Lights in the Dark

The sun was slipping behind the trees, painting the sky in soft shades of amber and rose when Kael and Liora stopped beside a quiet brook. The gentle rush of water mingled with the first evening crickets, filling the forest with a peaceful rhythm.

Kael perched on a flat stone, cloak draped over one shoulder, his golden eyes scanning the horizon with instinctual caution. His ears caught every rustle in the leaves, every shift in the wind. Danger, in his experience, never gave warnings.

Liora, meanwhile, knelt at the water’s edge. She dipped her fingers into the stream, giggling as bubbles formed around her hands. She poked at them like a child discovering treasure.

“Never seen a river before?” Kael asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I’ve seen rivers,” she replied, smiling as her reflection shimmered in the water. “But not this one. Each river sings a different song. This one… is whispering secrets.”

Kael scoffed under his breath — a faint tch — but turned his head quickly, just in case she caught the corner of his lips twitching upward.

Some part of him, buried deep beneath armor and silence, was beginning to enjoy the way she viewed the world. Like everything still mattered. Like nothing was beyond wonder.

“Are you always like this?” he asked. “Curious about everything?”

“Yup,” she said with a proud nod. “And you? Always this quiet and broody?”

“Silence kept me alive,” Kael replied, voice low.

Liora stopped. The ripples in the brook reflected in her lilac eyes as she turned to face him.

“…You’re running, aren’t you?”

Kael stiffened. Just for a heartbeat. But she noticed.

“You are,” she whispered. “Running from something… or someone. But even then, you protected me. Back in the mist. Why?”

His jaw tightened. For a moment, he didn’t respond. Then he met her gaze — those soft, curious eyes that always looked at him without fear — and answered with quiet honesty.

“Because you’re fae.”

Liora blinked, surprised. Not the answer she was expecting.

“…And that matters?”

“It does to me,” he said, already turning away.

There was more — far more — behind those words, but he wasn’t ready. The past still bled beneath his skin, and he didn’t want to drag her into it. Not her.

But Liora didn’t push. She just smiled gently, her voice softer than the wind.

“Thank you.”

He glanced at her, confused.

“For what?”

“For protecting me,” she said. “Even while running.”

Later, as the stars scattered across the sky like spilled diamonds, they lay on the grass in silence. The forest around them had quieted, blanketed by night. Fireflies blinked in and out of the shadows.

Liora raised her hand, whispering a word in the old tongue. From her fingers, tiny floating lights bloomed — soft blue and violet orbs that danced in the air like dandelion seeds caught in a breeze.

Kael watched them with half-lidded eyes. Their glow reflected in her hair, making her look like she belonged to the night sky itself.

“You ever look at the stars,” Liora said, her voice dreamy, “and wonder where it all ends?”

Kael didn’t open his eyes. “Always.”

She turned toward him, studying his profile — the sharp jaw, the long lashes, the small crease between his brows that never quite relaxed.

“Then… can I keep going with you?” she asked. “As far as it takes?”

His golden eyes opened slowly. This time, he didn’t look away.

“…You can.”

Liora beamed, satisfied, and turned back to her glowing lights, adding little wings to some of them for fun.

Kael watched her — the way she smiled without effort, the way her magic shimmered without fear. She was light. Pure and untamed. A complete contrast to the shadows curled up inside him.

And for just a moment…

Something in him felt lighter, too.