Chapter Eleven: The First Fracture
The circle of moonfire faded slowly, like the last breath of a dream Aria wasn't ready to wake from.
Kael pulled away first, his face unreadable. The wind stirred the edge of his coat, but he didn't look at her.
Not immediately.
"Something's changing," he said at last.
"You mean the magic?"
"No," Kael said, voice low. "You."
Aria's heart beat hard in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was from fear or something else—something louder.
"I don't feel different."
"You don't feel it because it's yours," he murmured. "But to me… you're burning brighter. Stronger. Too strong."
She flinched at the last words. "What does that mean?"
Kael's silence said more than anything else.
---
Later that night, Aria stood at her mirror, sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The mark on her wrist was no longer just a mark—it now glowed faintly, even without the moonlight.
It had bloomed outward, curling around her forearm like vines.
She wasn't hiding it anymore. And she wasn't trying to understand it, either.
She felt it now.
And it felt like power.
---
The next day, the weather changed.
Velshade—usually soaked in fog and shadow—was suddenly… clear.
The sun rose. The moon faded.
People came outside.
Children laughed.
The curse, it seemed, had lifted.
But only Aria knew better.
It wasn't lifting.
It was waiting.
Kael didn't show up at school. Or anywhere.
Neither did Lena.
Aria wandered through town after sunset, searching the edges of her memory, retracing the paths Kael had taken her through.
Eventually, her feet led her to the forest clearing.
But this time, Kael wasn't the one waiting.
---
The hooded figure stepped from the trees slowly. His cloak was dark and heavy, embroidered with silver thread. His hands were gloved, and his face hidden beneath a porcelain mask that glinted like frost.
"Aria Valen," he said in a voice that was neither young nor old. "The Moonmarked girl who was never meant to survive."
She stepped back instinctively. "Who are you?"
"I am the Archivist. I keep the books the moon tried to burn."
He held out a black-bound tome—identical to the one Kael had shown her.
"Your fate was rewritten once. But not erased. Not completely."
Aria stared at the cover. It pulsed.
Then the man added, too softly:
> "And Kael Draven's name was written on the first page.
But on the last page... it was crossed out in blood."
---
Aria's fingers trembled.
The man tilted his head.
"He never told you what he is, did he?"
"He's my guardian," she said quickly. "Bound to me by the pact."
The Archivist gave a long, cold laugh.
"No, girl. He is not your guardian."
He leaned closer.
"He is your tether."
> "The chain meant to keep you locked inside your fate."
"And if you slip—he is the blade meant to end you."
---
Aria fled, her pulse crashing in her ears.
She didn't stop running until she reached the edge of town.
Kael was there, waiting in the shadows.
He stepped forward with that familiar calm, silver eyes watching her closely.
But this time…
She didn't run to him.
She stood still.
Silent.
And asked the question she wasn't supposed to know how to ask:
> "Kael... what page was your name written on in the Book of Moonborn?"
"And why… is it crossed out?"
---