Prologue- Lightning Strikes

Isandra Haddock POV

The woods were always quiet this time of night. Golden light from the street lamps barely kissed the edge of the trees before surrendering to shadows. And yet, even with the hush of dusk sinking over Hollow Hill, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was... watching me.

Which was ridiculous. I walked these trails almost every night. It was my thing. My little escape. My moment of quiet in a life filled with AP tests, overbearing parents, and a best friend group that somehow still thought skinny jeans were in.

Tomorrow, I’d turn eighteen. I should’ve been dreaming of college dorms and late night tacos, not taking moody walks in the forest while obsessively rereading my dad’s old poetry book and wishing I could save the entire damn world.

But something about tonight felt different. It was heavy. Like the air was holding its breath. I looked up. The moon had just crested the tree line, glowing a deep, angry red. A blood moon. No one told me it would be a blood moon on my birthday.

A low hum vibrated through the trees, and my skin prickled. Static danced across my arms like tiny whispers. I hugged my hoodie tighter, heart thudding harder with every step. And then the wind shifted. It was cold, wet and furious. Thunder cracked like a whip above me, and rain slammed down so fast I barely had time to react.

“Shit....okay! Okay!” I shouted, breaking into a sprint. Branches slapped at my face. Mud soaked my sneakers.

I slipped once, but i quickly scrambled up and kept running. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just knew I had to move.

Then came the lightning. It didn’t strike the ground. It fucking struck me. A deafening crack. A blinding white light.And then…....Nothing.

Hours Later.....

I woke up naked, soaked, and freezing. I'm lying in the center of a smoking crater the size of a damn swimming pool. The rain had stopped. The moon was still bleeding. What happened? Where the fuck am I? Wait...

WHO AM I!? I am in instant panic mode.

It didn't help that surrounding me, were so many strangers. Strange looking ones. Not human. Not even close. One had shimmering silver skin and eyes like polished obsidian. Another floated just slightly off the ground, his robes fluttering despite the still air. The tallest looked like a walking tree carved from black stone and glowing with faint runes.

I blinked hard, my lips trembling. “What the hell…”

They looked at each other. "She speaks," I heard one say.

The floating one stepped forward and knelt beside me. A soft cloak wrapped around my shoulders from nowhere, and he offered me a gentle smile, though his pitch black eyes held no warmth.

“Easy now,” he said calmly, as if finding naked girls in impact craters was just another Tuesday. “You’ve been struck by lightning”

“No shit,” I snapped, blinking fast. “Wh....who are you?”

His head tilted. “We’re with the Arcane Order of Balance.”

“The what now?”

Another voice cut in, this one sharp and metallic. “She doesn’t remember. Typical. Just tag her and move.”

“Tag me?!” I shouted, lurching back. “What the hell do you mean...”

Something wrapped around my wrists before I could finish, silver cuffs that locked with a low chime and hissed with cold magic. I cried out, trying to shake them off, but they fused tight. “Stop!” I shouted. “I don’t....what is this?! Who are you people?!”

“We are the enforcers of magical law,” the woman said curtly. Her long white coat looked official, futuristic almost, with an insignia I couldn’t quite focus on, like it shimmered just out of my brain’s understanding. “You activated forbidden latent magic in the mortal realm. You’ve breached containment.”

“I don’t know what any of that means!” I screamed, but they didn’t flinch.

She tapped a device, and suddenly I was wearing clothes again. They were strange dark uniform style leggings and a high collared jacket marked with a symbol that matched her own. They were dressing me like I already belonged to them. Like I was just another recruit.

“You’re being transferred to Gravemire Academy,” she said.

“What the fuck is Gravemire?!”

“A secure institution for magical individuals in violation of Arcane Code.”

“I’m not magic! I’m just a girl! I have parents...I think....I live in..." I paused, wracking my brain. Why the fuck can't I remember anything. "I don't remember for fuck’s sake!”

Another enforcer frowned. “She doesn’t remember her lineage. That’s... problematic.”

“She’ll remember in time,” the leader said. “They always do.”

Before I could scream again, something ripped through the air beside us. A massive circular portal, pulsing with violet and silver energy, opened like a doorway carved from lightning. It roared. It smelled like ozone and nightmares.

“No. Nope. Nuh uh.” I shook my head violently, backing up. “You’re not dragging me into that glowing toilet bowl of doom!!”

They stepped toward me. I kicked. I clawed. I screamed so loud I felt something inside me snap...Not just fear, but rage. Wild, ancient and violent energy, like the blood moon itself had cracked inside my chest. The air pulsed. The ground cracked beneath me.

One of the enforcers stumbled back, holding up a shield rune that sizzled and sparked. “She’s unstable,” someone warned. “We need containment!”

“Don’t touch me!” I roared, my voice shaking the leaves off trees. But the cuffs glowed, and my legs buckled. My knees hit the dirt. I gasped, barely conscious, as they stepped in and grabbed my arms.

“No!! stop...let go of me!” I thrashed with every ounce of strength I had left. Kicked. Bit. Spat. Screamed.

But it didn’t matter. The portal waited.

And I was going through it.