Reign of the Forsaken Moon - Chapter 68: Chapter 68

Windrest should have known peace.
But peace, Seraphina had learned, was not the same as silence.
Not when three reflections of herself walked the halls.
Not when every smile from her council was laced with calculation.
And certainly not when whispers had returned to the outer wards—strange flickers of power, lights in the trees, and voices in the wind that didn't belong to the living.
Living with Reflections
Serai had taken to solitude, rarely leaving the inner sanctum. Her gaze was distant, too familiar, and far too knowing.
Ashen, gentle and observant, shadowed Seraphina like a second heartbeat, still doubting her own worth.
And Sira… Sira paced like a caged wolf.
Though she’d been spared, her energy was wildfire waiting for a spark.
In a courtyard sparring match, Sira broke a young warrior’s collarbone.
Kael intervened, furious.
“She needs boundaries.”
“She needs direction,” Seraphina replied, voice calm but firm. “She was built to burn. If we don't give her purpose, she’ll find destruction on her own.”
Ashen sat quietly in the distance, flinching at every clash of metal.
Darian's Warning
That evening, Seraphina found Darian on the ramparts, sharpening his blade beneath the setting sun.
“She won’t settle,” he said before she even spoke. “Sira. She resents the peace you're trying to build.”
“I know,” Seraphina sighed. “But I won’t abandon her.”
“You don’t have to. Just don’t forget who she is. You fought her. You know how quickly she can shift.”
Seraphina touched the blade in his hand.
“Will you still stand beside me if the fire turns inward?”
“I’ll stand beside you,” he said, locking eyes with her, “even if it consumes us both.”
The Shadow in the Archive
That night, Mira discovered it.
The Archive vault beneath the old monastery had been broken into—wards disrupted, Ember scrolls missing. Only one guard had been stationed there.
His body was found near the sacred wall, his chest torn open in a symbol that hadn’t been seen since Lucien's rebellion.
The mark of the Veilborne.
Seraphina arrived, hair damp from rain, cloak billowing behind her. Kael stood beside Mira, pale and trembling.
“The scrolls taken,” he said, “contain knowledge on gate rituals—ways to breach the Veil. Forbidden since the First Luna died.”
A traitor.
Someone had stolen the knowledge that could invite darkness back in.
Seeds of Suspicion
Whispers began within the court.
Serai was too quiet.
Sira was too angry.
Ashen too eager to please.
And Seraphina—too changed.
Doubt slithered in through the cracks, and Seraphina could feel it. In the hesitations. The glances. The way even the older wolves bowed just a second too late.
“You’re being watched,” Kael warned her quietly. “Some don’t trust you anymore. They think the Echoes have blurred your judgment.”
“They haven’t.”
Kael hesitated.
“Then why are you hesitating yourself?”
She had no answer.
Because part of her still feared… the future Serai had shown her.
Beneath the Walls
Sira found the gate.
It was buried beneath the east wing—a forgotten tunnel leading into the earth, where time had no meaning and the air reeked of memory.
She followed the trail instinctively, flame crackling at her fingertips.
The gate was circular, built of obsidian and old bone, runes carved in blood and stone. The center pulsed faintly, a heartbeat of power.
And beside it stood a figure cloaked in blue.
“You’ve felt it too,” he said without turning.
“I was drawn here,” Sira whispered. “What is this?”
“The answer to everything. The place you were meant to be born from. Not that soft fire your creator clings to.”
She took a step forward.
“Who are you?”
The man turned.
And Sira gasped.
Because it was Lucien.
The Return of the Ghost
Only it wasn’t.
Not fully.
The figure looked like Lucien—but older, darker, his eyes silvered with something more ancient than hate.
“I am what remains,” he said. “A shard of what once was. The real Lucien died, yes. But not all of him. Magic has ways of surviving.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“And yet… here I am. Because you called me. You, fire-born echo. You feel the hunger too, don’t you? To be more.”
She shook her head, stepping back. “I’m not your weapon.”
“No,” he smiled. “You’re your own. Which makes you perfect.”
The Wards Break
The next day, Seraphina woke to an unnatural silence.
And then—the bells.
Wards had collapsed along the eastern boundary. A pulse of dark energy had been felt through the Ember lines. The gate had opened—if only slightly.
Kael came running, scrolls in hand.
“The seal is fractured. Something ancient stirred it. And…”
He stopped, eyes wide.
“Sira is gone.”
Seraphina’s blood turned to ice.
She turned to Darian.
“We ride.”