Chapter 7 The Child Untouched
Aura's POV
The cold became unbearable on the third night. But I pushed myself on.
By the fifth, I could no longer feel my fingers.
Snow clung heavily to my cloak as I forced myself through the mountain path beyond Sol Diminium. My boots were soaked through completely, every step sinking painfully into ice and slush. Hunger clawed at my stomach so violently now that sometimes I thought I could hear it. I had stopped counting hours,stopped counting how many times I fell.
The storm never seemed to end.
Wind screamed through the mountains like something alive, sharp enough to cut skin. Twice, I thought I saw shadows following me between the trees, tall figures moving too fast to be human.
But whenever I looked properly, nothing was there.
I kept moving anyway because stopping meant dying and dying meant i would never know the truth about myself.
My breathing came out uneven as I climbed over another ridge, gripping the rocks to steady myself. My entire body ached. Sleep tugged at me constantly now. Dangerous sleep. The kind people never woke from in storms like this.
I thought about Sol Diminium more than I wanted to, the dark city, silver lanterns and Xarion.
Gods.
Even now I could still hear his voice in my head.
What do you know about the Strigoi?
I hated how calm he sounded when he spoke. How composed. Like he had centuries to waste on every conversation. A day in his city and I was already captivated by him
That frightened me most.
A sharp gust nearly knocked me sideways.
I stumbled hard against the snow.
Get up.
I forced myself upright again, my vision blurred badly now but the mountains ahead finally began thinning into familiar forest terrain.
Miridia.
Relief hit so suddenly my knees nearly gave out.
I was close, so close I could see the border lanterns now faintly glowing through the snowstorm ahead.
Home.
My chest tightened painfully.
One more hill, just one more
My legs suddenly failed beneath me, the world tilted violently and snow rushed toward my face.
The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was the faint golden glow of the village borders through the storm.
Then nothing.
Warmth.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Soft warmth wrapped around my body while the scent of herbs and burning wood filled the air. I frowned slightly before opening my eyes to see wooden ceilings and familiar ones at that
My room.
Relief hit me so hard it almost hurt.
“You’re awake.”
Sara’s voice cracked before I even turned toward her.
She sat beside the bed clutching a bowl tightly in her hands, exhaustion clear beneath her eyes.
“Oh thank the gods,” she whispered.
Then suddenly she was beside me, arms wrapping tightly around my shoulders before I could react.
I froze because Sara rarely cried or showed simple emotions but her body shook against mine now. It felt good to know that she cared so much about me to be worried
“I was so worried that those bastards had hurt you,” she said shakily. “It’s been a week Aura.”
Guilt twisted painfully in my chest. I didn’t know what to say
She pulled back immediately, holding my face between cold hands like she needed to make sure I was real.
“ The night watch found you unconscious near the northern border.” Her voice hardened slightly now with fear. “I thought I lost you ”
I swallowed hard. I thought I was going to die too
Then finally she exhaled shakily and brushed damp curls from my forehead.
“You’re freezing.”
“I noticed.”
That earned the faintest laugh from her before it disappeared again.
“You need food. And a bath. You look half dead.”
Honestly, she wasn’t wrong, my stomach growled immediately as if agreeing with her and we both laughed
Sara stood quickly, moving toward the fire.
“There’s soup still warm. Eat first.”
I pushed myself upright carefully, wincing as soreness spread through my body
For a moment, things felt normal again almost normal
I had known Sara all my life, she was my guardian and the only family I had. It felt really good to be home.
Night had fully settled over Miridia by the time Maevah arrived.
I nearly cried when I saw her, the old witch looked exhausted, bandages wrapped around her throat beneath heavy furs, but alive.
“You look terrible,” she muttered the second she entered.
I laughed weakly.
“You should see yourself.”
“That bad?” She looked down at herself
“Worse.”
Maevah smiled before she pulled me into a tight embrace and suddenly I remembered the way she looked at me that night in the snow like a protector that failed to protect
The realization made my chest ache.
Sara quietly closed the curtains while Maevah settled into the chair near the fire. For a moment none of us spoke.
Then finally I told them everything about Sol Diminium, the hall of remembrance, the journal, the meeting, the blank pages and the words I saw
“ the hybrid eclipse gave us Arthurions answer”
Neither Sara nor Maevah interrupted me once
By the time I finished, the room had gone completely silent.
Maevah stared into the fire thoughtfully, the only sound in the room was the fire crackling in the fireplace
I looked directly at Maevah
“ what happened the night I was born “
The silence lingered awhile, I noticed the way Sara looked away
“ you both know something”
Maevah exhaled
“Well,” she continued . “Your mother arrived during the eclipse, ”
A chill crawled down my spine at the thought of my mother
“She was already in labour when we found her by the south border,” Sara added “ Alone and barely conscious”
“She begged us to hide you and keep you safe”
Maevah sighed deeply.
“From who?”
“The Priestesses of Lunara, she was one of them. She’d been having visions”
The room suddenly felt colder
“Why would she want me hidden “
Neither of them answered immediately but I figured it was because of the way magic acted around me
“Strange things happened during your birth and you wee born on a rare celestial night, a hybrid eclipse “
The words settled heavily inside me
“ what does that mean?” I asked
Maevah stared into the fire instead of at me.
“Magic should not fail around a child.”
My chest tightened instantly, that I already knew because my whole life, it failed.
“The protection wards around the village collapsed that night,” Sara whispered. “Sacred relics shattered. Spells unraveled.”
I remembered every candle dying around me as a child, the way every charm cracked in my hands. Every fearful stare I received from my fellow witches
Maevah finally looked at me then.
“And your mother…” she said quietly, “looked terrified when she realized what you were doing.”
A knot formed painfully in my throat.
“What am I? What was I doing?”
No one answered.
That frightened me more than anything else.
The fire snapped loudly between us.
Finally, Maevah spoke again.
“Your mother believed there were people who would start wars to possess you.”
The room went silent not because of the statement but because of the way she said it.
Like she believed those wars had already begun from the night I was taken to Sol Diminium.
I looked down at my trembling hands, nothing about me felt dangerous at least not yet.
I still felt like the same girl who crushed herbs in Maevah’s cottage and accidentally put out candles.
But somewhere deep inside me, fear had started changing shape
Fear of myself and what I could be
“What did she see?” I asked quietly. “In her vision?”
Maevah’s expression shifted slightly for the first time since entering the room, she looked afraid.
“She never told us everything.”
That was a lie.I knew it instantly even Sara knew it too from the tension in her shoulders.
But before I could push further, Maevah stood slowly from her chair.
“That is enough for tonight.”
Frustration flared through me immediately.
“You can’t keep hiding things from me.”
“We are trying to keep you alive,” Sara snapped suddenly.
The room fell quiet again.
Sara closed her eyes briefly, softening almost immediately afterward.
“Aura…”
But I shook my head.
" No"
I was tired of everyone speaking around me instead of to me.
The fire flared, candles flickered. This time all at once.
Maevah noticed and so did Sara and the fear that crossed both their faces made my stomach drop.
Because now they were looking at me the same way the vampires had. The way he did
Not like a girl.
Like a problem, they didn’t understand and people feared what they couldn’t understand.
Much later that night, I woke suddenly, the fire had nearly died. Cold air brushed softly against my skin, I looked at the windows, they were shut
I frowned slightly.
Then I smelled it.
Cedar wood layered with honey and spiced amber.
My heartbeat stumbled instantly.
