Whispers Beneath the Moon
The forest was too quiet.
Not the peace of calm, but the kind that came before a storm.
Lyra walked beside Caelum in silence, her mind swirling with fragments she didn't understand — fire in her palms, screams echoing in marble halls, and eyes… golden, sorrowful, watching her fall.
They had left the cabin behind. Too dangerous now.
Too easy for the Veyr to track them.
> "Where are we going?" she asked, her voice low.
Caelum didn't look at her.
> "To someone who may have the answers you need."
---
They walked through ancient trees, where roots curled like fingers and moss whispered forgotten names.
The moon above had split — two perfect spheres now shared the sky.
A rare phenomenon known as the Second Moon Rise.
Only once every five centuries.
Only when the Second Soul returned.
And tonight… both moons watched Lyra.
---
They reached the ruins by nightfall — half-buried stones, crumbling walls, and a fountain long dry. But it wasn't dead.
Magic clung to the air like a heartbeat.
Caelum led her to the center, where a pedestal stood with carvings glowing faintly.
> "Touch it," he said.
Lyra hesitated.
Her fingers trembled as she reached out.
The moment she touched the stone—
Flash.
---
She stood in golden armor.
A crown of silver vines on her head.
Thousands knelt before her.
And beside her stood a man in obsidian robes—his hand in hers.
His voice rang in her ears:
> "As long as both moons rise, our souls will find each other again."
---
She gasped and stumbled back. Her heart was racing.
Caelum caught her, his hands steady.
But his eyes… betrayed a storm.
> "You saw him," he said quietly.
> "Who was he?" she whispered.
"The man beside me?"
Caelum looked away.
> "The man you once loved… and the one who betrayed you."
---
Before she could speak again, the ruins began to glow.
A voice echoed all around.
Not male. Not female.
Ancient. Endless.
> "The Second Soul has returned.
The bond is unbroken.
The moon remembers.
And so do the forgotten."
Suddenly, the pedestal split open—
revealing a book bound in silver threads, its cover etched with Lyra's name.
LYRA OF THE MOONFIRE LINE.
She stared.
> "This is mine?"
> "It holds your history," Caelum said.
"But not all of it was written by you…"
---
As Lyra opened the first page, the wind howled—and she felt it.
Someone was watching.
Far away, in a chamber of shadows,
a man with golden eyes touched a mirror and smiled.
> "She remembers the bond," he murmured.
"Now let her remember the pain."
---
To be continued…
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