Marked by the moon

Everything was white, it was blinding and burning. It felt like the moon had cracked open and spilled its light right into me.  

I couldn’t move. Neither could I breathe but I could feel. It felt like lots of spirits were on rigmarole. I could feel the spirit of both dead and alive wolves alike. 

The altar was gone, and so was the cave.  

I floated in this silver light, warm and fierce, like the moon was cradling me. “You are not broken,” a voice whispered. “You are my chosen one 

Suddenly, my skin lit up with glowing marks—thin lines tracing down my arms like vines made of silverlight. My hair whipped around my face, even without the wind blowing, and my eyes weren’t mine anymore.  They belonged to something ancient.  

Something powerful.  

**The vessel rises**

When I came back to reality, I found myself in the altar chamber.  The creature, the one locked in beneath the mountain, was prostrating and kneeling.  

Ceryn, Nyra, Melina, Castillo, Aether, Nelson, and Seer Ayra all stared at me.  I wasn’t just May anymore. I was something more.  

My voice came out steady and calm, but it buzzed with power.  

“You want to control me, Ceryn? Go ahead. Try it now.”  

Ceryn stepped back. For the first time, she looked scared.  

“You weren’t supposed to…

“To survive?” I interrupted. “To rise? To remember who I am?”  

I walked toward her. “You tried to make me your pawn. But I’m the latest Vessel of the Moon, since the last century”  

The runes behind me flared to life. The creature growled.  

And then—  Aether’s voice sliced through the tension. “May, behind you!”  

I turned just in time, and immediately Nyra struck me, not with a sword but with dark magic, something like witchcraft that none of us could imagine.

Unexpectedly, smoky energy gushed into my chest and caused me unimaginable pain, I flew backward, crashing into the stone wall.  

The silver glow around me faded, and for split seconds I had great difficulty in breathing.  

Ceryn laughed wickedly. “She was never just my second. She was a shadowcaster. The last of the Nightborne.”  

“What? Arther froze in shock, he couldn’t believe the girl he once mated with was a Nightborne assassin “You said they were gone! He shouted facing Seer Aria

“They were hiding,” Ceryn replied. “Waiting for the Vessel to awaken. So they could take her power.”  

I pushed myself up, heart racing.  I looked at Nyra and then I saw that her eyes were pitch black. Not just her pupils—her entire eyes.  

That’s when I realized— She didn’t just want to destroy me, she wanted to be me, she wanted my power. I understood that she wasn’t just working with Ceryn, she had her personal agenda. 

  

Castillo stepped forward, his aura flaring again.  

“Touch her again,” he said, his voice echoing authoritatively, “and I’ll end your life.”  

Nyra smiled, cruel and confident. “You already tried with ceryn, yet failed.”  

Nelson growled, his wolf behind him evident “Let me take her.”  

But I held up my hand.  “No,” I said firmly. “This is my battle, let me finish it myself .”  

The chamber lit up with magic as I faced Nyra head-on.  Her shadows lashed out—fast and sharp like claws—but I caught them mid-air.  

My hands glowed with silver lightning as the vines on my skin pulsed.  

The creature behind me rose, letting out a roar that shook the mountain.  

We clashed again, her shadows against my light. She was throwing poisonous black magic at me, but each time I dodged. Each hit shook the ground. Each blast made the walls crack.  

Aether, seeing how intense things got called for backup, but I could barely hear him. It was just her and me; darkness against moonlight.   

We fought tremendously, attacking and defending, but none of us was winning. It felt like our powers were equal. In the middle of all the chaos, just when I could feel her strength deteriorating and I almost took her down, someone screamed.  

It was Melina.  She dashed into the fray—tears streaming down her face.  

“Stop! Please!” she shouted. We both paused, breathless.  

She turned to Ceryn, sobbing. “You said no one would die!”  Ceryn’s eyes narrowed. “You were a tool, Melina. I never promised you anything.”  

“You used me!”  

“No,” Ceryn replied coldly. “You offered yourself. Did you think you were anything special, Why should I fulfill any promises I made to you?”

Melina stepped in front of me, shielding me from Nyra. I could sense extreme betrayal and instant regret in her eyes

“I won’t let you take her power,” she said. “She was my friend. She still is.” 

Nyra raised her sword. “Will you die for her?” she asked.

Melina nodded, trembling. “Yes I don’t mind, if it means stopping you and Ceryn.”

I was still trying to fathom all that was happening, to why Melina after betraying me would want to defend me. And immediately Nyra struck with dark magic. “You can’t stop me bitch!”  She yelled, laughing wickedly. 

Melina let out a scream and fell to the ground, I managed to grab her just in the nick of time—barely.

Though the blow landed on both of us. It affected Melina more. I felt A sharp pain sting through my right shoulder.

I collapsed to the ground while holding bleeding Melina in my arms, and as I glanced up Nyra was gone. She wasn’t dead nor injured, she just disappeared, melting into smoke.

But right before she vanished, her whisper lingered in my mind: “You might be the Vessel, May… But I’m the Key.”