Kaelen and the Wind's Oath in Moonlit Ruins

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The moon stood high above the shattered mountains, a silver eye that made the night restless. Kaelen and Varaan had reached the stone gate, its arches covered in ancient symbols. Some of the runes glowed, others shimmered dimly, as if waiting only for a word to awaken them. Between the walls, the wind blew like an invisible tide, howling, singing, and tearing at their clothes as if it wanted to devour them. Kaelen raised her hand for balance, but she sensed it was more than a storm. This was no mere weather. The wind carried voices, fragments of oaths spoken centuries ago. Every gust was a memory, every eddy a demand. Varaan lowered his head close to her, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight, the packs at his sides clinking softly. It growled deeply, not fearfully, but warily. Kaelen placed her hand against its scales. "I know," she murmured. "This is a test." She stepped into the arch. The fire that burned there in the circle did not retreat, but opened for her, as if recognizing that she was allowed to enter. Beyond it, the wind raged stronger, almost palpable. Shadows of figures rose from the storm: warriors with banners, mothers with children, old men with raised hands. All were oaths once bound to the land—promises left unfulfilled, swallowed by the wind. "He who bears the wind's oath must renew it or break it," whispered a voice that came from everywhere yet seemed to speak from the stones themselves. "But he who renews it also binds himself." Kaelen felt her heart beat faster. The weight of the runes was still on her skin, the memory of Varaan's dream still fresh in her soul. Now the world demanded more. Not only was his life bound to her, but the land also demanded a promise. "What do you want?" she cried into the storm. Then the wind opened. It showed her images: fields dying under the weight of drought. Forests whose leaves burned. Cities eaten away by their own arrogance. And then—children seeking shelter, animals fleeing, rivers drying up. The oath was a bond that bound the living to the earth. Once, humans and dragons had borne it together, but it had long since been broken. Kaelen knelt, her hair whipping across her face, and pressed her forehead against the ground of ancient stone. "I am no queen, no ruler, no spirit of the ancients," she whispered. "But I am here. I carry what I can carry." Varaan laid his forehead next to hers. Together they breathed. For a moment there was only silence. Then the wind drew back, like an animal that had finally been heard. "Speak the oath," the voice demanded. Kaelen closed her eyes. The words didn't come from books or memories. They came from within herself: "As long as my breath lasts, I will honor the bond that binds land and life. I will not rule, but shepherd. I will not take without giving. And as long as I have Varaan at my side, may my path be part of the song we both bear." As she spoke, the runes on the gate ignited with brilliant light.