Morning came not with golden light, but a sky painted in violet and silver—a strange hue that made even the birds hesitate.
Luna stood near the edge of a cliff, wind sweeping through her silver-streaked hair. Her cloak billowed behind her. She had barely slept, but there was no weariness in her eyes. Only purpose.
Below, a misty valley stretched toward the horizon, cloaking distant villages and forests like the world itself was trying to hide its truths.
> "You didn't sleep," Zeph said, walking up behind her, still chewing on a dried fruit. "I did. You should've joined me in the noble art of unconsciousness."
> "Couldn't," Luna murmured.
> "Let me guess. Mysterious visions? Voices of dead kings? Whispering trees?" he said, waving dramatically toward the woods.
She turned to him, cracking a small smile. "Something like that."
Riven joined them quietly. His blade was already strapped, eyes alert. "The cult is moving faster. They won't stop now."
> "They felt the shift," Luna said. "When I awakened the sixth sigil… something else awakened too."
They began walking, the terrain ahead rough and untraveled. The trio moved carefully, the silence between them now weighted with purpose. Every crunch of gravel felt louder. Every gust of wind felt like it carried eyes.
---
Later, on the trail…
They passed a forgotten shrine—one of wind and sky. The symbol of Zephiron carved into its ruined stone. Luna reached out, brushing her fingers across the spiral emblem.
Suddenly—
A flash.
Wind howled. The sky turned black for a heartbeat.
Then—
A voice echoed within her.
> "The Void does not create. It consumes. And it watches you, Moonchild."
Luna gasped, stepping back.
> "Luna!" Riven caught her elbow. "What was that?"
> "A warning," she whispered. "It's closer than we thought."
---
That night, they camped by a moonlit lake.
The water shimmered like a mirror. Luna stared into it, watching her own reflection shift with each ripple.
Zeph came over, dragging a blanket, and flopped beside her. "I swear this is the fifth haunted place we've slept in. Can we vote for a cheerful village next time?"
> "You just want someone to flirt with," Luna said, smirking.
> "I'm wounded," he said, dramatically placing a hand on his chest. "Is it my fault I'm charming?"
She chuckled. A soft, real sound.
But it faded quickly when she turned back to the lake.
> "I saw something in the shrine today," she said quietly. "A glimpse of… what happens if the Void wins. It wasn't just darkness. It was silence. Emptiness."
> "We won't let it win," Riven said from across the fire.
> "But how do we stop something we don't even understand?" Luna whispered. "I'm still learning what I am."
Riven rose and walked to her. "That's what makes you dangerous—to them. You're not like the last summoners. You don't just wield power. You feel it."
He reached into his pocket and placed something small in her hand.
A moon-shaped stone.
> "Found this back at the shrine," he said. "Figured you'd like it."
She blinked. "You kept it?"
> "Of course I did," he said, looking away too quickly.
Zeph raised an eyebrow from across the fire. "Oh, we're giving pretty stones now? Should I start collecting acorns for you, Luna?"
> "Maybe," she said, smiling. "I like thoughtful gifts."
---
Later that night…
She wandered to the lake alone.
> "Kaelora," she whispered. "Are you there?"
The water shimmered. A soft ripple. A presence.
> "I'm scared," Luna admitted. "Not of them. But of myself. I've changed so much. I don't know what parts of me are still real."
A voice rose from the depths—not aloud, but inside.
> "You are every part. The pain. The courage. The tears. The fury. And the choice."
> "The choice?" Luna asked.
> "To stand. To fight. Or to vanish. Even we cannot choose that for you."
She closed her eyes.
> "Then I choose to stand."