"She bears the mark of Althea!"

The voice of the priestess was a breathless whisper. She closed the hatch on the door, shutting out the image of the newborn girl swaddled in her cradle, and turned to the Oracle beside her, an elderly man, his face nearly hidden beneath his heavy grey hood.

"That is why she must be the one." No emotion betrayed his grave voice.

"But she might perish in the process of—"

The old man raised his hand to silence the priestess.

"The Hand and the Sun are never wrong. It is an honour to have been chosen. She will be in your care. Make sure that she is ready when the time comes."

Without another word he turned away, his grey cloak slithering behind him on the rugged stone floor, a ripple in the darkness.

Branded by the light, singled out to restore the darkness.

The words of the priestess were Tamara's mantra for eighteen years.

A privilege granted by the Goddess.

With skin like moonlight and hair as black as night, she might have been considered beautiful by her people, but her eyes made them speak of her in hushed voices. They were the blazing blue of a cloudless sky, like cornflowers basking in the summer sun. They marked her as someone who lived on borrowed time. A time that had now come to an end.

Her mother had abandoned her when she was just a few days old, scared by what those eyes meant. She never knew her father. The priestesses had taken her in, cared for her as best as they could, preparing her for this moment.

Face her worst enemy, the bane of her people, Helios.

His name alone made the people of Thalos tremble. The god was on the rise once again, preparing for his merciless hunt. Every spring he threatened to flood their darkness with his blinding light, unless they appeased him with one of their own as offering. Such had been the Pact between Althea, their Goddess of Darkness, and Helios, the God of Light. Tamara was terrified of what might await her in this hostile realm full of scorching sunlight, but she was determined not to have her spirit broken.

She shot a quick glance around her room to make sure that she had packed everything she needed, which wasn't much, given that she would most likely not return. The priestess had tried to keep her voice steady, but Tamara was no fool. She had studied the ancient scrolls in their temple to know enough of what was asked of her.

A sacrifice to protect her people, nothing more and nothing less.

There would be no goodbyes and no regrets. No one would miss her once she was gone, no one, but one.

Salvatore.

He was the Oracle's apprentice, always quiet and serious, tendrils of darkness coiling around him wherever he went. His eyes were like the silver flecked midnight sky, as if the stars lived within their endless depths. They were now following her every motion with apprehension. He had rushed to her room right after the priestess had told Tamara about her imminent departure. Now he was leaning against the footboard of her bed, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Tamara should not have allowed him to come. She was about to leave him forever, yet she could not bring herself to send him away.

Just a little bit longer, she told herself, and then they made love until exhaustion took them both.

"I have something for you," he said, the flickering candles limning the contours of his face in an exquisite play of shadow and light.

"What is it?" she said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

The ghost of a smile danced across Salvatore's face.

"Open your hand." He pulled out a delicate silver chain with a full moon pendant from his pocket, letting it glide into her outstretched hand.

Tamara's eyes widened when she saw the ivory moon gleam in her palm, an onyx set in its middle as if it were a watchful black eye.

"I—I can't accept this," she said, her hands trembling. "The Oracle's amulet is yours, you cannot just give this to me."

Salvatore drew his brows together, sliding the necklace over her head despite her protests. "Yes, I can. It's mine and I can give it to whomever I wish. And you need it more urgently than me. It will protect you from the rays of the Sun."

"But who will protect you?"

"I can look after myself. I'm old enough."

"And what will the Oracle say?"

"Nothing, because he won't know."

"But what if—"

He crushed his lips against hers, drowning her words with his kiss, as if he wanted to taste her one last time. She had to untangle herself from his embrace, before her resolve would melt away like ice in the blistering sun.

"Salvatore," she breathed. She had to stay focused. She was about to become the Sun god's consort and Salvatore's tender touch would only make this harder for her.

"You have to let me go," she whispered against his lips, his warm breath fanning her face.

"I won't. I can't lose you." Despair flickered in the inky depths of his eyes. "I will get you out of this. There has to be a way and I'll find it."

"You will do no such thing, because you will get yourself killed. Please, Salvatore," she said, taking his hands and placing them on her chest, just above her heart, "promise me that you won't come looking for me, that you will stay here, where it's safe." Urgency and despair were in her voice.

Before Salvatore could answer, there was a rap on the door. "It is time." It was the lilting voice of the priestess.

"You must leave now," Tamara said to Salvatore. "The priestess cannot find you here with me."

Silent rage swirled in Salvatore's eyes. He took her face in his hands and said, "I will find you, no matter what."

Another knock, this time more determined. "Tamara, you must prepare yourself," the priestess said from beyond the door.

"Go." Tamara pointed towards the concealed door in the back of her room. "Please," she added. Salvatore lingered for another moment and then turned away without another word, leaving behind a cloud of darkness in his wake.

The priestess made short work of preparing Tamara, dressing her in a velvet black gown, sleek and simple, a sleeveless vest on top of it. No one had come to see her off, as if her people couldn't bear to look at her and be reminded of the Pact they so much despised, but held on to it nevertheless. Everyone apparently had fled into the depths of Thalos, down to where the heart of their kingdom lay, as if they were afraid that Helios might for once not honour his part of the Pact and blast their realm away with a single ray of light. Not even Salvatore had come. Much better, she thought to herself. It meant that he hadn't done anything stupid and had stayed hidden like she had told him.

The priestess took her through a long and winding tunnel, both of them walking in silence until the tunnel began to slope upwards and a faint light gleamed at the end. The light grew bigger and brighter, gradually eating away every bit of the comforting darkness around her. Tamara's heart was beating so loud she thought the priestess might turn around any moment. When they reached the exit, a rough opening hewn into the black stone, the priestess halted and took Tamara's hands.

"Here I must leave you. I cannot go any further. Beyond the exit you will find Helios waiting for you."

Tamara nodded, her courage wavering, now that she was facing the inevitable. The priestess pulled her into an embrace and whispered into her ear, "I wish I could have been more of a mother than a priestess to you."

"You were a mother to me and I will remember you as such." There was a lump in Tamara's throat and she had to break away from the embrace to keep herself from falling apart.

The priestess smiled and Tamara could have sworn to see a tear in her eye. "Now go, and may the blessings of Althea be with you."

Tamara strode with slow and measured steps towards the exit. There was no fooling herself. She would never return to the glittering caves and vast underground lakes with still waters as black as ink, never again hear Salvatore's whispered endearments when they lay in each other's arms. She banned those thoughts from her mind and stepped through the opening.

Blinding light hit her, a sky so brilliantly blue that she had to avert her eyes and would have nearly stumbled backwards into the tunnel, had it not sealed itself upon her exiting. Instead she was caught by a strong pair of arms. She whipped around and found herself facing Helios, tall and broad shouldered, a white tunic accenting his athletic physique, his fiery golden hair a blazing flame in the sunlight. His eyes of darkest amber pinned her to the spot with an intensity that made her want to shrink back into the darkest corner of her home.

The amulet around her neck stirred awake, waves of soothing shadows rippling over her skin like a protective cloak.

"I can stand on my own," she mumbled, finding her balance and wrestling herself free of his grip. Her eyes only adjusted slowly to the unfamiliar light, the amulet throbbing faintly against her chest.

Helios seemed to have come alone. The only other creature in the somewhat desolate grassland around the mouth of the cave, was an impressive white Pegasus, its wings gracefully folded along the smooth body.

"Can you indeed?" he said, raising a mocking eyebrow. "But do you also know how to play, Tamara?" Helios drawled, flames of orange and crimson burning in his eyes. He conjured a crystal orb out of thin air and held it out towards her.

First there was only swirling mist, but then she could clearly see a male body tied to a post, his clothes ripped to shreds. Tamara swallowed hard.

This must be a cruel trick. It couldn't be true.

"Again!" A voice snarled and then a whip cracked and another blow rained down on Salvatore's back, ripping through his skin as if it were paper. He was groaning, his face contorted in agony, blood dribbling from his nose and onto the rags of his clothes. There was so much blood.

Tamara's heart froze at the sight before her eyes.

"What is the meaning of this? Why are you doing this?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Helios turned the orb around in his hand like a toy and assessed her for a moment, a cruel smile playing around his mouth. He shrugged and with a lazy flick of his finger the crystal orb vanished into nothing.

"I'm a god. I get bored and I have a lot of time. Therefore I have decided to make this a little bit more interesting than the usual. I want you to earn your place as my consort, Tamara." His molten gaze turned to ice, as he straightened himself. "Salvatore is in a labyrinth called the Maze of Mirrors, a brilliant invention of mine. It contains one hundred thirty-six mirrors to be exact. You have twenty-four hours to find your lover. Should you succeed, then I will set him free, and you are mine, but if you fail, then he will die and so will you."

There was a blinding flash and Helios was gone, the image of Salvatore's mangled body igniting a deadly fury in her heart.

Helios wanted her to play? Fine, she would play, and win.

This story is in the process of being written offline. The first chapter was written (as a short story) for a writing challenge. After that, I have decided to expand it into a full-length novel. Stay tuned for new chapters in 2021!