Dawn had not yet fully broken when Kael and I slipped away from the castle.
The morning mist hung low over the ground, shrouding the path toward the border in a milky grey. The biting cold nipped at my skin, but I didn't shiver. For some reason, this chill felt... familiar.
Like the fog in a harbor city. At the docks where I—
The thought severed before it could fully take shape. As it always did. As it always would.
"Do we really have to head out this early?" Kael's voice broke the silence. He walked beside me, a longsword at his hip, his face still etched with sleepiness.
"Daren said the figure appears when the fog is thickest." I didn't turn my head. "We can't afford to be late."
Kael yawned. "You really trust that old hunter?"
"I trust my instincts."
He didn't argue further.
We reached the border as the sun began to peek from behind the hills. The mist was still dense, though thinning in patches. Daren was already waiting beneath the ancient oak tree—the spot he called his lookout point.
The old hunter stood with a bow slung across his back. His face was a map of wrinkles, but his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. Upon seeing us, he gave a respectful nod.
"Countess. Young Master Kael."
"Have you seen them again?" I asked immediately.
Daren shook his head. "Not yet. But he's appeared around here three days in a row. Always during the fog. Always in the same place." He pointed toward a small hill ahead of us. "There. Between the two cedar trees."
I stared in the direction he pointed. The mist was still too thick to see anything clearly.
"Kael. Stay here. Guard Daren."
Kael looked at me, alarmed. "You're going there alone?"
"I won't be far."
"But—"
"Kael." I met his gaze. "If they wanted to attack, they would have done so long ago. They are merely observing. They want to talk."
Kael ground his teeth, but he eventually nodded. "I'll be here. If anything happens—"
"You come."
I walked down the small hill toward the two cedar trees Daren had indicated. The fog grew thicker here, hanging between the trunks like silken curtains. My footsteps were nearly silent against the damp earth.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I stopped between the two cedars and waited. Seconds bled into minutes.
Nothing.
I was about to turn back when—
"Countess Varen."
The voice came from behind me. Low. Calm. Female.
I turned slowly.
She stood amidst the mist as if the fog itself had shaped her. A grey cloak covered her entire body, her face hidden beneath a hood. Only her eyes were visible—a pale, almost colorless grey.
And on the sleeve of her cloak was the embroidered symbol of an eye within a circle.
The Eternal Eye.
"I suspected you would come," she said. Her voice was devoid of emotion. "The old hunter reported me to you. And you... you couldn't resist your curiosity."
I didn't answer. I simply stared at her, waiting.
She smiled thinly—or at least, I saw the corner of her lips curl beneath the hood. "You aren't afraid."
"What is there to fear?"
"Most people fear the unknown."
"I am not most people."
She let out a soft chuckle. "Clearly not." She took a step closer. The mist seemed to move with her, trailing her every step. "Count Varen chose you. We all wondered why. But now... I'm beginning to understand."
"What do you know about the Count?"
"Much." She stopped a few paces from me. "But it is not for sharing right now. I am here only to see. To assess."
"Assess what?"
She stared at me. Her grey eyes felt as though they were piercing through my skin, seeing something deep inside me that even I couldn't perceive.
"To assess whether you are worthy."
Silence followed.
"Worthy of what?" My voice remained steady, unintimidated.
She smiled again, wider this time. "To join us." She paused. "Or to be destroyed."
I didn't move. I didn't react. I simply met her gaze. She was trying to bluff, testing to see if I would flinch.
"I have no interest in joining an organization that threatens me before I even know who they are."
The woman laughed, louder this time. "You truly are different from the Countess of the past. The old Countess would have cried and begged."
"The old Countess is dead."
Her eyes narrowed. "We know."
Another silence, longer this time. Then, she reached out. In her palm lay a small locket—a silver chain with a blue stone at its center. A blue that was exactly the color of my hair. Exactly the color of my eyes.
"Wear this," she said.
I didn't take it. "For what purpose?"
"A sign that you are being assessed. That you are under our watch." She locked eyes with me. "You don't need to join now. But one day... you will need us. And when that time comes, this locket will call to us."
I stared at the locket. The blue stone shimmered as the morning light finally began to pierce the fog.
"And if I refuse?"
She closed her hand, and the locket vanished into her sleeve. "Then I shall leave, and you will never see me again. But you will also never receive your answers."
"Answers to what?"
"To the questions that have been haunting you." She looked at me intently. "Who you truly are. Why the Count chose you. And what your connection to us is."
My heart hammered harder, but I didn't let it show. She knew. She knew about my amnesia. She knew about the questions that plagued me every night.
"How can I trust you?"
She smiled. "You can't. Not now. But you don't have another choice, do you? The Marquis is a small problem. What is coming... is far greater. And you will need allies."
She held out the locket again. I stared at it, then at the locket in her hand, then into her pale grey eyes. Slowly, I reached out and took it.
The chain was cold. The blue stone felt warm in my palm—strange, as if it held its own heat.
"Wear it," she said. "Never take it off. When the time is right, the stone will glow. And you will know... we are calling for you."
I gripped the locket tight. "What is your name?"
She smiled. "You may call me... Mira."
She turned around, the mist thickening about her.
"Mira." My voice halted her. "Why did the Count choose me?"
She stopped and looked back slightly. "Because you are the key, Alyra Varen. You are the answer to the question even we did not dare to ask."
"The key to what?"
But she had already stepped away. The fog swallowed her whole. And when the mist cleared a few seconds later... she was gone.
I stood alone between the two cedar trees, the blue locket in my hand. My heart was racing.
I am the key. The key to what?
Kael came running the moment I emerged from the fog. His face was taut, his sword halfway out of its scabbard.
"What happened?! I heard voices—who was she?!"
I walked past him. "Someone from the Eternal Eye."
"What?!" Kael followed me. "What did she want? Did she attack you? Why did you—"
"Kael." I stopped and turned. "I'm fine."
He stared at me, his eyes dropping to the locket in my hand. "What is that?"
I looked at the locket. The blue stone shimmered. "A sign," I said softly. "That I am being watched."
Kael tensed. "We should throw it away."
"No." I gripped it tightly. "This might be the only way to get answers."
"Answers to what?"
I didn't reply. I simply kept walking.
We returned to the castle as the sun sat high in the sky. I went straight to my room, closed the door, and sat on the edge of the bed, the blue locket still in my grasp. Slowly, I fastened it around my neck. The chain was cold, but the stone... the stone was warm. Like a faint heartbeat.
Wear this. Never take it off.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The locket hung against my chest. Blue. The same as my hair. The same as my eyes. It was as if this object had been made specifically for me.
In the corner of my eye, the blue screen appeared.
[ SOUL GUIDE SYSTEM – SLEEP MODE ]
[ Data Recovery: 15% ]
[ Object Detected: "Summoning Locket – Eternal Eye". ]
[ Description: This locket is linked to the secret organization, the Eternal Eye. Function: Summoning. Monitoring. Identification. ]
[ Warning: This locket emits a location signal. The Eternal Eye always knows where you are. ]
[ Query: Continue data recovery for further information regarding the Eternal Eye? ]
I stared at the screen. They always knew where I was. It should have made me feel afraid. Watched. Trapped.
But for some reason... I wasn't afraid. I was the key. They watched me because they needed me. And as long as they needed me... I had power.
"Not now," I whispered.
The screen vanished. I touched the locket on my chest. It was warm. I would find out who I was. And I would find out what the Eternal Eye wanted. But on my own terms. In my own time.
That night, I sat in the dining hall. The map of Varen was still spread out, but this time, I wasn't looking at it. I was staring at the locket.
I am the key.
The Count knew. The Eternal Eye knew. Even the Marquis likely suspected it. But I... I knew nothing.
That had to change. I looked at the map, marking the border where I met Mira. Then the castle. Then the village. The spiderweb was forming, but it wasn't enough. I needed more eyes. More ears. More information.
And I needed answers.
In the corner of the room, a shadow shifted. I turned, but no one was there. Just me and the warm blue locket on my chest.
I would get my answers. No matter the cost.