The truth will come face to face,
As scattered elements entwine in the few.
The splintered shards will become whole again,
Once the forgotten realm is due.
The key lies within the Crimson Wraith,
Whose flames will guide what shadows pursue.
My fingers brushed over the carved words, rough beneath my skin, as my mind wandered. All I’d ever been told was that after it was revealed to our parents, everything changed. That was when our mother made the choice to separate us, to run away with Scarlet. She had hoped that separating us would be enough to prevent the prophecy —or at least buy time to find a loophole. To rewrite what fate had written.
“Come on, I have something else to show you,” Scarlet murmured.
I followed her through the arch into a vast, domed chamber. Obsidian crystals shimmered across the ceiling, catching the light from torches lining the walls. The room was the opposite of the dusty corridor—marble floors gleamed; not a speck of dust or a web in sight. The torches cast a soft glow over a central pedestal, stone seemingly raised from the earth itself with quiet, ancient grace.
Scarlet rounded the pedestal, palms resting lightly on the stone. She traced a line, then stopped. “Look,” she whispered, awed. “Each corner has a rune representing the four elements of the Mareki. And parts of the prophecy are etched beneath each—like someone was piecing together a puzzle.”
I stepped in, following the lines she pointed to, the descriptions now coming into focus.
“These two, air and fire, weren’t illuminated the first time I stumbled into this place,” she continued, a trace of uncertainty in her voice.
“First time?” I asked, bewildered. How had I not sensed any of this through themarekem? I’d kept a close watch on our bond since I broke Scarlet out of her chains, and an even closer eye on her once she enrolled here.
She nodded, her fingers still lingering on the pedestal. “But after I channeled both the air and fire elements, I ended up back in here. The two runes I channeled lit up, their colors seeping into the center rune.” She pointed toward the middle, swirling her hand in the air as if mimicking the movement. “It’s like all four elements want to be connected.”
I slowly walked around the pedestal, reading the words beneath each rune:
“Past unfolds anew”
“Scattered elements entwine”
“Become whole again”
“Crimson Wraith”
“So you think these two are earth and water?” I asked.
“I know they are,” she said firmly. “Laney—” A shadow crossed her face. “Laney knew runes. When I showed her my drawings, she deciphered which symbols matched each element. And when I touched the unlit runes last time… I had flashes of you.”
My gaze snapped to hers.
“I was in a mountain village, moving like I had no control, and then I was standing before a wolf. River.” She hesitated. “In the vision, I saw a scar on my left arm. I thought it was some weird premonition, like a vision of my future or something. But now…” Her voice trailed off for a moment, and when she spoke again, there was a raw honesty to it. “Now I know it was you. I was seeing through your eyes, channeled by these runes when I touched them.”
My heart raced, and a strange unfamiliar sensation bloomed in my chest—like a magnetic pull, urging me to examine the earth and water runes once more. The urge was undeniable, as if something deep within me recognized the power in these markings, something I couldn’t fully explain.
I hesitated, my fingers hovering over the cold, carved stone. There was a strange sense of anticipation in the air, thick with magic.
As soon as I made contact, a low hum vibrated through the room. The runes flickered, then glowed—a soft, greenish light emerging from the earth rune, and a bluish hue from the water rune. The surrounding air seemed to shimmer as the magic intensified, swirling between the two runes before it merged, weaving into the center. Vibrations pulsed, filling the room with a quiet, rhythmic hum.
Light coiled up my fingers and coursed through me. It felt like the elements were whispering, calling me home. Air stirred, lifting hair and teasing the torch flames. Scarlet laughed in awe, and I found myself laughing with her.
An angled glow shined down on us as the obsidian crystals on the ceiling shined brighter. The center rune burned so brightly I had to shield my eyes. The light was overwhelming, a blinding force that seemed to push against my very soul. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the brilliance settled.
The air grew still, the soft hum of magic vibrating through the room. When I lowered my hand from my face, I could see it—the aftermath of the magic’s release.
A white, crystallized object hovered above the pedestal, suspended and softly radiant. Smaller crystals floated over eachrune, linked to the center by beams of shimmering light. Magic pulsed through them, bright enough to feel.
