The Mark Of The Wild

Chapter 5 – The Mark of the Wilds

Something flickered behind Lucien’s eyes, recognition, or maybe loss. He turned his head slightly, eyeing his soldiers shifting uneasily behind him.

“Well then,” he said finally, voice like steel, “this is war.”

Aria shook her head. “No, Lucien. This is simply evolution. My evolution.”

The words hung in the air. Then Lucien turned, mounting his horse without another word. His soldiers followed, their torches flickering as they vanished back into the forest.

Aria stood motionless, watching the darkness swallow them whole. Her pulse thundering in her ears.

Kael moved beside her, his hand hovering near her arm but not touching. “You realize what you’ve just done,” he said quietly.

She nodded. “Yes.” Aria looked at the dim Rune glowing faintly beneath her skin. “Then I’ll be ready for it.”

Kael’s gaze was steady. “You’ll have to be. Because the next time he comes…” He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“…he won’t come alone.”

By dawn, the storm had cleared, leaving the sky colored in gray. The ruins appeared first as shapes in the fog, half-toppled arches of stone, their pillars smothered in ivy. Moonlight threaded through cracks in the stone, spilling like silver veins across the earth.

Aria slowed. “This place…”

Kael stepped ahead, his boots crunching over fallen leaves. “It’s one of the old sanctuaries,” he said. “Where the Moongoddess once spoke.”

Aria followed, her fingers brushing the moss-covered carvings. The symbols pulsed faintly under her touch, as though the stone itself remembered her. The Rune on her back answered with a slow, echoing throb.

“Will it help us?” she asked.

Kael sat on what remained of an altar. “Help?” he repeated. “In a sense. It’ll help to remind you who you are.”

She frowned. “And who am I supposed to be?”

He met her eyes. “The Moon-Blessed aren’t born to kneel, Aria. You’ve already started to forget what that feels like.”

She gave a quiet laugh. “You sound like you’ve been here before.”

“I have,” he said simply. “My mother brought me once. Before the Moongoddess stopped appearing to her people.”

The admission surprised her. Kael never spoke of his past.

“Why did you protect me?” she asked suddenly. “You could’ve left me to die in that forest.”

He didn’t look at her. “Because I know what it’s like to be hunted for something you never asked for.”

That shut her up. The wind moved through the ruins, carrying the scent of cold stone and pine.

Kael stood. “We rest here tonight. The ground’s sacred. Even the rogues won’t cross it.”

Aria nodded, though her pulse hadn’t slowed since Lucien’s name left Kael’s mouth.

—

Night came quickly. The ruins glowed faintly beneath the moon, every crack and carving catching light. Aria sat near the fire, staring at her hands. The Rune pulsed under her skin, soft, alive, almost breathing with her.

She dreamed again.

Fire. Not moonlight. Just fire.

It curled around her, red and white, hissing like whispering voices. She was barefoot on wet soil, the back of her neck burning, and the air was thick with smoke.

Then a voice, a woman’s, spoke from the flames. “It does not always happen that those who are marked live.”

Aria turned, searching. “Who said that? Show yourself!”

The fire twisted and bent into a shape: tall, faceless, its eyes two burning rings of silver.

“You must choose what to burn,” it said. “And what to keep.”

Before she could answer, the flames roared higher, and swallowed everything.

Aria woke with a gasp. Sweat slicked her skin despite the cold. The fire in the ruins had burned low, but Kael was awake, and standing at the edge of the clearing, his sword drawn, glinting faintly in the dawn.

“You dreamt,” he said without turning.

“Yes,” she breathed. “A bad one...I think,” She looked at him, “I'm not too sure.”

He faced her fully. “Eat something. You’ll need it.”

She wrapped the cloak tighter around her shoulders. “Do dreams mean something to you?”

“They used to,” he said, crouching to toss another log into the flames. “Especially when the Moon sends them.”

By mid-morning, they were moving again. The forest ahead thickened, the ground rising toward the spine of the hills. Aria’s steps were steady now; her strength had returned faster than either of them expected.

By noon, they stopped near a narrow stream to drink. The water was cold and clear, running over smooth stone. Kael filled his canteen but didn’t drink. His gaze stayed fixed on the distance.

“What is it?” she asked.

He didn’t answer right away. Finally, he mumbled, “Something is out there.”

Aria tensed. “What?”

He listened, not moving a fiber of his body. Quietly, he spoke, “It's on four legs, but making too much noise to be a rabbit.”

Aria swiftly drew the sword Kael had given her a few days back, and stood with her back to a tree.

Kael held up his hand for silence.

There was a low snarling in the trees. And then something came out of the brush. A wolf. Half the size of an adult elephant. It was hideous, and half-shifted, a mix between man and animal. It was frothing at the mouth, its eyes glowing a dark red.

“Rogue!” Kael yelled.

The monster leaped. Aria backed up, horrified. It swung its gaze madly before finally settling on her. With a snarl, it lunged for her.

“Get out of the way!” Kael snapped, quickly getting in between her and the beast and slicing the legs of the monster. It roared in pain, bucking and scraping at the ground, raking up large amounts of dust.

This time, it moved immediately for Kael, stepping back to build up momentum and then charging at him in full speed. “Kael!!!”

He didn’t even have the time to respond or get out of the way, before the beast rammed into his stomach hard, carrying him on his horn and running into the forest.