Page 20 of Sundered By Fate

Sylthris.

The vision was fleeting, but it left a cold weight in the pit of his stomach, the unsettling feeling that he was being watched from some unseen vantage point.

And worse still was the knowing look in Sylthris's eyes—the suggestion that she knew something he did not.

Five

Acold fog drifted through Thornhaven's streets as Aric and Davin set out for the surrounding forest, the chill clinging to their skin. The town's earlier energy was muted now, replaced by a tense anticipation that mirrored the weight pressing on Aric's chest. His conversation with Olaya had only deepened his sense of unease; there was something sinister lurking beneath the surface of recent events, and Aric couldn't help but wonder if it was all connected.

Their boots crunched over frosted leaves as they moved into the forest, the only sounds their breathing and the faint hum of Davin's magical devices. But even those fell silent as they crossed an invisible threshold into the deeper woods. The air here was thick with a sense of magic, almost like a physical presence that pressed down on them from all sides.

Aric's senses felt raw, exposed. It was an all-too-familiar sensation from his time in the Ebon Spire—a constant awareness of something watching, waiting. But this wasn't like the ominous presence of the demon realm. This was . . . different. Unsettling in its own way, but somehow more subtle.

Davin moved with purpose through the underbrush, his expression focused as he took readings from his devices. Everyso often he would pause, consulting with the luminescent glyphs etched into his wrist or murmuring to himself in a language Aric didn't recognize.

But there was nothing definitive—no obvious threat to confront or anomaly to decipher. Just an unsettling tension in the air that made Aric's skin crawl.

As they reached a clearing, Davin stopped abruptly, his head tilting to one side as if listening to some unseen voice. Aric watched him closely; he'd seen mages go into trances before when communing with spirits or tapping into powerful sources of magic.

"It's stronger here," Davin said at last, though it seemed more directed at whatever entity he was speaking with than at Aric. "The resonance is almost overwhelming."

Aric moved to join him, feeling the hum of power that thrummed in the air. It resonated within him like a familiar melody—but one slightly off-key, dissonant notes threading through.

As they combed the area for clues, Aric found himself falling back into an easy rhythm with Davin, reminiscent of their days training at the Silver Tower. It was strange, the way their movements seemed to echo one another without conscious thought; the way they anticipated each other's needs with practiced ease. Even their silences felt companionable, rather than strained.

Davin's laugh startled him. "Remember that time in the ley line chambers?"

Aric groaned, but he couldn't stifle a grin. "Oh gods, don't remind me. I still have nightmares about that."

"You set the ley lines on fire," Davin said, shaking his head. "I didn't even know that was possible."

Aric shrugged, fighting back laughter. "I was trying to push my limits."

"You did that, all right. I'm pretty sure the entire tower was ready to murder you."

"I got a lot of practice at repair spells after that."

Davin gave him a playful shove. "It was an impressive spectacle, if nothing else."

Aric laughed, the sound echoing through the trees. It felt good to laugh like this again, even in the midst of such darkness. It reminded him of simpler times—of late nights in the library with Davin, poring over dusty tomes and ancient scrolls; of quiet conversations as they sat by the garden fountains, watching fireflies dance in the night air.

Their friendship had always held an undercurrent of something more—a tension that sparked between them at odd moments, a longing that Aric felt in his bones. But circumstances and duty had always conspired to keep them apart; first Davin's duties at the Tower, then Aric's departure on his journey.

But now . . .

Davin caught Aric's eye and held it, his smile softening into something warmer, more inviting. For a heartbeat, they were two young mages again, caught up in dreams of what might be.

The warmth in Davin's face was enough to chase back the shadows, fleetingly, to soothe the ache of longing that had settled in Aric's chest. And that, in turn, set a guilty rhythm humming in his blood. Discordant. Dissonant. Yet somehow deliciously so.

But before he could fully savor it, the forest around them shifted.

A shimmer in the air, like heat haze rising from the ground. The trees began to warp, their trunks bending and twisting as if struggling to contain something immense. The very earth seemed to pulse beneath their feet.

"Do you feel that?" Davin asked, his voice tight.

Aric nodded, his own senses singing with it. A resonance that hummed through his bones, echoing back from somewhere deep within him.

From the sigil.

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