Rhea sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the intricate designs of her locket. The pull she felt earlier still lingered in her chest, gnawing at her with every passing second. She couldn't focus. Kael had left without saying much, his expression unreadable, and now she was left with an uneasy silence in the air.
She'd never been good at waiting, and right now, waiting felt like a slow kind of torture. What had happened to him? Where had he gone? It didn't make sense that he'd just leave like that. He had been so certain, so prepared for whatever was coming next, but now…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.
"Rhea?" Elena's voice filtered through, low and calm, but there was something underlying it—a subtle edge of concern.
Rhea stood quickly, brushing her fingers through her hair as she opened the door. Elena stood there, her features soft but unreadable. She was still wearing the same outfit from earlier—her usual loose, flowing attire that always seemed to shimmer faintly in the light.
"Are you alright?" Elena asked, stepping inside. She gave Rhea a knowing look. "You look... unsettled."
"I'm fine," Rhea lied, though her words lacked conviction. She didn't want to explain the weight that pressed on her chest, the questions that churned in her mind. "But Kael—he just left without a word. I don't know what to think."
Elena's eyes flickered with understanding, though her lips remained pressed together. She nodded slowly, her gaze lingering on Rhea for a beat longer than usual. "Kael's been... different. These past few days. Something is changing, and I think we both know it."
The campus had never felt more alive, its vibrant energy filling the air as students milled about, eagerly awaiting the evening's performance. Elena had insisted, practically dragging Rhea out of the sanctuary of their quiet corner, promising her a distraction from the heavy weight of their looming fate.
"You need this," Elena had said with a grin. "A night out. Fresh air. Music. No more prophecies or Elemental forces for one evening. Just let loose."
Rhea hadn't been entirely convinced, but she'd trusted her friend. As they walked through the crowded campus, the lights from the outdoor stage in the quad flickered, casting warm golden hues against the darkening sky. The crowd buzzed with anticipation. Rael was performing tonight—a musician whose name had been whispered among the students for weeks, someone with a reputation for stirring emotions with his hauntingly beautiful voice and the raw energy he poured into his music. He was everything Rhea wasn't: loud, confident, and always surrounded by an aura of mystery. But there was something about the man that intrigued her, something beyond the hype.
They reached the front of the stage just as the opening chords of a guitar rang out, sharp and clear, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd. Rael stood at the center, bathed in a soft spotlight. His presence was magnetic, effortlessly drawing everyone's attention. With every strum of his guitar, the world seemed to pause for a moment, as if time itself had been suspended.
Elena grinned, pulling Rhea into the crowd. "This is going to be amazing. Trust me, you'll love it."
Rhea, still a little hesitant, tried to focus on the music, but as soon as the first note of Rael's voice pierced the air, she felt a strange shiver run down her spine. His voice was smooth, almost ethereal, and it felt as if it were reaching deep within her—touching places she hadn't known existed.
The lyrics began.
"In the quiet of the storm, you'll find your truth,A flame that never dies, in the winds that blow through.Your roots are buried deep, but you can't escape the pull,The Earth awakens now, it calls to you, the chosen one."
Rhea froze. Her pulse quickened, and the world around her seemed to blur. The words… They felt like they were meant for her. As though Rael had somehow seen through her, glimpsing the truth she had only just started to understand. Each line of the song seemed to unravel the very fabric of her being, pulling at the edges of her existence like threads ready to snap.
Elena was singing along, caught up in the magic of the moment, but Rhea couldn't pull her gaze away from the stage. Rael's eyes were closed, his face lost in the music, but for a fleeting moment, she could have sworn his gaze flickered toward her.
"The Earth, it calls, in whispers, it sings,A melody of fate, on the wind it rings.And in your heart, you'll know the sound,When the wind bows low, the roots shake the ground."
Rhea's hand instinctively flew to her chest, her fingers brushing against the locket her mother had given her. The same locket that had been with her through every dream, every vision, every feeling of the Earth's awakening. The words echoed in her mind. The roots shake the ground. It wasn't just a metaphor—it was a warning, a prophecy taking shape.
Rael's voice dipped lower, growing softer, as if to let every word settle in the air around them.
"The Earth will rise, the chosen will stand,With the blade and the gem, the world in their hands.But the power is fleeting, if the heart isn't true,And the wind will carry you, where the shadows pursue."
A chill ran through her, and her fingers clenched around the pendant. The blade and the gem. It was the same words from the dreams, from the ancient texts, from everything she had tried to deny. The music was no longer just a song—it was a warning, a cry for help, an undeniable pull toward something she couldn't escape.
The crowd around her swayed with the rhythm, oblivious to the storm brewing inside of her. She felt exposed, as if every secret she'd ever kept hidden had been laid bare for Rael to see. The song was too close to her truth, too close to the path she hadn't asked to walk.
Rael's voice reached its crescendo, the final note hanging in the air like a single, suspended drop of water before it crashed into the sea.
"And when you hear the call, you'll know your name,The one who holds the Earth, born to play the game.The roots will rise, the wind will guide,And only together can the darkness be defied."
The final chord echoed through the quad, and the world seemed to return to its normal pace. But not for Rhea. She stood frozen, her heart pounding, her breath coming in short gasps as the weight of the song settled heavily on her chest.
Elena, lost in the applause, turned to Rhea, a bright smile on her face. "What did I tell you? Amazing, right?"
Rhea could barely respond, her mind racing, her body still trapped in the haunting melody of Rael's words. He hadn't written that song for anyone else. He had written it for her—she was sure of it. She had felt it, deep inside. The wind, the Earth, the power stirring within her. It was all part of something bigger.
And now, she couldn't ignore it any longer.
As the crowd dispersed, Rhea stood in place, her thoughts spinning, her heart torn between the life she had known and the path she was being dragged toward.
Elena noticed the distant look in her eyes. "Rhea? You okay?"
Rhea blinked, tearing her gaze away from the stage where Rael was still packing up, his eyes now on the crowd, a glimmer of something unreadable in his expression.
"I'm… fine," she said, her voice distant, her mind far away. "Let's go."
But as she walked away, the echo of Rael's song remained with her, a haunting melody that would not be forgotten.