Chapter 3: Whispering Red Iron

The cold iron shackles were waiting for her.

Sera was escorted deep beneath the Cloister, through a labyrinth of stone hallways that twisted like a dark maze. The torchlight flickered, casting long, jagged shadows on the walls. Each step she took echoed, hollow and oppressive. She was led to a massive chamber, its high stone ceilings disappearing into the blackness above. The air was thick with the smell of rust and old blood.

At the center of the chamber stood a large pedestal, upon which lay the Red-Iron Shackles. They were forged from the ore of the Silver Oath War, quenched in werewolf blood to bind the mark of the Blood-Moon Girl. The priests believed the shackles were sacred, a symbol of the girl’s sacrifice. For Sera, they were a reminder of the price of obedience.

High Priest Calaith stood by the pedestal, his long fingers brushing against the shackles as if they were precious relics. His face was calm, serene even, but Sera could see the cold gleam of expectation in his eyes. She had already been stripped of her name, her voice, her freedom. Now, they would claim her body.

"You are ready," Calaith said, his voice low and calculating. "The Red-Iron Shackles will bind you to your fate, to the Moon King’s will. You will no longer be a girl, but a vessel, a tool of prophecy."

Sera fought to keep her expression neutral. She had been conditioned for this moment, trained to endure pain, to suppress emotion. The shackles were an inevitable part of the ritual. She had known this day would come. But as she stepped forward, her heart pounded in her chest, and she couldn’t help but feel a surge of terror.

The shackles snapped shut around her wrists, cold and unyielding. The moment they clasped, a burning sensation shot through her veins. The pulse of her mark, the one that had always been there, dimmed to nothing. The shackles siphoned the warmth from her body, draining her energy as if they were alive.

Sera stumbled, her knees threatening to buckle beneath the weight of the chains. She bit back a cry, forcing herself to remain composed. The priests watched her closely, their expressions unreadable. They saw her reaction as a sign of humility, not fear. They believed the shackles were sacred, that she was meant to submit to them.

But Sera knew the truth. She wasn’t just being bound. She was being silenced.

The whispers began immediately.

At first, they were faint—soft, barely audible. But as the seconds stretched into minutes, the voices grew louder, clearer. They echoed inside the iron, voices of previous Blood-Moon Girls who had worn the shackles before her. Their cries of pain, their whispers of warning, their pleas for mercy filled the chamber, weaving together into a cacophony of suffering.

"Remember us," one voice whispered, its tone mournful. "Do not forget our names."

Sera’s chest tightened, her breath quickening as the weight of their words pressed down on her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the shackles were more than just instruments of control—they were a prison for the souls of those who had been forced into this fate before her.

She forced herself to focus. The chains might drain her energy, but they couldn’t take her will. They couldn’t take her mind. Not yet.

Her eyes flitted to the wall, where she had carved the runes in secret. The mark on her shoulder, the one that had always burned in response to her thoughts, pulsed faintly beneath the iron. The shackles may have silenced her body, but they couldn’t suppress her thoughts. Not forever.

As the priests moved away, preparing for the next stage of the ritual, Sera clenched her fists. The chains rattled against her wrists, but she didn’t flinch. She had to hold on to the spark within her, the one thing they couldn’t control.

Later, when she was alone in her cell, she tested the limits of the shackles. She concentrated, focusing on the warmth that had been siphoned from her body, calling it back. Slowly, she felt the faintest flicker of power, a surge of crimson sparks flaring between the links of the chains. The iron couldn’t suppress all of her power.

It was a small victory, but it was enough.

Sera knew that the shackles, despite their cruelty, were not invincible. They had limits. And one day, she would find a way to break them. She would turn these chains into weapons.