The forest was quieter than it should've been.
Elena had grown up hearing its sounds—the rustling leaves, the distant birds, the steady heartbeat of nature.
But now… it felt like the world was holding its breath.
And she knew exactly why.
The mark on her wrist pulsed again—slow, like a warning.
Or a call.
She clenched her hand, trying to steady herself.
"Not now… please, not again."
But the shadows around her shifted, gathering at the edges of the trees like they were waiting.
And then she felt him.
Not heard.
Not seen.
Felt.
A cold brush along her spine—like fingers made of smoke and fire at the same time.
"Elena."
His voice came from behind her, deep and low, the kind that slipped under the skin and stayed there.
She turned slowly.
There he was.
The shadow-bound warrior.
Silent. Still. Watching her with eyes that didn't belong to this world.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
She crossed her arms, trying to hide the tremble in her fingers.
"You keep saying that. Yet you show up every time I'm alone."
A flicker—barely a change—but something in his expression tightened.
"Elena," he repeated, stepping closer, "the Eclipse is waking. And your mark is reacting faster than it should."
She swallowed. "So tell me what it means."
He didn't answer.
Instead, he lifted a hand. Shadows curled around his fingers like living smoke.
And then his palm hovered just an inch above her mark.
Not touching.
Just close enough for the heat between them to spark.
Her breath caught.
He felt it.
His jaw tightened. "Your pulse… it changes when I'm near."
"Maybe I'm just annoyed," she whispered.
But the way her voice shook betrayed her.
He noticed—of course he did.
The shadows around him stirred, restless.
"Elena," he said softly, almost painfully, "I wasn't supposed to find you yet."
Something cold slid through her chest.
"Yet?"
He stepped even closer. She didn't move back. She couldn't.
"The prophecy," he murmured, "says that when the Eclipse rises, the one marked by shadow will awaken… drawn to the one who carries its other half."
She stared at him.
"You think that's me?"
His eyes locked onto hers—dark, intense, impossible to read.
"I don't think," he said.
"I know."
Her heart kicked. Hard.
But before she could speak, the forest exploded with sound—branches cracking, shadows tearing open as something massive rushed toward them.
He spun instantly, shadows whipping around him like armor.
"Stay behind me."
"Elena—run!"
But she didn't move.
Because the creature that emerged wasn't looking at him.
It was looking at her.
The mark on her wrist blazed—bright, burning, alive.
And the warrior whispered something she wasn't meant to hear:
"She's awakening…"