Reborn In Moonlight

The Blood Moon Calls

Soft flames danced in the hearth, casting mystical shadows on the stone walls, while the wind shouted like a tormented spirit, its pitiful cries echoing through the hills and forest. Aerin sat near Kyre, her fingers quavering as she tended to his wounds, her heart burdened with fear.

The claw marks on his chest remained fiery and sensitive, in spite of her efforts to clean away most of the blood. On the nearby table, the journal flipped through its page in an eerie manner, as if responding to the growing sense of urgency.

As she dabbed the herbal salve-soaked cloth on his wounds, Kyre winced expressing discomfort.

"There's no need for your to do this".

"There's every need for me to do this Kyre" her jaw tightened. "You're not dying on my watch, not after everything i've witnessed. You didn't die when Teresa cursed you nor when Maeron attacked you. So you're not dying now either"

He chuckled weakly. "You sound just like Teresa".

"That's nice. I feel I finally understand her"

There was a pin drop silence that occured between them.

Aerin sat back, looking at the fire. "She was shattered, not only by grief but by the weight of betrayal. She loved you so much. Her love for you was so deep that it broke her to bits when she thought you died"

"It was never my wish for her to feel that pain", he said in a low voice. "I requested her to curse me with her grief because I felt... maybe that way, I could endure it for her".

"But the thing is, she didn't know you survived. And Maeron manipulated everything".

Kyre's expression grew dark. "He has always known how to manipulate people's emotions for his personal interest".

Aerin touched her face. "And he's at it again. He is doing it to me and to you. He left a message". She gazed at the black-sealed scroll which was on the table. "He is trying to persuade me to do something. He's trying to make me pick sides".

"You've already chosen whose side you're on". Kyre said, sitting up despite his wounds. "You chose me and Teresa's truth".

"No... I chose myself", she corrected gently, "But that includes you and Teresa as well".

The atmosphere was quiet for a while. Then, Kyre's eye snapped to the door.

"Did you hear that?"

Aerin sat still. The wind stopped.

There was a sudden silence.

Then, there was a crack sound. A branch was breaking.

Kyre struggles to stand, as a result of his wounds but ready to defend himself.

Aerin grabbed the journal immediately. "We have to go".

Suddenly, the door exploded off its hinges, blown open by an invisible force. The wind surged back in, carrying in a dark figure shrouded in black, its eyes blazing with a fierce and violent intensity.

It was Maeron.

"Oh wow! What an impressive speed for someone who barely recognizes who she is," he said smoothly stepping into the scene. "It's nice to see you again Aerin, or should I say... Teresa?"

Kyre growled, his body already tensed, shifting slightly. "You shouldn't be here Maeron".

Maeron ignored him. "Your aura shines brighter than hers ever did", he said thoughtfully. "Maybe I should have chosen you this time around. Perhaps it's not too late".

"Leave this place now", Aerin said fiercely in a low tone.

Maeron shaked his head. "You're not scared of me. Hmm curious.

"Well I'm not curious Maeron. I'm furious instead".

"Wow, that's better", he said smiling sheepishly.

"What do you want from me?" She asked in a demanding voice.

"I just want to finish what we started. In five nights, the circle opens. And Aerin, my dear you're the key".

"There's no way, I'm working with you".

"Not right now. But the blood moon has a way of twisting fate", he moved forward, but Kyre snapped, coming in between them.

"Lay your finger on her and i'll rip your heart out".

Maeron's smiled slyly. "You are of no use to me. You, who was cursed by her agony and banished from your kind? You're a forgotten entity. A fractured piece from the past".

Aerin took a step forward , rage burning in her. "He is of great importance to me. That's enough".

Maeron's eyes narrowed. "You claim to know love. But you're just a reincarnated scavenger, grasping at memories that doesn't belong to you"

She didn't shudder. "Well atleast this scavenger can crush you to bits".

The air stiffened.

Maeron stood, studying her closely for a moment.

A faint smile played on his lips as he stepped back towards the doorway.

"Just five nights", he repeated, sticking out his five bony fingers. "The blood moon's arrival will unleash the past wraths. Prepare yourself, Aerin to make a choice that will determine your path. This time, forgiveness will be far".

He vanished into the mist.

Later that night, Aerin was unable to sleep.

By the hearth, she sat wrapped in her thoughts with the journal open on her lap. Kyre twitched and turned in his fitful sleep. She was aware that he had been haunted and so was she.

Maeron's words still lingered, fuelling her worst fears: she was a vessel, a key to unlock something ancient and vicious beyond her control.

She looked around then whispered to the journal, not expecting a response. "What did he mean? Why must it be me? Why now?

All of a sudden. The pages flipped and then a new entry began to construct itself, ink writing before her very eyes.

_The blood moon marks the veils thinnest hour. In every age, it returns and with it, the power to alter what is anchored. Teresa had opened the circle before. You have to close it._

Aerin's heart skipped a beat.

"Close it? How should I?"

More words appeared immediately.

_With sacrifice._

She stared in total bewilderment.

"No. There must be another way".

There was no response. She closed the journal and placed it beside her contemplating.

Sacrifice.

Was that what Teresa tried doing? Was her curse more than just a curse of grief? Or was it an act to bind or seal something Maeron had wanted to release?

A shiver ran through her spine. "I'm in need of answers. I seriously need to know what occured the night she died".

Behind her, Kyre said. "Then we have to go back".

She turned to him. His eyes were much clearer this time.

"But you're hurt and haven't healed"

"I can manage. Remember, we're working as a team and there's no way I'm letting you do this alone".

Their eyes met. There was a wave of silence. Then Aerin nodded.

From the shrouded mist, the ruins of the cathedral emerged like a graveyard of stones. Once, a bearer of magical powers, it now became a reminder of destruction that had ravaged the land.

Aerin stepped across the he threshold, her fingers trailing along the stone, feeling the weight of the past, bearing down upon her, the visions that flashed at the edge of her sight was a constant remainder of the future to come.

"This was the place everything came to an end". Kyre uttered from behind. "Where she made her final decision".

Aerin took a deep breath. She stepped into the center of the destroyed altar and the journal vibrated again in her hands. A bright light sprung out, casting a glow over the cracked floor.

And all of a sudden...

*The past resurfaces.*

*Another vision.*

Teresa stood at the center of the circle with blood lips , her eyes glowing like flames. The dead lay scattered around her--- wolves and witches alike. The war had ended in massive destruction.

Maeron stood at the edge of the circle with a torn robe and a burnt arm.

"Don't do this Teresa", he pleaded.

Teresa lifted up her hands in agony, her voice shaking. "It comes to an end tonight".

A wounded Kyre knelt at her feet again pleading. "Please Teresa, don't offer yourself to the spell. I beg you".

Teresa let out a soft smile, caressing his cheeks with her hands. "I must do it Kyre. To close the circle. Someone has to carry the burden".

"No, if the circle must be sealed, let me..." He whispered, but Teresa had already started the spell.

The spell radiated out of her in waves of light and pain. The glyphs ignited, flames dancing around the ground.

Maeron screamed but he couldn't do anything to stop her.

The curse took form, and just like that, Teresa disappeared into the magic.

She was gone.

*Present*

Aerin collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily.

But Kyre caught her. "What is it that you saw?"

"Teresa... She... She offered herself to the circle . That's why the curse still exists. She sealed with her life" . Aerin stuttered in shock.

Kyre looked astonished. "That means the sole means to close it..."

"Is with another sacrifice" Aerin whispered .

The blood moon was approaching fast. Maeron would attack soon.

But ending it all might come at the ultimate cost of her own life.

But Aerin stood unshaken, looking at the ruined altar.

"I'll see it through the very end... even if it costs me my life. But I won't let victory be his this time around"