My heart leaped as I scanned the shadows but saw no one.
I turned back to the old man, who was watching me with an intensity that made the air around us seem to vibrate.
“I’ve been protecting the moon dagger for you, my dear,” he said, his tone soft yet weighted with purpose. “Only you have the power to possess it.”
His words were cryptic, yet they resonated deep within me, stirring a dormant knowledge that felt both foreign and intimately familiar. How could this be meant for me? And why? My fingers twitched at my side, an unconscious yearning to reach out and grasp the hilt guarded by serpents. But I remained still, caught between wonder and fear, as the weight of his revelation pressed down on me like an unseen force.
“Who are you?” The question fell from my lips tentatively, like a leaf quivering on the verge of its final descent.
The withered man’s eyes seemed to hold centuries within their milky depths.
“My child, you have known me for a long time, though you don’t remember. That is the curse,” he said, his voice both a balm and a blade. “There are fragments you will start to remember. I had to make a sacrifice. Be patient. Accept.” His gaze pierced through the veil of time, burdened with a sorrow that clawed at my chest. His words carried an aged authority, a blend of wisdom and mystery that quickened my pulse.
“I met your husband back in Rome in another century. You both have a destiny far greater than you realize, but the key lies in your past life. That life is the thread that weaves it all together.”
A shudder rippled through me, rattling the fragile lock on memories buried just out of reach. His words were a riddle, each syllable a puzzle piece that didn’t quite fit, yet impossible to ignore. He had known Roman in Rome?
“Olivia!” The voice sliced through the fog enveloping me, its urgency snapping the world back into focus. I turned sharply, my heart racing toward the sound.
“Roman!”
Relief poured through me as he emerged from the shadows, his form solid and real. A woman’s silhouette flanked him, her movements swift with shared urgency.
The torch slipped from my fingers, clattering to the cave floor and rolling away until it came to rest against the jagged stone wall. The air seemed to shift, reality stretching taut like a thread about to snap.
“Olivia, don’t run off like that!” Roman’s voice reverberated through the air and anchored me back to the present moment.
He wrapped my trembling form in his arms. His warmth seeped into my bones, chasing away the chill from our cryptic chamber. The scent of leather and musk clung to him, a comforting familiarity that eased my anxious heart. I was safe with him by my side at that moment.
I glanced back to where the ancient-looking man and his slithering guardians should have been, but the space was barren, an empty cavity in the earth where secrets once lay. Only shadows clung to the corners as if they, too, wondered at the sudden emptiness.
“Where did they go?” The words tumbled out, barely audible, a breath caught in the stillness. The old man, the serpents, the moon dagger—everything had been swallowed by the cave’s insatiable darkness, leaving behind a silence that buzzed in my ears like the echo of a scream.
Roman held me tighter, his embrace firm yet tender, an anchor against the tumult swirling in my mind. His breath was warm against my hair, and his voice trembled with a raw emotion that made my heart ache.
“I was so afraid I’d lost you,” he whispered, the words laced with relief and worry. “I would die if anything happened to you.”
He pressed his lips to mine with an unbridled hunger and desperation. His touch was gentle and fierce, as if he had been holding back for ages and could finally let go. There was a primal need in his kisses, as if he wanted to claim and possess me wholly. And I felt it, too, the fear that lay beneath his every touch, the terror of losing me forever and never finding solace again in this world or the next.
My lips responded instinctively, melting into his kiss’ warm, urgent pressure. My heart fluttered wildly as if trying to match the intensity of his emotion. In that moment, time unraveled, stretching out into eternity as our bodies pressed together, fitting seamlessly like two halves of a whole. But even as the warmth of his embrace consumed me, the shadow of what I had seen lingered, tugging at the edges of my mind.
As we reluctantly ended our embrace, the tension in my heart turned into a jumble of words. “Roman,” I said, trembling, “I saw something… terrifying. There was a man beyond a pit of snakes and beneath them, the moon dagger. He was in that dark cavern over there.” My hand shook as I pointed to the ominous void, torn between the urge to run toward it or flee as far as possible.
His eyes sparkled with excitement and concern as he peered into the shadows from where I had emerged. His gaze scanned the dark interior, but his expression quickly fell. He stepped cautiously inside, his silhouette melting into the murkiness before reappearing empty-handed and bewildered. The cavern was void of the old man, the serpents, and the moon dagger.
“Olivia, my love, there’s nothing here,” he said, his voice tinged with confusion.
My mother stepped past Roman, her curiosity tugging her toward the cave. She peered into its depths, her brows knitting together. “Honey, there’s nothing here. Sweetheart, I think your pregnancy is affecting you.”
Her tone was soft, but it only underscored the disbelief in her eyes.
I clenched my fists, the weight of what I had seen pounding through me like a relentless drumbeat. The gleam of the moon dagger, the serpents’ menacing hiss, and the frail man’s cryptic words—they had been real, as tangible as the ache now tightening my chest. Yet, how could I convince them when the evidence had vanished like smoke in the wind?
Heat surged to my cheeks, a stubborn fire igniting beneath the cold mantle of their doubt.
“It was there!” I screamed. My heart was a thunderous drum in my chest, each beat resonating with the conviction of what I’d witnessed.
A sharp, searing pain gripped my abdomen, stealing the air from my lungs. I staggered, clutching at my belly, as the ground pitched beneath me. The cool earth rushed up to meet my knees, grounding me even as my mind whirled with the indelible images etched into my memory. Every scale, every hiss, every glint of moonlit metal—they were real, a truth I couldn’t deny.
