The moon was low in the sky, hidden behind thick clouds as if the night itself was helping Lumina escape without being seen.
She walked quietly across the smooth marble floor of her room, careful with each step.
She had left her cane behind since it would only slow her down. She could hear the faint crackling of torches in the hallway, the sound of armor moving in the distance, and the quiet voices of guards near the territory of their realm.
She wasn’t wearing jewelry or fancy clothes. Just a dark cloak, with her old silver necklace, her mother’s final gift.
Outside the eastern wall of the palace, the realm was heavily protected. There were magical spells, traps hidden with illusions, and guards trained to stop any sign of trouble and also oversee who leaves and cos in.
Lumina whispered, voice nearly lost to the wind, "Lux caligo... occlude oculos."
(Light to darkness... close their eyes.)
High above, a flock of birds took flight, shrieking and the guards jolted, with their blades drawn.
"What Is that?" one of the guards asked but the other was speechless still wondering where they heard the sound from.
Just then the birds flew out from thin air, "It’s just birds. Calm down." The other assures them.
What they didn’t know was that with their distraction Lumina was passing through the realm’s territory.
Her fingers brushed along the mossy wall of the outer corridor. Finally, she reached the threshold of the Realm where thick ivy curtains marked the end of the Royal Enclosure and the beginning of the unclaid territories.
Beyond this point, her father’s guards did not roam. No one is to co here, it’s like no man’s land, ti stops when you are here.
It’s in the middle of the four realms, aside from the kings and queens of the four realms no one is to leave without permission or they would be killed.
Lumina stood in the tall grass, arms folded beneath her cloak. She tilted her head as she felt the presence she had been waiting for.
"I know you are near," she whispered.
"You told I would et the one today... so I have co." For a mont, there was only wind.
"Show yourself," Lumina said again this ti with a fierce tone.
Then laughter filled the whole premises, it echoed so much that one would think the whole realms could hear it.
"Well well... nothing gets past you, does it, little blind girl?"
Lumina didn’t smile right away. She remained still, expression unreadable.
"I may be blind," she said calmly, "but I am not stupid. I have lived this way for ten years."
The voice ca closer, low and amused. "Your mother did well to leave you with sharp edges... just so bad, she couldn’t transfer her whole power to you and just the blindness."
"Aunty... Seraphine" Lumina breathed, her voice cracking just slightly.
The figure finally stepped into view not that Lumina could see her. The air shifted when Seraphine arrived. It always did.
"Don’t call that in public," Seraphine scoffed, but there was warmth beneath the words.
Lumina reached forward until her fingers touched the edge of her cloak. Seraphine guided her hand gently, placing it against her wrist.
"Why shouldn’t I? You saved that night," Lumina whispered.
Seraphine exhaled calling that night, King Ryker’s n were a heartbeat from killing Lumina but Seraphine decided to give them rain. Sothing they have wished for all their lives in exchange for Lumina to be kept.
King Ryker is so desperate to call it a miracle, ever since then he has planned to keep Lumina and make her feel okay so there would continue to be more miracles in the realm.
"You told ... I would et the one who could make see again." Lumina spoke up gaining back her aunt’s attention, one could see how desperate Lumina was.
"I said you might.... Prophecies are not promises."
"I didn’t co for a promise. I ca for him." Lumina said irritatedly.
Seraphine chuckled. "And what of the King? You do realize he is planning marriage right... This is the sacred ti he doesn’t want any distraction. And here you are... dancing on the edge of the four realms."
Lumina turned her face toward the breeze. "I just... want to see," Lumina announced desperately.
Seraphine studied her quietly before she finally spoke. "You will et the right one today... that much is true."
Lumina’s lips parted, ready to speak, to argue. But Seraphine suddenly stiffened. A wave of energy rippled through the air.
Then her expression hardened. "I have been summoned," she announced.
"By the King?" Luminal asked.
"No," she said slowly. "By war councils... I must go."
She stepped back into the veil, she had once removed. No one knows her face, and the only one she opens it to is blind.
"The one you seek will find you, Lumina. Not the other way around. Until then... rember who you are.
With those words, she was gone.
The mont her aunt disappeared into the shadows, Lumina’s senses flared.
A male scread, sharp with panic tore through the quiet night. Her heart stuttered in her chest, but she didn’t move.
She only listened, and the cry beca louder. "Soone needs my help," she said to herself.
Lumina moved swiftly, guided by the faint tremor in the ground beneath her feet. She couldn’t see, but her other senses were her eyes now.
The sound of a struggling body, the rustle of branches, the sharpness of air shifting... she could feel the struggle, feel the presence of soone in pain. She didn’t know who it was, but she could feel their desperation.
She took a step, then another, until her feet halted on the edge of a clearing. She knew it well, this place of ancient sigils and forgotten ruins. A place of power.
"You have stopped screaming," she called into the void, her voice carrying the calm of soone who wasn’t afraid of the darkness. "What happened?"
Then the other voice answered her. "Not much. Except you are in the wrong place at the wrong ti."
Lumina’s grip tightened around her cloak, this voice... Why does it store sothing in her?
"I am exactly where I need to be," she said, her voice steady but with an edge of warning. "Who are you?"
The answer ca like a whisper in the wind, chilling the air. "You don’t have to know, stranger."
Lumina then stepped forward, tilting her head slightly. "What do you want from ?"
His laughter was soft, almost like a caress. "From you? Nothing.... You ca here yourself and you should leave now!"
Her heart still, she was about to respond when the sound of a footstep broke the tension between them.
Soone else had entered the clearing. Lumina turned, her senses alert.
Then a burst of energy slamd into her, sending a tremor through the ground. She gasped but he grabbed her hands making her gain back her footing.
"Get behind ," his voice was sharp and serious now, with no trace of kindness in it.
"Wha..." Lumina barely got a word out before he grabbed her hands, his grip strong. In one swift movent, he turned her around and pulled her with him, her feet stumbling to keep up.
"Where are we going?" she asked, breathless, but he didn’t answer, he looked forward... and noticed there was nowhere to escape.
Another loud growl ca from the Beast chasing them both, "Damn it! I have to use my powers." he grumbled.
Suddenly, fire exploded from his hands, lighting up the darkness and striking the huge beast. It roared in pain as flas engulfed them.
A deafening boom echoed through the air, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Followed by silence and then the beast fell, crumbling into pieces, now just broken rubble.
"What was that?" Lumina asked, eyes wide with wonder.
He turned to her, his face hard. "You were nearly killed. You are welco. Now go back to your realm before the kings arrive. They will know that creature was attacked."
"What?" she blinked, still trying to understand.
"I won’t repeat myself. Goodbye." He turned to leave.
But Lumina moved quickly, grabbing his arm. "Wait... What are you? Who are you?"
He pulled away from her grip without hesitation. "You never t ," he said quietly, and then, he vanished into the night.
Lumina tried to call him back but sothing strange made her stop. Her eyes suddenly began to clear.
She gasped, staring at her own hands, watching them co into focus for the first ti.
"I... I can see..." she whispered, in awe.
But just as quickly as it ca, her vision blurred again and the darkness returned.
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