The room was small and dim, the faint glow of a single lantern flickering against the rough wooden walls. Lena lay on the lumpy bed, the thin blanket pulled close to her chest, but sleep refused to come. Every time her eyelids fluttered shut, a faint whisper tugged at her mind—soft, distant, but unmistakable.
"Lena… Lena…"
She bolted upright, heart pounding. The voice was so faint she wondered if it was a trick of the night, a lingering echo of the strange world she'd found herself trapped within. But then it came again—clearer, more urgent.
"Lena…"
No one else was in the room. The inn was silent except for the occasional creak of the timber and the soft rustling of the wind beyond the window. Her pulse quickened. Was it her imagination? Or was someone calling her?
Curiosity overcame caution. She slipped off the bed, pulled on her cloak, and stepped into the hallway. The floorboards creaked beneath her feet. Peering out the small window, the village outside was cloaked in shadow, the soft flicker of distant lanterns dotting the streets.
Again, she heard it, low and persistent.
"Lena…"
Compelled by an unseen force, she crept down the stairs, the wooden steps groaning under her weight. The innkeeper's door was locked tight, and no one else stirred. Outside, the cool night air kissed her cheeks as she stepped onto the cobblestone path.
The village lay quiet, but the voice called again, clearer than ever.
"Lena…"
She followed the sound, weaving through narrow alleys and past shuttered windows until she reached the edge of the forest where shadows pooled like ink beneath the twisted branches.
A figure stood there — barely more than a silhouette against the moonlit trees. Lena's breath caught.
The shadow creature.
Her heart had nearly forgotten the strange being she'd encountered before — the entity neither fully human nor beast, flickering on the edge of sight like a flame caught in the wind.
It stepped forward, its form coalescing, the dark tendrils of its shape shifting and twisting into something almost humanoid.
"Why do you call me?" Lena demanded, voice steady despite the flutter of fear in her chest.
The creature's eyes glowed faintly, pools of shifting violet light. "The king is coming," it said, voice like the whisper of leaves in a storm. "He knows you are here."
Lena's heart skipped. "Kairos?"
The shadow nodded, almost mournful. "The Demon King. He has searched countless realms for you. The mark you carry… it calls to him, drawing him closer."
"Why me?" Lena asked, clutching her cloak tighter. "I'm just a model, a girl from another world."
"You are more than that," the shadow whispered. "Your existence here disrupts the balance. The mark hidden beneath your skin is a key — a link between worlds, a power even the king fears to lose."
Lena swallowed hard. "What happens if he finds me?"
The shadow's eyes darkened. "He will try to take you back, to bind you to his realm. Not because he wishes to harm you, but because he cannot survive without the power you unknowingly hold."
"Then I have to run," Lena whispered.
"No," the shadow replied, voice low and urgent. "Running will only make it easier for him to track you. You must hide the mark — keep it secret, even from yourself."
"How?" Lena's voice trembled. "I don't even know where it is."
The shadow moved closer, its form barely more than a breath against the cool night air.
"The mark lies beneath your skin, near your heart. When the time comes, you will feel it — a burning, a pull. Until then, trust only your instincts. Trust the necklace Winter gave you. It will protect you when the darkness closes in."
Lena touched the pendant hidden beneath her cloak, the cool metal warm against her palm.
"Why should I trust you?" she asked quietly.
The shadow's form flickered, almost like a smile. "Because I am bound to watch over you until the king arrives. And because sometimes, even the darkest shadows serve the light."
A sudden noise—a twig snapping—made Lena whirl around. The village was silent again. The shadow faded into the night like mist under the moon.
Alone, Lena felt the weight of a thousand questions pressing down on her, but one thing was clear: her life had changed forever. The king was coming, and whatever destiny awaited her, there was no turning back.
With trembling hands, she returned to the inn, the necklace cold and steady in her grip as the whispers of the night faded into silence.
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