Page 34 of Favored By the Stars

"This was a place of great power," Volker continued, his scholarly tone belying the tension in his shoulders. "The priests of Equilibrium maintained balance between the sun and moon energies. They were said to be the only ones who could safely channel both."

"Eclipse children," I murmured, the guardian's words echoing in my mind.

Volker nodded gravely. "The last of them. When the courts divided, this temple was sealed away, forgotten by most. The priests either died or went into hiding."

"But why?" Wyn asked, edging closer to the nearest column, her fingers tracing the shifting symbols. "Why would they be hunted if they were maintaining balance?"

"Power," Thorn answered grimly. "Those who can wield both sun and moon magic would threaten both courts' authority."

I took another step toward the pool, unable to resist its pull. The liquid darkness rippled slightly, though nothing had disturbed its surface. My Mark burned hotter with each step.

"Senara," Thorn's voice held a note of warning. "We should keep moving. We don't know what that is."

"It's a scrying pool," Volker said quietly. "Or at least, that's what the texts called it. The priests used it to see beyond the veils of reality."

The darkness swirled, forming patterns that seemed almost like writing, then dissolving again before I could make sense of them. My fingers tingled with the urge to touch the surface.

"I think..." I swallowed hard. "I think it's trying to show me something."

Before anyone could stop me, I knelt at the edge of the dais and leaned forward. The pool's surface remained perfectly still, a void in the shape of a circle. My reflection should have been visible, but there was nothing, just endless darkness.

"Senara, don't!" Wyn cried, but it was too late.

As if in a dream, I reached out, my fingertips hovering just above the liquid darkness. "Show me," I whispered, and plunged my hand into the pool.

The darkness surged up my arm like living ink, cold as winter frost yet burning like fire. I tried to scream but couldn't; my voice caught in my throat as visions exploded behind my eyes.

I saw a magnificent hall divided by light and shadow, figures in silver and gold locked in heated debate. A woman with eyes like mine stood at the center, pleading for unity while chaos erupted around her. I saw armies clashing beneath a sky where sun and moon hung side by side, their light creating strange shadows across the battlefield. I saw children with marks that shimmered silver and gold, being hidden away as their parents wept.

And then I saw myself, or someone who looked exactly like me, standing before twin thrones. One throne gleamed with the harsh brilliance of sunlight, the other with the cool radiance of moonlight. Both were empty, waiting.

"Senara!" Thorn's voice seemed to come from impossibly far away as he grabbed my shoulders, trying to pull me back.

The visions shattered. I fell backward, gasping; the darkness receding from my skin like water. My entire body trembled violently, and my Mark burned as if someone had pressed white-hot metal against my flesh.

"What were you thinking?" Thorn demanded, his face pale with fear as he cradled me against his chest. "You could have died!"

"I saw..." I struggled to find words for what I'd witnessed. After taking a few deep breaths, I continued, "I saw the Sundering. I saw what happened when the courts divided."

Volker knelt beside me, his scholarly demeanor giving way to urgent concern. "What did you see, exactly? This could be important."

"There was a woman," I said, my voice shaking. "She stood between the factions, trying to maintain peace. But they wouldn't listen." I pressed my hand against the area of my cheek covered by my Mark, which still throbbed painfully everywhere it covered my body. "And there were children, children like me, with marks that weren't just Moon or Sun but both."

Wyn's eyes widened. "Eclipse children," she breathed.

I nodded weakly. "They were being hidden away, protected. Their parents were afraid."

"And with good reason," Volker said grimly. "If what I've read is true, those with dual marks were the first targets when the violence began."

Wyn knelt beside us, her face pale with worry. "Your eyes," she whispered. "They changed."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"They were black," Volker said, studying me with a mixture of fascination and apprehension. "Black with rings of silver and gold, like..."

"Like an eclipse," I finished for him, the word settling in my chest like a stone.

Before anyone could respond, a low rumble shook the cavern. Dust and small stones rained down from the ceiling as the ground beneath us trembled.

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