The darkness of the forest no longer frightened Nova.
As she raced through the gnarled paths of the Forgotten Woods, her breath came fast, but her steps never faltered. She wasn't running out of fear—she was chasing clarity, purpose, identity. Every pulse of her Nightmark reminded her of who she was becoming, even if the full truth still loomed like a riddle.
Beside her, Aelric moved with silent urgency, casting occasional glances back toward the glowing veil of magic that now separated them from Kade and the soldiers.
"They'll follow us," Nova said.
"They'll try," Aelric replied. "But they won't find us—not where we're going."
"Where is that exactly?"
"There's an ancient shrine hidden deep in the forest," he explained. "It's tied to your bloodline. The Elder said you'd need to go there next—said it would awaken something within you."
Nova's chest tightened. "More power?"
"Not just power. Memory. Insight. Your ancestors sealed part of your lineage in that place centuries ago. Only a Nightbound can unseal it."
"And if I fail?" she asked.
Aelric glanced at her, his eyes serious. "Then the Watcher may never fully awaken. And the realms will fall out of balance—permanently."
No pressure.
They pressed onward through the forest, and as the moon climbed higher, the trees began to change. Their bark shimmered with traces of silver. The leaves gave off faint pulses of light, as though glowing with breath. The air grew thicker, not with fog, but with magic—dense and vibrating, like a heartbeat beneath the earth.
"We're close," Aelric said, slowing.
They reached a small clearing where a circle of stones surrounded a pool of dark, still water. In the center stood an ancient archway covered in runes, long faded but still resonant.
Nova stepped toward it. The mark on her wrist blazed.
Her vision swirled.
Suddenly, the clearing faded, and she stood in a different space—a vision realm.
Around her stretched an endless sky of stars, connected by glowing threads of shadow and light. And from the center of it all, a voice echoed—not loud, not soft, but deep and eternal.
"Nova…"
She turned. A woman stood before her—tall, regal, draped in black and silver robes. Her hair flowed like ink and starlight, her eyes glowing with ancient power.
"Who are you?" Nova asked.
The woman smiled sadly. "I am Selene. Your ancestor. The first Nightbound."
Nova's mouth parted. "This… this is real?"
"It is the echo of what was, left behind for you. A memory laced in magic. Our blood carries the burden of balance—between realms, between life and death, between light and shadow."
"Why me?" Nova whispered. "Why now?"
"Because the seal is breaking," Selene said. "And the Watcher stirs. The Veil that separates the human realm from the dark one is thinning. You must be the bridge—not the blade."
Nova shook her head. "Everyone wants to use me. The Council, Kade… even the Watcher. I don't know who to trust."
"Trust your soul," Selene said. "The mark chose you not to destroy, but to restore. But to do that, you must know both your strength—and your darkness."
The stars around them pulsed, and Selene stepped forward, placing a hand over Nova's heart.
"Awaken."
The vision shattered.
Nova fell to her knees, gasping. The clearing returned to focus, and the pool's water rippled.
"What happened?" Aelric knelt beside her.
"I saw her," she said, voice shaking. "Selene. My ancestor."
Aelric's eyes widened.
"She said I'm the bridge between worlds. And that the Veil is breaking."
He nodded. "Then time is shorter than we thought."
From the pool, light rose—coalescing into a shard of crystal. It hovered in the air before Nova, humming softly.
She reached out and touched it.
The mark on her wrist blazed, and a surge of energy coursed through her. Not wild and destructive, but steady, commanding—like finding the rhythm of her true heartbeat for the first time.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
She wasn't just Nightbound.
She was the key.
They left the shrine under cover of mist, but the world no longer felt the same.
The stars looked sharper. The whispers in the wind clearer. Nova could hear the hum of energy beneath the surface of the land—as if the world had always been singing, and only now could she finally hear it.
"What now?" Aelric asked as they stopped to rest at a ridge overlooking Aethermoor in the distance.
Nova stared at the fortress. "We go back."
"Are you sure?"
"They'll come after me either way," she said. "But I won't let them use me. I'll face the Council. I'll demand the truth."
"And Kade?"
Her jaw tightened. "If he stands in my way, he'll learn that I'm not the girl he once thought I was."
Aelric smiled faintly. "Then let's go home, Nightbound."