The stars blinked high above, veiled behind thin threads of cloud. The village was quiet, the kind of quiet that didn't feel peaceful just tense. Like something was holding its breath.
Kaelen stood near the edge of the field, arms crossed, staring at the path that led into the forest. The same one Maelra had gone into earlier. Tomas had fallen asleep by the fire, his jacket pulled up to his chin. The boy had insisted on keeping watch but barely lasted an hour. Kaelen had let him sleep.
He heard the soft crunch of grass before he saw her.
Maelra.
Her steps were light. Measured. She wore a calm expression, but Kaelen could see the thoughts churning behind her eyes. The moonlight hit her features just right with soft shadows under her cheekbones, that familiar furrow in her brow.
"You're still up," she said, her voice almost a whisper.
Kaelen shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she walked up beside him and stared out into the trees too. For a while, neither of them said a word. Just stood there. Side by side. Like old friends waiting for something neither of them wanted to name.
Then, quietly, she asked, "Do you think the world is wrong?"
The question caught him off guard. He blinked, looking her way. "What?"
"The world. Do you think it's wrong?"
He frowned, not fully sure where this was going, but he answered anyway. "Yeah. Of course."
She turned her head slightly, watching him carefully. "Why?"
He thought about it, but the answer came easily. "Because of the people in power. They manipulate everything. They cause the suffering."
Maelra's eyes narrowed, like she was expecting more. "And what about the ones who aren't in power? The ones who hurt others anyway? The murderers, the rapists, the traffickers. The ones who take joy in ruining lives, even when they have nothing to gain."
Kaelen stayed silent.
"There's more than just kings and queens rotting this world," she continued, her voice colder now. "It's everywhere. In every town, every alley, every face that smiles while hiding a knife. And it never stops. Even when someone tries to fix things. The cycle just repeats."
He watched her. There was something different in her eyes now. Something heavier.
"So let me ask you something, Kaelen."
She stepped in front of him.
"If it meant breaking that cycle… if it meant burning the world down to its bones and building something better from the ashes… would you do it? Would you be willing to let a few innocents suffer… to save the many who haven't even been born yet?"
The silence between them thickened.
Kaelen's lips parted slightly, but no words came out. His thoughts felt like smoke, a feeling of uncertainty, slipping through his fingers.
He didn't have an answer.
Maelra stared at him for a few more seconds. And then she smiled.
It wasn't her usual half-smirk. It wasn't teasing or cold.
It was... almost mournful.
She turned and began walking away.
Kaelen stepped forward. "Maelra, wait—"
She lifted a hand and waved without turning back.
Then, just as she reached the edge of the path, her voice drifted to him quiet, barely more than breath.
"I'm sorry, Kaelen."
The air felt…wrong.
A sudden rustle broke the silence as dozens of birds took flight from the trees above, flocks of them bursting into the sky in waves, their cries sharp, frantic. It was the kind of thing people ignored. But Kaelen had grown up in Velrath. He knew.
Animals always knew first.
He looked up, heart tightening. The night hadn't changed but something in it had shifted.
And Maelra kept walking, never once looking back.