|2| - Fragments of forgotten memories

They continued walking in silence, their footsteps crunching over brittle leaves and damp earth. The forest around them breathed with an unnatural stillness, as though the trees themselves held their breath, watching. Aira tried to piece together the fragments in her mind—the dreams, Kael, and the curse binding them. She hadn’t asked for any of this. Yet somehow, being beside him gave her a strange sense of belonging. It was as if they were two halves of the same story, drawn together by forces neither of them fully understood.

Then Kael stopped abruptly. He tilted his head slightly, his body tensing like a predator sensing danger.

“What is it?” Aira whispered, fear prickling her skin.

Kael’s gaze scanned the dense shadows ahead, his expression sharp. “We’re not alone.”

Aira’s pulse quickened. She strained her ears, but all she could hear was the faint rustle of leaves above them.

“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

Kael didn’t answer right away. He stepped closer to her, his body angled protectively. “Something is following us,” he whispered, his breath brushing against her ear. “Stay close.”

The forest, which had seemed almost welcoming before, now bristled with tension. The air thickened, and Aira felt the chill of something unseen creeping beneath her skin. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but Kael’s steady presence rooted her in place.

Then she heard it—a faint, irregular rustling, like footsteps weaving between the underbrush. Whoever, or whatever, was out there wasn’t trying to be discreet anymore. Aira’s heart drummed in her chest, each beat a question: Who was following them? Why were they being hunted?

Kael’s fingers tightened on her wrist, but his gaze softened, grounding her. “Remember,” he whispered, his voice low and steady. “Trust your instincts.”

The words felt like a lifeline tossed into the chaotic storm of her thoughts. She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and gave him a small nod.

From the utter darkness emerged three figures, cloaked and hooded, their faces concealed. Their presence felt wrong—like an alarmed reminder of something ancient, twisted, and filled with malevolence.

Kael stepped in front of Aira, his posture shifting into a defensive stance. “Wraiths,” he muttered under his breath, almost as if the word itself was a curse.

“Wraiths?” Aira echoed, her voice barely audible.

Kael’s eyes flicked toward her, a flicker of concern crossing his features. “They feed on forgotten memories. They’ll try to pull you into the void, where everything—dreams, reality, even hope—ceases to exist.”

The wraiths slithered closer, their movements unnatural, like puppets with invisible strings. One of them raised a hand, and Aira felt an icy wind brush against her mind, tugging at the edges of her consciousness. Images flickered—her home, her friends, moments of her life—each one slipping further from her grasp as if being plucked away, one by one.

“Stay with me, Aira!” Kael’s voice rang out, sharp and clear. He turned to her, urgency in his gaze. “Whatever happens, don’t let them into your mind. Fight it.”

Aira squeezed her eyes shut, clinging to the warmth of Kael’s voice like a lifeline. But the pull of the wraiths was relentless, coaxing her into the depths of forgotten things, where the line between who she was and who she used to be blurred into nothingness.

Her knees buckled as a memory surfaced—a fragment of a life she didn’t recognize. She stood at the edge of a different cliff, Kael beside her, the same longing and sorrow in his eyes. But this time, there was blood on her hands. What had she done?

“Aira!” Kael’s voice shattered the memory, yanking her back to the present. She gasped, her lungs burning, as if she’d been drowning in an ocean of lost moments.

Before the wraiths could tighten their grip, Kael raised his hand, and a shimmering barrier of light erupted between them and their pursuers. The creatures hissed and recoiled, their forms flickering as if they couldn’t bear the light.

“Run!” Kael commanded, grabbing Aira’s hand.

The two of them sprinted deeper into the forest, weaving between trees as the wraiths hissed and shrieked behind them. The pendant against Aira’s chest glowed, guiding their way. She didn’t know where they were headed, only that she had to trust Kael—and trust herself.

The forest blurred around them, branches scratching her arms and legs, but she didn’t stop. Kael ran beside her, his grip firm, his presence unwavering. She felt a strange comfort in the chaos, as if the storm within her mind had found its center in him.

After what felt like an eternity, they burst through the treeline and stumbled into a clearing bathed in the soft light of the twin moons. Aira doubled over, panting, her lungs aching from the exertion.

Kael let go of her hand, his gaze scanning the forest edge for any signs of pursuit. “We should be safe here… for now.”

Aira straightened slowly, her legs trembling beneath her. “What were those things?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“Fragments of forgotten souls,” Kael said quietly, his eyes dark with the weight of knowing. “They’re drawn to us because of what we’re trying to remember—what the world doesn’t want us to know.”

Aira swallowed hard, her heart still racing. “This curse… it’s not just about us, is it?”

Kael shook his head, his expression somber. “No. It’s bigger than us, Aira. It’s about the past we carry and the future we might never have.”

The weight of his words settled over her, heavy and inescapable. Aira sank to the ground, her hands trembling as she pressed the pendant against her heart. “I don’t even know who I was,” she whispered, her voice cracking under the strain of emotions she couldn’t name. “How am I supposed to find the truth?”

Kael knelt beside her, his hand resting gently on hers. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

The warmth of his touch steadied her, and for a moment, the storm within her quieted. In the silence of the clearing, beneath the pale glow of the twin moons, Aira felt something stir deep within her—a flicker of hope, fragile yet persistent.

They were running from shadows and chasing forgotten truths, but at least they were no longer alone. And as terrifying as the road ahead seemed, Aira knew one thing for certain:          

This was only the beginning.