Page 9 of Favored By the Stars

"Interesting choice," the Empress mocked, even as cracks spread across her alien features.

The blade pulsed in time with my frantic heartbeat. "You don't know me."

I plunged the dagger into the ground where the caged moonlight had sat, hopefully destroying the dream itself. Reality peeled back like rotting skin, revealing the Empress's genuine desire, a ravenous hunger clawing at the edges of creation. My scream scattered as the void swallowed me whole, plunging me into an abyss deeper than night. I clawed desperately at nothingness, my lungs burning for air that no longer existed. Just as panic threatened to consume me, I burst through the surface of consciousness with a strangled noise that was half gasp and half scream.

Thorn's arms tightened around me instantly. "Senara! What happened?"

I gulped air greedily, my eyes wild as they darted around our makeshift camp. The pre-dawn forest was eerily still, as if holding its breath. No birdsong, no rustling leaves. Just the pounding of my heart and Thorn's ragged breathing.

"Vision," I croaked out. "The goddess... and the—the Empress."

Thorn's face paled. "Both of them? That's... unprecedented."

I nodded weakly, still trembling. The memory of the Empress's touch lingered like frost on my skin. "The goddess warned of trials in Moonweaver's Grove. But the Empress... she said terrible things. About sacrifices. About you."

Thorn's jaw clenched. "We can't trust anything that creature says."

"I know, but..." I hesitated, searching his face. "Your mark. The way moonlight sometimes seems to fight you…" I didn't know how to put my thoughts into words yet. Everything was still too fresh.

A flicker of something passed through Thorn's eyes before he looked away. Fear? Guilt? I wasn't sure.

I opened my mouth to ask further, but movement in the trees caught my attention. Kaelyn emerged from the pre-dawn shadows, her hair disheveled and her eyes haunted.

"Did you feel it too?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "The wrongness in the air?"

I nodded, a chill running down my spine. Whatever invaded my vision hadn't stayed in the dream realm. Its taint lingered, a miasma of dread settling over our little group. It wasn't over either. The wrongness only seemed to get worse as the seconds ticked by.

Thorn stood, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his sword. "We need to move. Now. Whatever's coming, we can't face it here."

As we hurriedly broke camp, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. The forest seemed to close in around us, branches reaching out like grasping fingers. And beneath it all, a whisper so faint I might have imagined it:

"Run, little moth. But remember, in the end, you'll fly straight into her flame and be begging for my help."

I shuddered, quickening my pace. But as we plunged deeper into the forest, racing towards Moonweaver's Grove and the trials that awaited us there, one question burned in my mind: What if the Empress was right? What if I wasn't the chosen one, but just another sacrifice in a long line of victims? The thought chilled me to the bone, but I pushed it aside as we raced through the forest.

The wrongness in the air grew thicker with each step, pressing against us like an invisible fog. Branches whipped at our faces, roots seemed to reach up to trip us. Even the very ground beneath our feet felt unstable, as if it might give way at any moment.

"We're close," Kaelyn called out, her voice strained. "The Grove's magic is fighting against... something. I've never felt anything like this before." She stumbled, her face going pale as the darkness surged around us.

A low rumble shook the earth, and the trees ahead of us began to twist and writhe. Thorn drew his sword, his mark flaring as he did so, its golden light a stark contrast to the creeping shadows.

"Whatever's coming," he said grimly, "we face it together."

The forest floor erupted before us, sending us sprawling. As I scrambled to my feet, my blood ran cold. Rising from the torn earth was a creature of nightmare, a mass of writhing tentacles and glowing eyes, its body a patchwork of fur, scales, and pulsing veins.

"The corruption," Kaelyn gasped. "It's taken physical form!"

The creature let out a bone-chilling shriek and lashed out with its limbs. Thorn's blade flashed, severing one appendage, but two more grew in its place. I tried to summon my moonlight but for every flicker I could conjure; the shadows ate away at its edges, making me lose my grasp on it.

"We can't fight this," I shouted over the creature's roars. "We have to make it to the Grove!"

Kaelyn's eyes glowed with an otherworldly light. "I can hold it back, but not for long, and I'll be useless afterward."

"Do it!" Thorn commanded.

As she raised her hands, roots burst from the ground, entangling the monstrous form. The creature thrashed and howled, but the roots held firm, for now.

"Run!" Kaelyn cried, sweat beading on her brow, her body swaying as she turned to lead the way.

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