracked window. For days, I had been confined within these walls, haunted by the weight of memories that refused to let me go. Memories of Lyra.

I tried to distract myself, burying my head in old books or staring at the roaring fire until it died down to embers. Yet, every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face, the warmth of her smile, the way her golden hair caught the light, the way she laughed when I whispered something foolish in her ear. These memories should have been a comfort, but instead, they were a curse, a reminder of what I had lost.

But tonight, something felt different. The air was heavier, colder. I shivered despite the fire burning brightly in the hearth.

At first, I thought I was imagining it—the faint creak of a floorboard upstairs. My villa was old; noises like that weren’t uncommon. But then it came again. Slow. Deliberate. Someone or something was here.

I tensed, my senses sharpening as I rose from my chair. My hand instinctively reached for the dagger strapped to my belt. The weight of it brought a small measure of comfort, but my pulse quickened all the same.

“Who’s there?” I called, my voice firm, though the empty room swallowed the sound. No answer.

I climbed the staircase cautiously, the wooden steps groaning beneath my weight. My villa was eerily dark, the only light coming from the moon filtering through the windows. As I reached the second floor, I noticed something odd. The door to my study, which I always kept locked, was slightly ajar.

My chest tightened. Someone had been in there.

I pushed the door open with the tip of my dagger, my eyes scanning the room for any sign of an intruder. But it was empty. The shelves of old tomes and relics sat untouched, exactly as I had left them. Almost.

In the center of my desk lay an ancient book, its pages open as if someone had been reading it. My heart sank as recognition struck. It was the very book I had sworn never to touch again, a time filled with forbidden knowledge about curses and dark magic. I hadn’t laid a finger on it in years.

“Impossible,” I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. My hand trembled as I reached for the book. The pages felt cold, almost alive, as if they were pulsing with some dark energy.

I stared at the strange symbols etched into the parchment. They seemed to shift and writhe, refusing to stay still. A chill ran down my spine, and I slammed the book shut, the sound echoing through the empty room.

For a moment, I stood frozen, trying to steady my breathing. My thoughts raced. Was this the curse? Was it playing tricks on my mind? Or was someone toying with me, trying to drive me mad?

I found myself clutching the pendant around my neck. Lyra’s pendant. It was the only thing I had left of her, a small silver charm she had given me the night we parted. I held it tightly, as if it could protect me from whatever was happening.

“I’m losing it,” I whispered to myself, closing my eyes. “I’m going insane.”

But the feeling of being watched didn’t fade. If anything, it grew stronger.

The rest of the night passed in a haze of restless pacing and whispered curses. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The shadows in the corners of the room seemed darker, more oppressive. I checked every window and door, but they were all locked. Still, the unease lingered.

It was well past midnight when I heard the knock. A sharp, deliberate rap against the wooden door of the villa.

I froze.

No one ever came here. The villa was iso inlated, surrounded by dense woods, far from any town or village. Whoever was at my door wasn’t here by accident.

Gripping my dagger, I approached the door slowly. The knock came again, louder this time. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I swung the door open, ready to strike.

But there was no one there.

The cold night air rushed past me, sending a shiver down my spine. I stepped outside, scanning the dark forest for any sign of movement. The moon cast long, eerie shadows across the ground, but the woods were silent.

Then I saw it.A folded piece of parchment lay on the ground, pinned under a rock. I hesitated before picking it up, half-expecting it to burst into flames or disappear the moment I touched it. But it didn’t.

Unfolding the note, I read the words scrawled in jagged handwriting:

Stay away from Lyra’s kingdom. You’ve been warned.

My blood ran cold.The hunter. It had to be him. He had found me again, and he was making it clear that he wouldn’t hesitate to act if I disobeyed. Anger flared in my chest, replacing the fear. I crushed the note in my fist, my jaw tightening.

“You think you can scare me?” I muttered, glaring into the darkness. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

As if in response, a shadow darted past the edge of the forest, quick and silent. My body tensed, and I bolted after it without thinking, my dagger gleaming in the moonlight.

“Show yourself!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the trees. But the shadow was too fast, slipping between the trunks like smoke.

I chased it deeper into the woods, my boots crunching against the underbrush. The air grew colder, and the trees seemed to close in around me. My breath came in ragged gasps, but I refused to stop.

Finally, I came to a halt in a small clearing, my heart pounding in my chest. The shadow was gone, swallowed by the darkness. All that remained was silence.

But then I saw the claw marks.They were etched into the trunk of a tree, deep and deliberate. Fresh. My eyes followed the marks down to the ground, where I found more of them on rocks, on fallen logs, even on the dirt itself. It was as if something had been circling my villa, watching and waiting.

I tightened my grip on the dagger, my mind racing. This wasn’t just a warning. It was a message. Whoever or whatever was out there wanted me to know that they could reach me anytime they wanted.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the clearing, carrying with it the faint sound of laughter. Low, mocking, and far too close for comfort.

I turned in every direction, my dagger raised, but there was no one there. The laughter faded, leaving me alone in the dark once again.

I returned to the villa just before dawn, my nerves frayed and my body exhausted. As I bolted the door behind me, I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder, half-expecting to see those shadows waiting for me.

But the villa was quiet once more, the oppressive silence settling over me like a heavy blanket.

I sank into a chair by the fire, clutching Lyra’s pendant in one hand and the crumpled note in the other.

“They want me to stay away,” I murmured, my voice barely audible over the crackling flames. “But I won’t. Not this time.”

The hunter could send all the warnings he wanted. The shadows could haunt my nights and whisper in my ear. It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t stop until I found her.

Even if it killed me.