Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Senara
The bubbles coming from the water made it shimmer, the surface dancing with the reflected light of the crystals that adorned the cavern walls. Volker backed up and stood beside us, his expression intense as he spoke. "If I remember correctly, old texts speak of the Twilight Guardians," he replied, his voice strained with concentration. "Ancient beings neither of Sun nor Moon, but of the in-between spaces. They were created during the First Age, before the courts divided, and when the divide happened, they were appointed as neutral arbiters. They protect the sacred pathways through the Twilight Caverns."
A pillar of water rose from the center of the lake, twisting and taking form as it climbed higher. I watched, transfixed, as the liquid solidified into a humanoid shape, tall and slender, with features that seemed to shift like the surface of the water itself. Its eyes were pools of swirling silver and gold, regarding us with ancient wisdom and suspicion.
"Who disturbs the Twilight?" The guardian's voice was like droplets falling on crystal, musical and alien and resonated not only in my ears but directly in my mind as well, sending vibrations through my very bones. "Who brings the discord of the courts into this sacred space?"
I stepped forward before I could second-guess myself, ignoring Thorn's warning hand on my shoulder. My Moon Mark burned with an intensity that made me wince, but I stood my ground.
"We seek passage, Guardian," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "We mean no harm to this place or to you."
The water being tilted its head, those mesmerizing eyes fixing on the side of my face and traveling down my neck, observing my mark. "You bear the mark of She Who Watches The Night," it observed. "Yet you travel with one who serves the Sun." Its gaze shifted to Thorn, whose grip tightened on his sword.
"We serve neither court," I replied carefully. "At least, not anymore. We seek only safe passage through your domain."
The creature drifted closer, its watery form rippling with each movement. "Your pursuit brings conflict to peaceful grounds. The courts stir above, and their ire follows in your wake."
Guilt washed over me. Even here, in this hidden sanctuary, we couldn't escape the consequences of our actions. "We didn't choose this path," I said softly. "But we must continue. Too much depends on it."
The guardian seemed to consider this, its fluid form rippling with contemplation. "The ancient accords allow for sanctuary to be granted to those in need, regardless of court allegiance," it finally said. "But passage through the Twilight Caverns is not without cost."
My heart sank. Of course there would be a price. There always was in the fae realm.
"What is your price?" Thorn asked, his voice tight with suspicion.
The water being's mouth curved into what might have been a smile. "A truth from each of you. Not just any truth, but one you have never spoken aloud. One that dwells in the twilight spaces of your own hearts." The water being seemed to consider us for a moment, its form shifting and changing like currents in a stream. Finally, it extended a fluid arm, pointing toward a narrow passage I hadn't noticed before. Opposite from the one Thorn had been leading us to.
The water being's form shifted and changed like currents in a stream. Finally, it extended a fluid arm, pointing toward a narrow passage I hadn't noticed before. Opposite from the one Thorn had been leading us to.
"The eastern path will lead you beyond the courts' immediate reach," it said. "But heed this warning: what lies beyond has slumbered undisturbed for centuries. The balance there is... delicate."
My throat tightened. "What does that mean?"
The guardian's silver-gold eyes fixed on me, unblinking. "It means that some doors, once opened, cannot be closed again."
Before I could press further, the being turned its attention to Wyn. "You first, child of change. What truth lies hidden in your heart?"
Wyn stepped forward, her small frame trembling slightly. I reached for her hand, but she shook her head, facing the guardian alone. Her silver-white hair seemed to absorb the cavern's light, glowing with an inner radiance.
"I," she faltered, then straightened her shoulders. "I'm afraid of what I'm becoming. My magic grows stronger each day, changing me in ways I don't understand. Sometimes I wake in the night, and I don't recognize my reflection." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I fear that one day, there will be nothing left of who I was."
The water guardian rippled, absorbing her words. It nodded once, then turned to Volker.
The mentor's face remained impassive, but I noticed his hands trembling slightly at his sides. "My truth," he began, his voice surprisingly steady, "is that I have known about the corruption spreading through the courts for decades. I've watched it grow, studied its patterns, and said nothing. Not even to my most trusted students." His eyes flickered briefly to Wyn. "I believed knowledge without action was safer than ignorance. I was wrong."
The guardian accepted this with another nod, then turned to Thorn.
My heart skipped as Thorn stepped forward, his tawny skin gleaming in the crystalline light. His face was a mask of determination, but I could see the conflict in his eyes.
"My truth," he said, his deep voice echoing off the cavern walls, "is that I have never belonged to the Sun Court, not truly. My loyalty has always been divided." He paused, swallowing hard. "When I accidentally bonded with Senara, I knew immediately that I would betray my oaths if it meant keeping her safe. And I would do it again."
His Sun Marked eye flared briefly as he spoke, as if responding to his confession. My breath caught in my throat, and for a moment, our gazes met across the cavern. The intensity in his gaze made my heart race.
Then the guardian turned to me, those otherworldly eyes piercing through any defenses I might have raised.
"And you, Eclipse child? What have you to tell me?"
Volker's sharp intake of breath made me flinch, but I ignored it and faced the guardian.
I stood frozen, the guardian's words ringing in my ears. Eclipse child. My heart hammered against my ribs as the truth crackled in the air around us like a storm about to break.
The water guardian's form rippled with something that might have been amusement. "Your truth, child. The one you hide even from yourself."
My mouth went dry. I could lie, but somehow I knew the guardian would sense it. And what would happen then? Would we be trapped here forever, or worse?
"My truth is..." I began, my voice barely above a whisper. I closed my eyes, unable to look at my companions as I spoke. "I've always known I was different. That my mark was different. When I finally connected with my magic, it doesn't feel like borrowing power; it feels like remembering something I've always known."
The words tumbled out now, secrets I'd never dared voice. "Sometimes I..." I swallowed hard, "sometimes I think I'm not just chosen by the Moon. I think I'm something else entirely. Something neither court would accept." What I didn't add was that I was certain of that after what had just happened upstairs with the kings and queen.
The guardian's eyes gleamed with approval as my mark burned hotter than ever before, sending waves of heat all over my skin. "Truth freely given is a rare gift," it said. "The path is open to you."
As it spoke, a narrow passage became visible again. A light, neither the silver glow of the Moon Court nor the golden radiance of the Sun Court, but something in between, illuminated the passage. Twilight made manifest.
The water being dissolved, melting back into the lake. "Remember," its voice echoed around us, "what sleeps beyond has lain undisturbed for centuries. Tread carefully in the forgotten places."
With that, it was gone, leaving only ripples on the surface of the lake.
For a moment, none of us spoke. The weight of our revealed truths hung heavy in the air between us.
Finally, Wyn broke the silence. "Eclipse Child?" she asked softly. "What did it mean?"
I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak. The burning in my mark had subsided to a dull throb, but the guardian's words and my own rang in my head like a bell.
"We should move," Thorn said, his voice gruff but gentle. His eyes met mine, and I saw no judgment there, only concern and the deep love of our soul bond. "The courts won't be far behind."
Volker nodded, but his gaze lingered on me with a new intensity that made me uneasy. "Yes," he agreed after a moment too long. "We should follow the path while it remains open to us."
As we approached the illuminated passage, the crystals lining the walls pulsed in rhythm with our footsteps, almost as if the cave itself were breathing. The air grew thicker, heavy with ancient magic that tasted of starlight and shadow on my tongue.
"Eclipse Child," Volker murmured again, his voice so low I barely caught it. "I had wondered..."
I shot him a sharp glance. "What do you know?"
His eyes met mine, calculating and careful. "Legends, mostly. Stories passed down through generations of scholars." He hesitated. "People said that before the courts split, some could channel both sun and moon energies. They were called the Twilight Blessed or, sometimes, Eclipse Children."
My heart stuttered in my chest. "And what happened to them?"
Volker's expression darkened. "They vanished when the courts split. Some say they were hunted to extinction because both courts feared their power."
The weight of his words settled over me like a shroud. I felt Thorn move closer, his presence solid and reassuring at my side.
"This isn't the time," he said firmly. "Whatever Senara is or isn't, we need to focus on getting to safety first."
I shot him a grateful look as we continued down the passage. The tunnel narrowed, forcing us to walk single file. Thorn took the lead, with me following close behind, then Wyn, and finally Volker, bringing up the rear. The crystals' light dimmed the farther we went until only a faint glow remained to guide our steps.
After what felt like hours, the tunnel widened again, opening into another cavern. Unlike the one we'd left behind, this space was dark and still, the air stale as if nothing had disturbed it for centuries.
"Careful," Thorn warned, his voice echoing slightly. "Stay close."
Wyn summoned a small orb of light to her palm, illuminating our immediate surroundings. What I saw made me gasp.
We stood at the edge of what appeared to be an ancient temple, half-reclaimed by the cavern itself. Massive columns of black stone rose toward the ceiling, each carved with intricate symbols that seemed to shift and change as we looked at them. At the center of the chamber stood a dais, and upon it, a perfectly circular pool of what looked like liquid darkness.
"What is this place?" I whispered, afraid to disturb the profound silence.
Volker stepped forward, his eyes wide with wonder. "I believe this is the Temple of Alignment," he breathed. "I've read about it, but I never thought...Everyone believes it was destroyed during the Sundering."
"The what?" Wyn asked, her voice small in the vast space.
"The event that divided the courts," Volker explained, moving closer to examine one column. "When the Sun and Moon fae split into separate factions. Before then, they lived in harmony, balancing each other's powers."
I approached the dais cautiously, drawn to the pool of darkness at its center. The liquid, if it was liquid, didn't reflect the light from Wyn's orb. Instead, it seemed to absorb it, drinking in any illumination that touched its surface.
"Don't get too close," Thorn warned, his hand hovering near my elbow without quite touching me.
But I couldn't help myself. The pool called to me in a way I couldn't explain, a silent song that resonated with something deep inside my chest. My Mark pulsed in time with whatever rhythm emanated from the darkness.
"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.
"We need to go," Thorn said urgently, helping me to my feet. "Now."
The rumbling intensified. The symbols on the columns glowed, first silver, then gold, then a strange mingling of both that hurt my eyes to look at directly.
"The temple is waking," Volker breathed, a note of wonder in his voice despite our dire situation. "After all these centuries..."
"Waking?" Wyn's voice pitched higher with alarm. "What does that mean for us?"
The floor beneath us shuddered again, more violently this time. The pool of darkness at the center of the dais began to ripple and churn, no longer still but alive with movement, like something stirring from the depths of a long slumber.
"It means we've disturbed something ancient," Thorn said grimly, his arm tightening around my waist as he steadied me. "Something that wasn't meant to be disturbed."
I couldn't tear my gaze from the pool. The darkness was changing, transforming into something else, swirls of silver and gold now threaded through the black, like veins of precious metal in stone. My Mark throbbed in perfect synchronicity with the pulsing light.
"This is my fault," I whispered, the weight of realization crashing down upon me. "The guardian warned us. 'What lies beyond has slumbered undisturbed for centuries.' It meant this. It meant the temple."
Volker moved closer to the nearest column, his scholarly curiosity overriding his caution. "The symbols are changing," he said, his voice hushed with reverence. "They're rearranging themselves into a different script."
"Can you read it?" I asked, fighting against the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm me.
He squinted, tracing the air just above the glowing symbols. "It's ancient... pre-Sundering language. Something about 'the balance restored' and 'the circle unbroken.'" His fingers froze mid-air. "And... 'the return of the Twilight Sovereign.'"
A crack appeared on the stone floor, spreading outward from the dais like a spiderweb. The rumbling intensified, and somewhere deep within the cavern, I heard what sounded like massive stone doors grinding open.
"We need to leave," Thorn insisted, pulling me toward what appeared to be an archway on the far side of the temple. "Whatever's happening, we don't want to be here when it's done."
But my feet felt rooted to the spot, my body refusing to move away from the pool. The silver and gold threads within the darkness were forming patterns now, constellations, orbits, the paths of celestial bodies through the heavens. And at the center, the unmistakable image of an eclipse.
"Senara!" Thorn's voice seemed to come from very far away. "We have to go!"
With tremendous effort, I tore my gaze from the pool and turned toward him. The concern in his eyes anchored me back to reality, pulling me from the hypnotic draw of the ancient magic.
"Yes," I managed, forcing my feet to move. "Yes, let's..."
My words cut off as a blinding flash of light erupted from the pool, momentarily illuminating the entire temple. When my vision cleared, I saw the pool had changed completely. The darkness had transformed into a swirling vortex of silver and gold, spinning faster and faster until the colors blurred together into a brilliant white light.
"Look!" Wyn cried, pointing upward.
The ceiling of the cavern was dissolving, stone melting away like mist to reveal a night sky unlike any I had ever seen. Twin moons hung overhead, one silver, one gold, their paths clearly converging toward one another.
"An eclipse," Volker whispered, awe and terror mingling in his voice. "A double eclipse. It shouldn't be possible."
The ground beneath us heaved violently, throwing us all off balance. Thorn caught me before I could fall, his arms steady despite the chaos erupting around us.
"The doorway!" he shouted over the deafening rumble. "It's our only chance!"
We stumbled toward the archway, fighting against the trembling floor. The surrounding columns cracked, ancient stone giving way under the pressure of whatever force we had awakened.
As we reached the archway, I risked one final glance back at the temple. The pool had risen from the dais, suspended in midair as a perfect sphere of swirling light. Within its depths, I glimpsed a figure forming, neither male nor female, but something other, its features both familiar and alien.
Our eyes met across the distance, and in that moment, I felt a jolt of recognition so profound it stole my breath. The figure raised a hand toward me, lips moving in words I couldn't hear but somehow understood.
Return to us, Twilight Child. The time of reunion approaches.
"Senara!" Thorn's voice broke through my trance. He pulled me through the archway just as a massive section of ceiling crashed down where we had been standing seconds before.
We ran blindly down a narrow corridor, Wyn's light orb bobbing frantically ahead of us, casting wild shadows on the walls. The rumbling pursued us, the very mountain seeming to shift and rearrange itself around our fleeing forms.
"There!" Volker pointed ahead to where the corridor widened into what appeared to be a natural cave. "I can feel a breeze, there must be an exit!"
We burst into the cave, gasping for breath. True to Volker's word, fresh air flowed from a narrow fissure in the far wall, just wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
"You first," Thorn urged Wyn, who nodded and extinguished her light orb before slipping through the crack. Volker followed, his slender frame passing through with little difficulty.
Thorn turned to me, his eyes searching my face. "Are you alright?"
I wasn't. My body still trembled from the encounter with the being in the pool, and the searing sensation of my Mark blazed with such intensity that I could scarcely concentrate. The sheer pain radiating from my Mark had me dropping to my knees, unable to think past it.