The Curse Of The Midnight Rose

The night had fallen quietly around them, the stars above scattered like diamonds across the dark canvas of the sky. The Forbidden Mountains, their destination close at hand, felt eerily silent. Yet Ravenna's heart raced, filled with the quiet weight of everything they had endured—and everything that still lay ahead.

As they walked in the soft glow of the moon, Ravenna stole glances at Damien, who walked beside her, his expression distant, lost in his thoughts. The exhaustion was still apparent in the way he moved, his shoulders hunched slightly, as if the weight of the curse was pulling him down even more with each passing day. The bond between them hummed, unspoken, and Ravenna knew that this journey was wearing on him, even if he refused to admit it.

But something else lingered in the air between them—an unacknowledged closeness, an intensity that neither had addressed but both could feel. The trials were one thing, but what they were becoming to each other was something more profound.

Ravenna reached out, her voice soft in the stillness. "Damien... how much longer do you think it will take to get to the Heartstone?"

Damien looked over at her, his gaze lingering longer than usual. "Not long now," he replied, his voice thick with something she couldn't place. "But we still have a long way to go."

Ravenna nodded, unsure what else to say. They both knew what awaited them, and it was enough to keep them both silent. But the quiet felt heavier now, pregnant with the weight of their unspoken emotions.

As they continued, the moonlight bathed them in a soft glow, and it was as though the world had paused, waiting for them to finally speak the truths that had been left unsaid for so long.

"Damien," Ravenna said again, her voice slightly firmer this time. "You've been so distant lately. I know this journey is hard on you, but... I'm here. You don't have to keep everything to yourself."

Damien stopped walking, and for a moment, Ravenna thought he might turn away, as he often did when the darkness of his past threatened to surface. But this time, he didn't. He just stood there, facing her, his dark eyes softer than she had ever seen them.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said quietly, his voice almost a whisper. "I'm afraid that if I let you too close, you'll get caught in this curse. I don't want to drag you into my darkness."

Ravenna took a step toward him, her heart aching at the vulnerability in his words. "Damien, you're not the curse. You're not your past. You're not alone in this. I don't want you to push me away."

There was a long silence, and for a moment, Ravenna thought he might say nothing more. But then he spoke, his voice thick with emotion, his eyes locked on hers.

"Ravenna, I've missed you. I've missed you for so long..." He reached out, his fingers brushing against her cheek, and she couldn't breathe for a moment. "You were the girl with the pearl bead. I've never forgotten you."

Ravenna blinked in surprise, her heart skipping a beat. "What do you mean? The girl with the pearl bead?"

Damien's gaze softened, and his voice grew quieter, almost reverent. "When we were little… I saw you. You were just a child, no older than five or six. I remember the way you looked when you smiled at me, your pearl bead necklace shining in the sunlight. I was supposed to be watching over you, protecting you, but you were the one who helped me that day."

Ravenna's breath caught in her throat as he spoke. She had always thought their first meeting had been a dream, some childish fantasy, but now Damien's words brought it all back. She remembered the warmth of the sun, the playful laugh of a little girl, and the way he had been injured, the way she had bandaged his wounds with what she could find—her pearl bead necklace a simple reminder of her kindness.

"But I don't remember…" she started, but he interrupted, his eyes intense, as if he had been carrying this memory for years.

"It was the mark on your neck," Damien continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "I saw it then, even when we were just children. A crescent moon, soft but unmistakable, just beneath your hairline. I didn't understand it then, but I knew... I knew that you were special, Ravenna. You were the one who would change everything for me."

Ravenna's hand instinctively went to the back of her neck, where the moonlike mark was. She had always assumed it was a birthmark, something that had no meaning beyond the fact that it was simply a part of her. But now, hearing Damien speak of it, something inside her shifted.

He stepped closer, his breath warm against her skin, his fingers gently grazing her neck as if to confirm the mark's presence.

"I didn't want to believe it then," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "But when I woke up at your home... when I saw the mark on your neck again, I knew I had found you. The girl from my past, the girl who was meant to be by my side."

Ravenna's heart raced, her mind spinning. She hadn't expected any of this. She had never known how deep his feelings for her went, how long he had carried that memory of their first meeting.

"Damien…" she whispered, her voice trembling. "I don't know what this means... but I feel it too. I feel something between us. I've always felt it."

He cupped her face in his hands, his touch tender, as though he was afraid to hurt her. "I can't lose you, Ravenna. Not now. Not after everything we've been through. You're the only one who understands me. You're the only one who can save me from myself."

Before she could respond, before she could even process the magnitude of his words, Damien leaned down, his lips capturing hers in a kiss that was soft at first, as if they were both testing the waters. But then it deepened, their emotions crashing together like waves on the shore. Ravenna melted into him, her arms winding around his neck as he pulled her closer, his hands threading through her hair, holding her as though he was afraid she might disappear.

The kiss was everything—filled with longing, with desperation, with the weight of all their shared moments. It was a promise, a declaration that no matter what trials they faced, no matter the cost, they would fight for each other.

When they finally pulled away, breathless and trembling, Ravenna's heart was pounding in her chest, her face flushed from the kiss and the emotions that had been unleashed.

"Damien…" she whispered again, her voice shaky. "I don't want to lose you either. I've felt it too, since the moment I saw you."

Damien rested his forehead against hers, his hands still holding her face gently, as if she were something fragile. "We're not alone anymore, Ravenna. We never will be."