The air was thick with dust and cold stone breath.
Amelia clutched Orion tight against her chest, her arms shaking, not from the weight of him-but from everything else. The winding passage bled darkness in every direction. Old tunnels carved by hands long gone. Once used by acolytes and elders for silent passage and sacred rites.
Now forgotten
Now lifelines
Her robes, once ceremonial white were streaked with ash and blood, her feet bare her heart loud.
Behind her, Isol pressed her palm to an ancient stone, muttering low as gears locked behind them with a soft click. Sealing the passage.
They were alone again.
For a moment, only their breathing filled the dark.
"Here", Isol whispered, stepping past Amelia and guiding her toward the narrow corridor ahead "This one leads toward the lower cisterns if we reach the well chamber I know a way to the outside"
Amelia followed without speaking
The walls here were closed. Damp. Each step sounded louder than it should, like the temple itself was listening and watching. Orion stirred faintly in her arms the mark of Selene pulsing like moonlight behind the folds of cloth
Amelia pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"I never wanted this," she whispered "I hoped it would be different with you" her gaze fell with guilt
"The cult won't ever change their ways" Isol said turning to Amelia "They view Malek as an ultimate weapon, as some god forged by man"
"Every child with a star to them is just another weapon to feed to Malek" Isol spat, her face twisting with disgust
They reached a break in the path, where torchlight flickered from a corridor ahead-another patrol. The cult was spreading. Searching.
"They're sealing the upper sanctum" Isol called over her shoulder. "We don't have long the exits near the Vein"
"The Vein?" Amelia asked, breathless.
"The origin of the temple, The cult build over it and through the ages forgot it was here so it was lost in time it's said to be older than the stars itself"
They reached a rusted gate, half-buried in a collapsed arch. Isol jammed her shoulder against the iron, grunting until it groaned open. Beyond it, the path widened-and changed. The walls glimmered faintly with threads of silver running through black stone, like veins of light in obsidian.
The Vein
It pulsed faintly. A rhythm, like a heartbeat buried in stone.
Amelia felt it echo through her chest. Even Orion shifted, as if something inside him recognized it.
"What is this place" she whispered
Isolt knelt beside a stone altar made of obsidian as dark as the night sky long since cracked in half, its carvings worn smooth by time. "Before the stars fell, before the Cult.. there were others. They called this the Obsidian Palace. A place where fate thinned. Where choice could echo louder than prophecy."
"Why did they abandon it?"
"Because the Cult doesn't want choice" Isol said, rising. "They want control."
A sound behind them. Not footsteps, Breathing. Wet, Ragged, too fierce and loud to be human
Isol grabbed Amelia behind her and stepped toward the palace mouth "We have to leave now!" Isol said in a hurried tone.
"This beast is older than the stars themselves. If it catches us, even my star might not be enough to slay it let-alone escape"
From the shadows slithered a shape like smoke and bone – a guardian beast bred in the dark beneath the temple, its form resembled that of a Minotaur bound by the obsidian palace; its senses were long adapted to the shadows; its face was a mask of silver nailed to a skull of black iron.
It can smell the fear of its prey, the bull-like creature knows someone is near.
It lunged.
Isol didn't hesitate. She threw her lantern forward and raised her hand the mark of her star flaring on her wrist the-mark of a black cloud for Isol had the Star of Mist Achlys within her their bond was strong and only grew stronger since leaving the cult.
She forged a dagger from her mark on her wrist and she flew with elegance to meet the Guardian. Her black hair streamed behind her like a veil in the wind/
The Guardian's claws sliced into her abdomen. Still, she didn't run. Isol drove her blade into the creature's mask as it cracked; she launched the dagger again, striking its chest. The creature shrieked.
The Vein pulsed.
And for a moment, everything froze
A light flickered from Orion, It was Soft, Silver.
Selene's mark shimmered faintly over his eye like a crescent moon, and the beast stopped. Not not in pain, but in recognition.
Selene had touched this place before, Amelia didn't understand it-but she moved, Grabbing Isol by the arm she hauled her back, and together they ran through the last corridor, the beast snarling behind them, slowed by something it couldn't name.
At last, they reached a broken wall and the jagged edge of freedom-night air, the stars above. The real sky.
They didn't stop running until the temple was a shadow in the distance, just another jagged silhouette in the mountains.
They settled by a quiet stream as the moon hung low and broken in the sky. Amelia sat with Orion wrapped in her arms feeling the cool air brush against her skin and her silver hair.
The mark on his eye still faintly glowing.
Selene was with them.
—
The world felt smaller with every step.
Amelia held Orion close as she walked beside Isol, her feet numb from the cold stone and earth beneath them. Every crack in the ground, every rustle in the trees, every sound in the air set her nerves on edge. The Cult was relentless. Every corner, every shadow could hide a threat. The moon hung above them, a pale crescent, like the mark on Orion's right eye-a reminder of their escape, and of the path still ahead.
Isol moved with the silence of a shadow, her black cloak blending with the night. Her eyes were sharp and blue, scanning the surroundings. She didn't speak much, but when she did, it was with the calm precision of someone who knew exactly what had to be done.
"We can't stop for long" Isol muttered, casting a glance at the moon "We need to keep moving until we reach the border of Lithonia. Once we're in the kingdom's territory, the Cult won't be able to touch us so easily."
Amelia nodded, her hand tightening around Orion's blanket. He slept fitfully, the faint glow of his crescent mark reflecting the starlight, a constant reminder that the boy-her son-was something more than she could understand.
"Do you think they'll find us?" Amelia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"They won't stop until they do." Isol's answer was blunt, but there was a fire in her eyes that made Amelia feel a flicker of hope. "But we'll keep moving. They'll have to catch us first."
They walked in silence for hours, the sound of footsteps the only noise breaking stillness of the night. The path was rough and wild, winding through dense forests and craggy hills. They avoided villages, staying off the main roads, taking narrow tracks and hidden paths only Isol knew.
As they crossed a small bridge into a forest, the sound of rushing water filling the air, Amelia caught a glimpse of something faint in the distance-a flicker of movement, just beyond the treeline. She froze, her heart pounding.
Isol's hand shot out, pulling Amelia close to the underbrush.
"Stay quiet," she murmured. "The Cult's scouts."
There were three scouts all male passing by them, Isol waited for all of them to pass then she activated the ability bestowed to her by Achlys.
In a matter of moments the whole forest was filled with dark mist obscuring vision all except for Isol herself.
The mark on her wrist was glowing black as she summoned her dagger, she dashed at the closest scout to them, lunging her dagger into the back of his chest piercing his heart.
She vanished into the mist and appeared before another scout plunging her dagger into the side of his head.
The last scout turned around in shock and fear; his friends all died in a matter of moments. As he thought this he looked down to see a dagger plunged into his chest.
His lifeless body fell to the ground and in 3 seconds the fight was over and the imminent danger was gone.
The next morning, the sky was still dark, heavy with the threat of a storm. The air was thick with the scent of rain, and the clouds rolled in faster than Amelia had expected.
Isol had already packed their things, and Orion was wrapped in the blanket Amelia had taken from the Temple. The faint glow of his mark seemed to flicker under the cloth, like the last embers of a dying fire. Amelia couldn't help but reach down, brushing her finger gently against the cool surface of his skin.
"We need to move," Isol said, her voice cutting through stillness. "If the storm hits, we won't be able to cross the river."
Amelia nodded and stood, brushing the dirt from her clothes. Her heart was heavy, the weight of uncertainty pressing on her chest like a stone. She had no idea what awaited them on the other side of the river. Lithonia was supposed to be safe, but so much of her life had been shattered already. What if that wasn't true? What if there was no safety anywhere?
"Let's go," she said, her voice a little rougher than she intended. Isol didn't seem to notice, or perhaps she didn't care. She was already leading the way, and Amelia had no choice but to follow.
They reached the river by midday. The dark, churning waters surged beneath the bridge, swift and relentless. The rain had started to fall in heavy sheets, turning the dirt paths to mud and soaking them through the bone. But they couldn't stop. They couldn't afford to.