The Midnight Key

The realization hit Rene like a cold wave. I was part of the betrayal.

The shadowed figures crept closer, their hollow eyes locked onto her. The cloaked stranger still gripped her wrist, urging her toward the glowing archway. "Rene, we don't have time—"

But she yanked her hand away. "Tell me the truth." Her voice was steady, but inside, she was unraveling. "What did I do?"

The figure hesitated. Then, with a deep sigh, they pushed back their hood.

Rene gasped.

It was a woman, no older than she was, with sharp, familiar eyes. Eyes that looked like Rene's own.

"My name is Nyra," she said softly. "I was your sister."

Was.

The word echoed in Rene's mind. She tried to remember Nyra, but all she had were flickers—shadows of a bond long lost.

"You helped banish the Forgotten Ones," Nyra continued. "You fought alongside us. But at the last moment… you changed sides."

Rene's blood turned to ice.

"No," she whispered. "That's not possible."

Nyra's eyes darkened with something between sorrow and anger. "You didn't do it willingly," she admitted. "They got to you first. They erased your memories, twisted your power. And when the battle ended, you vanished. No one knew where you had gone."

The memories stirred deeper now—flashes of war, of black flames engulfing the city, of voices screaming her name in fear.

She had been one of them.

The ground trembled again as the Forgotten Ones surged forward, sensing her hesitation. A whisper slithered through the air:

Welcome back, Rene.

A figure stepped out from the darkness—taller, stronger, with piercing golden eyes that burned like embers. Unlike the others, his form was clear. He wasn't lost or forgotten.

He was their leader.

"You remember me, don't you?" His voice was smooth, laced with something dangerous. "You belonged to us once. You can again."

Rene's heart pounded. She could feel it now—the pull of the darkness, familiar and inviting. The power she had tried to deny was waking up inside her, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to fight it.

Nyra reached for her. "Rene, don't listen to him. You have a choice."

The Forgotten One smiled. "Do you? Or was the choice already made long ago?"

Rene stood frozen between them—between her past and her future, between the sister who had once trusted her and the power that felt like home.

And she had to decide.

To Be Continued…...