The forest lost its shape as they walked.
The paths that once made sense twisted into spirals. The air tasted thicker. The scent of moss faded into something sharper, something metallic and sweet, like old blood drying on stone.
Selene stayed close to Zyren, her hand occasionally brushing his arm when the ground dipped or roots snagged her boots. Not romantic yet. Instinctive. A silent plea not to lose contact in a forest that seemed eager to swallow them.
Zyren moved carefully. He did not bleed anymore, but he felt the wounds under his clothes. The herald had rattled his bones. Every movement sent dull sparks through his ribs.
Selene noticed.
She watched him between steps, reading the tightness in his jaw, the stiffness in his shoulders.
"You should rest," she whispered.
"We cannot," Zyren answered.
"Zyren. You are hurt."
"So are you."
Selene pressed her lips together.
She had one arm wrapped around her ribs, trying to hide the pain from earlier.
"That is different."
"It is the same," he said.
She looked ahead again.
"No. It is not. If you fall, everything falls with you."
Zyren slowed slightly.
"Selene."
"No," she said sharply. "Listen. You are carrying something the world wants to kill. Not me. You. That herald went through me like wind. It cared only about you. It wanted to break you."
Zyren met her eyes.
"I know."
She inhaled softly.
"So let me fight with you. Not behind you. Not as an afterthought."
Zyren considered that.
"You already do."
Selene's expression softened, but only for a moment.
"Then do not walk like your bones are burning," she whispered. "Let me take the lead until you recover."
He shook his head once.
"I cannot."
"Why not," she whispered.
Zyren paused.
Selene watched his face.
Then she saw it.
A flicker.
Not of pain.
Of fear.
Her eyes widened.
"Zyren…"
He did not turn.
"The herald marked me," he said quietly. "If something else is watching, it will strike the one in front first."
Realization crashed through her.
"You are trying to shield me," she said.
Zyren kept walking.
Selene grabbed his wrist and forced him to face her.
"That is not your decision."
"It is," Zyren said.
Her voice went raw.
"You cannot protect me from gods."
"Maybe not," Zyren said softly. "But I can try."
Selene stared at him for several seconds.
Her breath trembled.
Her eyes glistened, not from emotion alone, but from pressure and exhaustion.
"You are going to get yourself killed doing that," she whispered.
Zyren held her gaze.
"Maybe."
Selene stepped closer until her forehead almost touched his chest.
"Then stop before I lose you," she said quietly.
Zyren did not answer.
He simply turned back toward the path and kept moving.
Selene followed. Not angry. Not defeated. Simply afraid in a way she would not admit yet.
The forest grew stranger.
The trees leaned inward like they were listening. Their bark was etched with faint runes that pulsed slowly in different colors. Blue. Gold. Crimson. Colors that should never mix.
Selene slowed near one of them.
"These runes… I saw something similar in a temple near Solari Crest."
Zyren traced the carved markings with two fingers.
"This is older. Much older."
"What do they mean"
"Warning," Zyren said.
"About what"
"About where we are walking."
Selene swallowed.
"Then we should stop."
Zyren stepped past the tree.
"We cannot."
Selene brushed her thumb across one rune.
It pulsed once, warm.
Then cracked.
A thin line of light spilled out.
She jerked her hand back.
"Zyren…"
He turned.
The cracked rune widened.
A faint wind stirred the dead leaves.
Then something crawled out of the tree.
A shadow.
Long shapes like fingers stretching into the air before forming a body. It took the shape of a wolf, but its body flickered like broken light. Its eyes glowed with a faint red spark.
Selene raised her bow instantly.
"What is that"
"Living shadow," Zyren said calmly.
"Is that a creature"
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'"
"It is a memory pretending to be a creature."
The shadow wolf turned its head slowly toward them. The red sparks in its eyes brightened. It stepped forward, paws sinking into the earth without sound.
Selene whispered under her breath.
"Why does everything in this forest want us dead"
Zyren drew his sword.
"Because we are walking through a past that does not want to be remembered."
The wolf charged.
It moved like water.
Fast.
Silent.
A blur in the dark.
Selene fired.
Her arrow passed through its body, leaving a streak of distorted air where the shadow split and reformed.
"Zyren, my arrows are useless."
"Do not stop shooting."
"What for"
"Pressure."
Selene gritted her teeth but obeyed.
She fired again and again, each arrow striking the moving shadow. It did not wound the beast, but each impact made it flicker, slowed it slightly, distorted its shape.
Zyren stepped forward.
The wolf lunged.
Zyren twisted to the side, letting it pass by inches. The shadow's form grazed his shoulder, sending a cold sting across his skin.
Selene fired into its flank.
The flicker bought Zyren a heartbeat.
He swung.
His sword passed through the wolf.
The shadow tore apart like smoke in wind.
But it did not disperse.
It reformed behind him and lunged again.
Selene shouted.
"Zyren!"
He spun.
Too slow.
The wolf slammed into him.
Zyren hit the ground hard. Dirt and leaves flew. The shadow pinned him down, its head forming a jagged maw of flickering teeth.
Selene ran toward them without hesitation.
"Move!"
She shot point blank into the wolf's head.
The flicker became violent.
Zyren pushed it off and rolled to his feet.
The wolf reformed midair, turning again toward Selene.
Zyren moved before thought.
He grabbed Selene's waist, spun her behind him, and lifted his sword just as the wolf struck.
The blade met shadow.
And something inside Zyren broke open.
The silence inside him surged outward in a wave.
Not a shield.
Not a veil.
A pulse.
The black silver aura rippled through the clearing. The shadow wolf froze. Its body convulsed. Silent cracks tore across its form like fractures splitting glass.
Selene watched with wide eyes.
"Zyren…"
The wolf tried to scream.
But silence drowned it.
Its body tore apart into long ribbons of shadow that dissolved into smoke.
The forest fell still again.
Selene breathed hard, staring at Zyren.
"You did that," she whispered.
Zyren lowered his sword slowly.
"No. The crown did."
She stepped closer and placed her hand on his back.
"Are you alright"
"No."
"Zyren, what is wrong"
He turned his head slightly, just enough for her to see the faint silver ring glowing in his irises.
"It is waking up too fast."
Selene's breath caught.
"Is that dangerous"
"Yes."
"How dangerous"
Zyren looked deeper into the forest.
"The herald said the Court will send more if I grow. The crown is growing faster than I can control."
Selene moved in front of him and held his face gently between her hands.
Her voice was quiet but steady.
"Then learn. Before it grows past you."
Zyren met her eyes.
"You want me to trust something that might kill me."
"No," she whispered. "I want you to trust yourself."
His breath slowed.
For a moment his forehead touched hers.
Not romantic.
Not planned.
A survival instinct.
Two souls grounding each other so they do not fall apart.
Selene lowered her hands slowly.
"Let us move," she said softly. "Before the forest remembers we are here."
Zyren nodded.
They walked deeper.
The trees grew thicker.
The air colder.
The path more narrow.
A faint glow appeared far ahead. Not warm. Not safe.
A cold flame burning in a ring of broken stones.
Selene whispered.
"What is that"
Zyren breathed out slowly.
"A place where silence sleeps."
Selene stepped closer to him.
"Then stay near me."
He did.
Far above, in the Divine Court, the herald's voice echoed against marble sky.
"The bearer grows. The forest awakens for him."
A second god answered.
"Then begin the next phase."
A third whispered.
"Release the choir."
And somewhere between realms, something began to sing.
A song meant to guide gods.
A song meant to break mortals.
A song meant for Zyren.