The moon filtered its cold light through the tops of dead trees, casting long shadows on the mossy stones of forgotten ruins. They were isolated there, surrounded by broken columns and ancient inscriptions covered by the dust of ti—a temple of gods long silent. Among the rubble, the group had improvised a camp. Small embers burned under magical protection, barely visible, just enough to ward off the cold without giving away their position.
Kael sat on a piece of broken marble, his eyes fixed on the horizon, his aura expanding like an invisible veil that touched the forest beyond. Silent. Calculating. Prepared.
Exelia was nearby, leaning against a fallen pillar, her arms crossed and her eyes half-closed. Her presence was firm but calm—like a sheathed sword, always ready to be wielded.
Minutes passed in absolute silence, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional distant song of so nocturnal creature.
"You're restless," she said, breaking the tension with a low, almost emotionless voice.
Kael turned his face just enough to look at her sideways.
"Soone has to be," he replied. "We still have tracks on our heels. And I don't trust ancient ruins."
Exelia let out a soft sound of approval. Then, for a mont, she seed to hesitate before sitting down, keeping her sword within reach.
"Do you want to trust ?" she asked suddenly, her voice a little softer, but still protected by her inner armor.
Kael raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "What are you trying to say?"
She looked up at the sky, as if seeking courage among the stars.
"I grew up far away from all this," she began. "I was born human. The daughter of rchants. My village was attacked by bandits when I was little. They hid in a hole under the floorboards, but... everyone died. When I ca out, everything was burned. Everyone was... ashes."
Kael said nothing. He just listened.
"It was a patrol of dark elves that found . Young, hungry, exhausted. They could have left there. They could have sold . But no. They took in. They taught their language, combat, how to survive." She looked at him now, directly. "In the eyes of the world, I am nothing but a freak. A human who serves the renegades. But to them... I was family."
Kael looked away for a mont. The silence between them now seed more intimate.
"And that's why you fight?" he asked.
"For that, and for myself. Because I saw what those who call themselves civilized do to those who are different. I saw what the high elves do to those who refuse to kneel." She clenched her fists. "They call the dark elves savages. But they were the ones who burned the forests. They were the ones who hunted us like beasts. That's why I joined the Witch Queen. She offered power and also helped many dark elves."
Kael took a deep breath. Her words brought back too many mories. Too many betrayals.
"You're not a freak, Exelia," he said at last, and there was an unexpected firmness in his voice. "You're a warrior. And a damn good watcher."
She smiled slightly, a short but sincere smile.
"You're not what they say you are either," she replied. "When I heard you existed, I thought you were just a spoiled brat, especially since you're Elion's son. But you seem much older, not in body, but in mind..."
"Because I am... I am reincarnated," Kael thought, but said nothing.
For a mont, the two just stared at each other, a silent connection forming in the space between swords, scars, and difficult choices.
The breeze blew, colder. The temple creaked slightly, as if even the stones were listening.
Exelia turned her eyes to the darkness around them.
"We are safe for now. But sothing is stirring in this realm. Sothing that bows to neither light nor shadow."
[Kingdom of Witches]
The light never changed there. The sky was an opaque mirror of eternal purples and golds, as if ti were suspended in a living painting. High atop the floating towers, enveloped by spirals of lilac mist and enchanted branches, three figures sat in a circle of sparkling runes on a black stone terrace.
Sylphie sat cross-legged, her white hair tied in tight braids, her eyes heavy with worry and restrained frustration. Irelia, her face always serene, maintained the composure of a priestess, but her distant gaze revealed turbulent thoughts. Alia drumd her fingers on the floor with magical impatience, sparking arcane energy in small blue sparks.
"Ten years..." Sylphie murmured for the thousandth ti. "She made his body advance ten years, Irelia. Do you understand what that ans? He is living in a ti that does not yet exist for us."
Irelia nodded, her voice low and ditative. "It bothers ... My plans have been completely ruined."
Alia snorted. "Why did she do that? The Witch Queen doesn't act without reason. She would never do sothing like this without a clear purpose." Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of anger and admiration. "Or... I think this shit only happened because he had too much power accumulated, as he himself said, I think it really was the only option..."
Sylphie ran her hand across her forehead. "That doesn't matter now. What matters is that he's alone. And the more ti passes, the further away he'll be... from us, that irritates . I wanted to go with him, but we're three children of almost twelve years old."
There was a mont of silence. Only the whisper of enchanted wind currents passing through the cracks in the tower.
"My uncle wanted to do sothing so I could reach Kael's age... he said it would take a few years, but it would be faster than living ten normal years..." Irelia said at last. The suggestion fell like a stone in the calm lake of conversation.
Sylphie narrowed her eyes. "Your uncle isn't very self-aware, to be honest. He's much worse than Eva when it cos to seeking out the potential of those around him. It scares a little."
"Yes," Irelia replied calmly. "But I also know that he wouldn't do anything to harm , despite how difficult it must be."
Alia clenched her fists, the magical light on her skin flickering with tension.
"Generally, forcing the body to mature faster can cause several internal problems..." she said, in a more serious tone than usual. "Even more so for people like us, raised for war. If sothing goes wrong inside the body... we may never be able to have children."
The silence that followed was not uncomfortable, but heavy. Weighty.
Sylphie looked away, staring at the purple, motionless sky of the Witch Kingdom. Her voice ca out lower than she intended, almost a whisper:
"Well... I wouldn't say I wanted to have children, actually. I never really thought about it much. I think... even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I am a dryad before I am an elf. And our destiny has always been to bloom and fall with the forest."
Irelia closed her eyes slowly, as if those words were the final seal on an ancient understanding.
Alia rose from where she was sitting, the enchanted wind blowing strands of hair across her determined face.
"Then that's it. Let's try my uncle's training," she said, conviction vibrating in her voice.
Sylphie nodded slowly. But it was more than agreent—it was a silent acceptance of the journey, a thread of determination weaving sothing greater than each of them alone. She would not let Kael walk that path without soone to guide him back.
However, as the three were about to descend the spiral staircase of the ancestral tower, Alia suddenly stopped. She frowned and turned to her companions, as if she had just realized sothing too obvious to have been ignored.
"...Can't we just ask the Witch Queen to do the sa thing to us that she did to him?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, as if suggesting the simplest thing in the world.
Irelia and Sylphie looked at each other, surprised. Neither of them had considered that.
"I an, doesn't she already know we like her grandson?" Alia continued, with an almost innocent sincerity. "We just need to prove we deserve that trust. The rest... I doubt Kael would be against it. In fact, he probably already knows the magic she used."
She crossed her arms and shrugged. "When he cos back, he can just teach us. Grow up fast. Face what he's facing. Together."
Alia's simplicity seed foolish... but it made sense.
Sylphie sighed with a small smile on her lips. "You talk as if it were easy."
"It's not," said Irelia calmly. "But it may be the most direct path. If Kael accepted it, perhaps the Queen will see value in preparing us in the sa way."
Alia smiled. "We just need to show that we're ready."
And for the first ti that night, even with all the uncertainties and risks, there was sothing close to hope in the air—a spark that ti, as relentless as it was, could still be challenged... if they walked together.
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