Chapter Three
The Echo Beneath
The forest was not quiet when Eira woke.
Birds screamed overhead—sharp, urgent cries that clawed through her dreams. She sat up with a start, heart hammering in her chest, hand instinctively reaching for the talisman at her neck.
It was warm.
Too warm.
She was in her bed, her room exactly as she left it, but the scent of the Shadow Realm lingered in the air—violets and something darker, like the memory of fire. Her fingers curled into the blanket as flashes of last night returned: the black-glass pool, Ashen's hand in hers, the way the world felt like it paused when he said, "You're changing."
And then there was the sound—the crack, like the earth itself had split.
Someone was trying to tear the Veil open.
She threw back the covers and went to the window. Morning had barely arrived, but already the streets of Eldhollow murmured with unease. People were gathered in small clusters. The tavern bell tolled, not for drink, but for warning.
Eira pulled on her cloak.
"Three children vanished last night," barked Helek, the village warden, pacing outside the tavern. "No signs of struggle. No blood. Just… gone."
Eira stopped in her tracks.
Helek turned, as if sensing her, his eyes narrowing. "You know the woods better than most. You seen anything strange lately, witch?"
The word hit like a slap. Not unexpected, but it still stung.
"I'm not a witch," she said quietly.
"Right. Just the girl who talks to shadows and wears a cursed stone around her neck."
There was a murmur of agreement behind him. Eyes burned into her from every direction. Even after all these years, they still watched her like she was a candle about to tip into flame.
Eira ignored them. "Whatever took those children… it's not from here."
Helek crossed his arms. "Then where's it from?"
Eira's lips parted, but she stopped herself. The Shadow Realm wasn't something you said aloud in a crowd like this. Not if you wanted to stay alive.
Instead, she said, "Let me help."
Helek scoffed. "You want to help? Then stay out of it. You've brought enough strangeness to this village."
He turned away.
But the talisman burned hotter.
That night, the fog came early.
It rolled in before the sun had set, thick and low, blanketing the streets like it was hunting something. Eira lit every candle in her room, though the light did little to push back the chill.
She didn't wait for Ashen.
She called him.
Standing in the center of the room, she closed her eyes and whispered, "I need you."
Silence.
Then—cold wind, though no window was open. The candles flickered. And when she turned, he was there, in the corner of her room like he had stepped through a crack in the air itself.
His eyes were darker tonight. His body tense.
"You shouldn't call me here."
"Children are missing."
"I know."
She blinked. "Then why didn't you come?"
"Because I can't protect you from what's coming."
There was something hard in his voice—fear, maybe, buried deep. The idea that a creature like him could be afraid made Eira's stomach twist.
"What's happening to me?" she asked, stepping closer.
Ashen's jaw tightened. "You crossed the Veil without injury. You're dreaming in both realms. And the talisman—your mother's—wasn't made to glow like that unless the blood it protects is changing."
Eira's voice caught. "You think I'm becoming like you?"
His eyes met hers. "No. You're becoming something new."
A beat passed. Then he stepped toward her, close enough that the air between them seemed to hum.
"I shouldn't care what happens to you," he said quietly. "But I do."
Eira's breath hitched.
She didn't speak—just reached up and brushed a strand of silver hair from his face. His eyes fluttered closed, just for a second, as if the touch burned and soothed all at once.
"I care too," she said.
But the moment shattered as a scream tore through the village.
Ashen moved first—vanishing in a blink. Eira ran after, throwing her door open and rushing down the stairs barefoot.
Outside, the fog pulsed.
It wasn't natural. It moved like it had a mind of its own—swirling around a house near the edge of the forest. Eira sprinted across the square just as a boy—barely ten—stumbled into the light, sobbing and shaking.
"They tried to take me!" he cried. "The shadows! They reached for me!"
Eira dropped to her knees beside him. "Who tried to take you?"
The boy looked up, tears carving tracks down his dirty cheeks.
"The lady in the fog."
Ashen found her that night on the chapel roof, staring out at the forest like it might whisper its secrets if she waited long enough.
He sat beside her, silent.
"Do you know who the lady is?" Eira asked.
"I know she isn't human," he said. "And that she's looking for something."
"Me?"
"Maybe." His eyes narrowed. "Or maybe the child who'll break the curse."
The words sank like stones.
Eira wrapped her arms around her knees. "You said love cursed you."
He nodded.
"What happens… if I fall for you?"
Ashen's breath caught.
Then, softly: "You'd be damned."
And still, neither of them moved away