The storm had returned by the time Leira could think clearly again.
Rain pressed softly against the window, each drop sliding down the glass like a slow heartbeat. It sounded far away, muffled, as though it belonged to another world, one she wasn't part of anymore. The room felt too still compared to the chaos inside her chest, as if the air itself had stepped back to watch her unravel.
She sat curled up on the couch, her knees pulled close, staring at her arm. The faint glow beneath her skin had dimmed, but it was still there, steady and pulsing, refusing to die. The light gave off a warmth that didn't belong to her body, a quiet thrum that felt almost like a stranger breathing through her veins.
Kael stood near the window with his back to her, one hand resting on the frame. His silhouette looked carved from the storm, rigid, alert, pressed with tension she could feel from across the room. The flicker of lightning shined briefly across his face, outlining the sharp line of his jaw and the quiet focus in his posture. He hadn't said much since the light in her wrist faded. Every few minutes, he would glance at her, not to speak, just to make sure she was still there, still conscious, still herself.
The silence stretched until it felt heavy enough to fill the room, pressing into the corners, climbing the walls, sinking into her bones.
Finally, Leira broke it.
"You said something followed me," she said softly.
Kael didn't turn. His eyes stayed on the rain. "It won't stop until it finds you."
"Why me?" she asked. Her voice cracked a little, more from exhaustion than fear. She felt drained, hollow, as if the light had stolen something from her and left nothing in its place.
He hesitated, his gaze still distant. "Because of what you carry."
Leira frowned. "I don't carry anything."
That made him look at her. His eyes caught the dim light, unreadable and steady, but there was something else there too, something like caution. "You carry a name."
"A name?" she repeated, confused. "You keep talking about this name thing. What does that even mean?"
Kael finally moved away from the window and sat across from her. The chair creaked under his weight, and for a moment, the room smelled faintly of wet wood and smoke, like he had brought the storm in with him.
"Names have power where I come from," he said quietly. "Some are keys. Some are doors. And some, like yours, are weapons."
Leira blinked, completely lost. "That doesn't make any type of sense. You're talking like this is some kind of twisted fairy tale."
"It's not a fairy tale," he said, his tone flat but calm. "It's older than that. Fairy tales came from truths people were too afraid to believe."
She wanted to laugh at that, to push back against the absurdity, but something in his expression stopped her. He wasn't joking. He wasn't even trying to convince her. He was simply stating a fact.
Rain hissed against the glass. Somewhere outside, thunder rolled like a warning, a low growl that rattled the windowpane.
Kael leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "When the old world fell, it didn't disappear," he said. "It just hid. And it left pieces of itself behind, bloodlines, marks, echoes. Most of them never wake up. But you did."
Leira looked down at her wrist again. The faint light there flickered as if it had heard him, as if it understood something she didn't. "So what? You're saying I'm some kind of ancient descendant?"
"In a way."
"Then who are you, Kael?"
His jaw tensed slightly at the question. For a long moment, he didn't answer. His silence felt like a door closing. Then, quietly, he said, "Someone who shouldn't be here."
The words hit the room like a cold draft. Before Leira could ask what he meant, the lights flickered once. Then again. The air grew cold enough to sting her skin, raising goosebumps along her arms.
"Kael?" she whispered.
He didn't reply. His eyes narrowed as he looked toward the door. The hum in the room deepened like static before lightning strikes, thickening the air until she could barely breathe.
"Stay behind me," he said sharply.
Leira's heartbeat quickened. She stood on shaky legs, gripping the edge of the couch for balance. "What's happening?"
Kael moved quickly, reaching into his jacket. When he pulled out a curved blade, the metal caught the faint glow of her wrist. It shimmered faintly with an energy that didn't belong in this world, as though it recognized the light inside her.
"Kael, what are you…"
Before she could finish, the shadows near the door rippled, twisting as if alive.
Leira froze, her breath catching in her throat. The air itself seemed to breathe, each inhale darker than the last, pulling at the edges of the room as though something massive pressed against reality from the outside.
Kael's voice was steady, but lower now. "It found us."
Something stepped forward from the darkness. It was tall, wrongly tall, its limbs too long, its form shifting like smoke trying to hold shape. There was no face, only an emptiness that reflected the faint light in her arm. The sight of it made her stomach twist, her skin crawl, every instinct screaming at her to run, to hide, to disappear.
Leira's knees nearly gave out. "What the hell is that?"
"Not human," Kael muttered. "Not anymore."
Then it lunged.
Kael moved faster than she thought possible. His blade cut through the air with a soft hiss, meeting the creature mid strike. The impact sent a jolt of light through the room. The thing shrieked, a sound like metal scraping glass, echoing in her skull until her vision blurred.
Leira stumbled backward, her hand clutching her glowing wrist. The mark burned hotter now, reacting to the creature's presence, as if something inside her recognized the threat and recoiled.
"Leira!" Kael shouted, deflecting another hit. "Don't let it touch you!"
"I'm trying!" she cried, her voice breaking. Her pulse thundered against her ribs, her breath trembling.
The creature's shadowy arm swung toward her. Kael tried to intercept, but before he could reach her, Leira's mark blazed with sudden light.
A wave of energy exploded from her hand. It hit the creature square in the chest and threw it across the room. The walls shook with the force, a picture frame crashing to the floor, glass shattering.
When the light faded, the thing was gone, its body dissolving into black dust that vanished into the air like it had never existed.
Silence fell, thick, trembling, disbelieving.
Leira stood frozen, breathing fast. Her entire arm glowed faintly again, the light pulsing with a rhythm that didn't match her heartbeat.
Kael lowered his blade slowly. His eyes stayed fixed on her, unreadable but filled with something close to disbelief. "You shouldn't have been able to do that," he said quietly.
Leira looked at her trembling hands. "I didn't mean to."
"What did you feel before it happened?"
She tried to think, tried to find words. "Like… something was burning inside me. Like it was angry."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Then we don't have much time."
Leira's pulse raced painfully. "Time for what?"
He turned toward the window again, scanning the darkness beyond. The rain had turned violent, slashing against the glass in furious waves. The wind howled like something alive. "Until the rest of them find you."
"The rest?" she repeated, moving closer despite herself. "You mean there's more of those things?"
His silence was answer enough.
A flash of lightning lit the world outside. In that brief, blinding moment, Leira saw them, shapes moving along the road, slow and heavy, crawling through the fog like broken silhouettes dragging themselves toward her.
Her breath caught. Her throat tightened painfully. "They're already here, aren't they?"
Kael didn't look at her. He just nodded once. "Yes."
Leira's chest tightened. "What do they want from me?"
"Not what," he said softly, finally turning back to face her. "Who. They want the name you carry."
Her voice trembled. "My name is Leira Vance."
Kael's eyes darkened. "Not that one."
Leira swallowed hard, confusion twisting inside her like a knot pulled too tight. "Then what name?"
He took a step closer, his voice quiet but heavy with something ancient, something that seemed to press the air down around them. "Your true name. The one that was taken from you before you were born."
She shook her head slowly, unable to speak, unable to understand, yet unable to deny the way her wrist pulsed at his words, as if agreeing.
Kael's hand tightened around his weapon as thunder rumbled again, the sound deep enough to shake the floorboards. "Until you remember it," he said, "you'll never be safe."
Leira stared at him, the glow beneath her skin pulsing faintly, almost like it could hear every word. Almost like it was listening.
"And if I do remember?" she asked quietly.
His eyes met hers, and for the first time, she saw fear in them. Real fear. "Then everything that's been asleep will wake up."
The wind outside howled, rattling the windows. Somewhere far away, something cried out, high and sharp, like the sky itself had split open.
Kael didn't move. Neither did she.
The storm had finally come for her.