Morning light filtered through the broken roof of the temple, dancing across the ancient stone in ribbons of gold and dust.
Luna sat cross-legged near the center rune, her fingers lightly brushing the sigils etched into the floor—flame, tide, wind, stone, and one that shimmered like mist: spirit.
It was silent here, yet somehow… alive. Every breath she took felt like an answer to a question she hadn't asked.
Behind her, Riven stood at the entrance, arms crossed, alert. Zeph was lying on a cracked pillar like it was a chaise lounge, throwing a pebble into the air repeatedly.
> "So," Zeph said, watching the stone arc, "any chance this place has snacks? Or do ancient temples of unknowable power just not care about hospitality?"
Luna rolled her eyes but said nothing. Her pendant—her mother's—glowed faintly again. The same warm, pulsing light that had led her here.
She whispered, "Why did you bring me here?"
No answer. Just the soft rustling of wind through the broken dome.
---
They had spent the night inside the temple, taking shifts. It was the only shelter for miles.
Luna hadn't slept.
Instead, she listened.
Sometimes she thought she heard voices—soft, ancient murmurs in a language she didn't know but somehow understood.
> "Does it feel… off to anyone else?" Riven asked now, stepping closer. "Like we're being watched."
Zeph sat up. "I vote haunted. Maybe possessed. Ten outta ten creepy vibes."
> "No," Luna said, rising slowly. "It feels like waiting. Like it's been asleep... and now it's waking up."
She stood in the center of the five symbols. Her feet tingled, as if the stone recognized her. Her presence.
Suddenly—
The entire temple pulsed—once.
A deep, resonating hum rolled through the ground like a heartbeat.
The floor beneath her glowed with light.
Each sigil lit up—one by one.
Ignar. Kaelora. Zephiron. Terranak. Spirit.
Luna's eyes widened. "It's responding…"
> "Uh, is that good or—?"
The stone beneath her gave a small click.
Before anyone could react, a circular platform began to descend, slowly sinking into the earth—taking Luna with it.
> "Luna!" Riven lunged forward, but a magical barrier shimmered to life between them.
> "Don't you dare die without me!" Zeph shouted, pounding the barrier. "That's against the contract you never signed!"
Luna met their eyes through the glowing veil and gave a small, nervous smile.
> "I think this part… I have to do alone."
Then the platform dropped faster—until the world above was swallowed by darkness.
---
She descended into a chamber of starlight.
The walls shimmered with constellations. Each step echoed with a sound that wasn't quite sound. It felt like memory—echoing from some distant part of her soul.
Then came a voice.
Not loud. Not male or female. Just… ancient.
> "You carry them. All but one."
> "Your soul bends beneath their weight."
> "Before you summon the void… you must face your own."
The chamber twisted. The stars blinked out. And suddenly, Luna stood in a mirror of the real world—a memory.
She was eight years old again. Alone. Behind the village's fence.
Children were laughing on the other side, playing with spark-lights and sand animals. But she wasn't allowed near.
> "She's not like us," a boy had said. "She's cursed."
> "Her mom died because of her."
The wind then, just as cruel as now.
---
Luna reached for the memory, but her hand passed through it.
Then it changed—
She saw herself again, older, bleeding from a wound after her first summoning… hiding it.
Then again—crying in silence after Nia left.
Then—
> Her father.
Standing beneath a blackened sky, speaking to robed figures.
> "Let the prophecy be whispered," he said.
"They must believe she is the threat. Only then will she run to the right place."
Luna's breath caught.
> "No," she whispered.
But the vision shifted again.
Now she stood before a mirror, but her reflection wasn't hers.
It was a darker version. The shadow from the Realm of Spirit.
> "They will always fear you," the reflection said. "You think the truth matters? They see your power. That's all they need."
Luna clenched her fists.
> "I won't run from who I am."
The mirror cracked.
> "I won't run from what I've done."
It shattered.
> "And I won't let your lies decide my path."
The world trembled.
The stars reignited.
And the chamber glowed once more.
---
A new door appeared. Above it, a sixth sigil.
A new element.
Not void. Not spirit.
But union.
---
As Luna stepped forward, a figure appeared—half-light, half-shadow. Not one of the Elemental Kings. Not her father. Not herself.
A construct. An ancient guardian.
It asked only one question:
> "What is your purpose?"
Luna hesitated.
Then, with her head high and voice clear:
> "To protect what they fear.
To fight the lies.
To carry the truth—even if it breaks me."
The figure smiled.
> "Then the path opens."
---
Far above, in the temple, the barrier vanished.
Riven and Zeph both nearly fell over themselves trying to rush to the stone circle.
> "LUNA!" Zeph shouted.
The platform began to rise again—slowly.
And as it returned to the surface, Luna stood on it. Her eyes were brighter. Her stance… calmer. Firmer. Her pendant glowed, but so did each of the runes at her wrists.
She wasn't just carrying the Kings now.
She had awakened something older.
Something only she could hold.
> "So…" Zeph said, breathless. "Did you at least steal any cool ancient artifacts?"
> "No," Luna said softly, stepping off the stone. "But I think I just found my truth."
And deep in the temple walls, the sigils burned silently, one by one…
Until the sixth symbol—the one of union—glowed brighter than the rest.
---
To be continued...