Lyn's eyes glowed like molten gold, bright enough that the floating lanterns dimmed in response. The cottage seemed to tighten around them, as if the ancient walls were listening.
Rafe stood frozen.
Someone who knows your name.Someone coming for him.
Mara grabbed his arm immediately, pulling him behind her instinctively.
"Rafe, stay back."
Lyn didn't blink. She stared at the door as if she could see through the thick wood, past the barrier, past the trees and distance.
Selene approached cautiously, staff lowered but glowing.
"Lyn," she said softly, "can you hear me?"
Lyn's golden eyes flicked toward her for a fraction of a second.
"Yes."
"Who is coming?" Selene asked.
Lyn's voice trembled—too young, too tired, but filled with something ancient pressing through her.
"He walks through shadows… and carries light."
Rafe's breath hitched.
"What does that even mean?"
Mara tightened her grip on him."Are they coming for you? Or Lyn?"
Lyn's gaze returned to the door.
"…For him."
Mara's heart pounded like thunder.
"Why Rafe?!"
Lyn's glow dimmed just slightly.
"Because he was not supposed to live."
Silence fell like a blade.
Rafe's pulse turned cold.Selene's expression became sharper than steel.
Mara stepped in front of Rafe, trembling, voice shaking with fury.
"Whoever it is — they'll have to kill me first."
Lyn's head tilted slightly, the golden light flickering.
"No. Not to harm him."
Rafe blinked. "Then for what?"
Lyn's eyelids fluttered.
"To… find him."
Selene stepped closer.
"Lyn, find him for what?"
Lyn opened her small hand, light pooling in her palm like a tiny star.
"To correct the mistake."
Something inside Rafe's chest twisted.
"What mistake?"
Lyn's glow pulsed once more — then collapsed entirely. Her eyes rolled back, and she fell forward.
Mara caught her instantly.
"Lyn!"
Rafe knelt beside them. "She fainted—"
"No," Selene said, hand hovering just above Lyn's forehead. "She was pulled back. Something tried to speak through her. Something old."
Mara hugged Lyn close, shaking. "This is too much for her. She's just a kid."
"So is he," Selene replied, eyes fixed on Rafe. "And yet fate is circling him like prey."
Rafe stood slowly.
"Selene… who could Lyn be talking about?"
Selene's jaw clenched.
"There are… possibilities."
"Tell me."
"After Lyn's vision? No. Not until I confirm something."
Rafe grabbed her wrist."I deserve to know."
Selene looked down at him.
Her eyes were not cold.
They were concerned.
"Rafe… whatever is coming for you is not human."
Mara stiffened. "Not human?"
"Not anymore."
Rafe's skin prickled.A chill rolled through the cottage.
At that moment—A knock hit the door.
A single, calm, deliberate knock.
Tok.
Mara whirled toward the entrance.
"No. Not here. Not now."
Selene's staff blazed with blue-white light as she stepped in front of all three children, her entire body projecting lethal intent.
"Rafe," she said quietly, "behind me."
He obeyed — for once — pulling Mara and the unconscious Lyn with him.
Another knock echoed.
Tok.
Not urgent.
Not violent.
Patient.
Selene raised her voice.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then—
A whisper seeped through the barrier like smoke through cracks.
A man's voice, gentle, almost familiar:
"Rafe… open the door."
Rafe went pale.
He knew that voice.
He didn't know from where.He didn't know from when.
But every cell in his body recognized it.
Mara grabbed his hand so tightly it hurt.
"Rafe, don't move."
Selene's staff shook with light.
"This barrier should block anything short of a high-ranked mage. Whatever is speaking— it's brushing against the wards like they're nothing."
The voice came again.
"Rafe."
Soft.Warm.Terrifying.
"I've been looking for you."
Rafe's breath trembled.
Selene planted her staff into the ground.
"Mara. Take Lyn and stand back."
"And leave Rafe? Not happening."
"Mara."
"No!"
Rafe stepped forward before either could argue.
"Stop."
Selene turned sharply. "Rafe—"
"Open it," he said.
Both women stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
Mara grabbed his shirt. "Are you insane?!"
"Maybe," he whispered. "But he's right — whoever's there already passed the barrier. They just haven't crossed it yet."
Selene's jaw clenched.
"That doesn't mean you open the door to a monster."
Rafe swallowed.
"Then it's not a monster."
"How do you know?" Mara demanded.
Rafe stared at the door.
He didn't know.But something inside him — deep, old, wrong — tugged forward.
"He said my name."
Mara's voice broke.
"Anyone can say your name!"
"Not like that," Rafe whispered.
The voice came again — calm and steady.
"Rafe. Please."
Rafe stepped toward the door.
Selene tensed.
Mara trembled.
Lyn stirred faintly in her sleep.
Rafe reached out.
His hand hovered over the handle.
Selene whispered:
"Be ready."
Mara whispered:
"I'm right here."
Rafe opened the door.
Wind swept in, stirring the lanterns and chilling the air.
And standing just beyond the threshold was—
A man.
Tall.Dark hair.Eyes glowing faintly silver.
Clothed in a long black coat embroidered with white runes.
Someone who didn't look like a monster.
Someone who didn't look like a scout.
Someone who looked…
Like Rafe.
Older.Sharper.Stronger.
Too much like him.
The man smiled gently.
"Hello, Rafe."
Mara's heart stopped.Selene's eyes widened.Lyn murmured in her sleep.
Rafe whispered:
"Who… are you?"
The man stepped forward, expression soft and impossibly sad.
"I am," he said quietly,
"what you were supposed to become."
Rafe's blood went cold.
Mara whispered, horrified:
"…Your future self?"
The man smiled faintly.
"Not exactly."
He reached out a hand.
"I'm your shadow."
And the lanterns flickered out.