Untold Legends: The Moon Coven’s Yule

Chapter 3 - The Blue Man

I pulled out the letter with Moroi’s signature, charred and fragile, and said, “I came back to camp and found it like this, burned in the fire.”

He took the letter from my hand, inspecting it closely. He traced the ridges of the burn marks as if measuring their depth or potential for repair.

He muttered to himself, “What was that restoration spell again?” Then, “Right, Apokathistemi!”

The burnt signature on the page began glowing golden in color and then rapidly enveloped the rest of the page. It started to reform itself to its original form - pulling ash from the ground around the campsite and fitting back together like a puzzle.

When the restoration was complete, a golden flash of magic illuminated the page once more and then outlined shadows of the trees into the surrounding forest. As soon as it was legible, Kastion read aloud the letter. His smile slowly formed as his words trailed through the lines, and his excitement radiated throughout the campsite.

“This is perfect!” He exclaimed after reading and then went on rambling to himself, “She told the Coven Leader my report. I honestly didn’t think Sophia would do it.”

I looked at him, confused, awaiting an explanation that never came. He excitedly went on about the many different people there. All of it blurred together, the names and roles tangling together in my mind. The three most memorable people had the most important roles: Damien, Penelope, and Alexa, which made remembering them easier. I asked him more about who the scouts were.

“There is Damien, Moroi’s son - he’s her go-to for personnel tasks,” Kastion shrugged, “Then Penelope. Air Scout and Oracle - huge on divination practice,” he explained further, “Divination is tricky; it’s all wind and whispers, so air mages tend to excel at it.”

“And Alexa?” I asked, curious about what he had to say about the Fire Scout.

“Fire Scout,” he scoffed, confirming my thoughts, “Best fire mage in the coven; also the most eager to light a match and cause problems.”

When I mentioned I had no idea what a Scout even was, he gave me a fast tutorial, “Scouts are the best magic user of that specific element, Zander. They are generally tasked with assignments given directly by the coven leader and decided in an official, annual tournament held in the fall.”

He then went on to explain that he was just promoted to be the new Water Scout and was only on his third assignment.

Regardless of the situation with everyone and their positions in the coven, I was eager to go and learn how to control my powers. Wanting to learn more about this world I hadn’t known about before, I asked where the Coven was. He was reluctant to tell me but eventually agreed to guide me, saying he owed me one for completing his task on the beast.

Out of nowhere, he asked curiously, “What kind of element do you use?”

Fear bubbled into my throat, locking my tongue in place. What should I tell him? He just told me there is a world out there of mages of all kinds, but the memory of the Theropos’ people bashing fire users plagued my mind.

“Earth,” I said as a lie to cover up my fears, “But I am unsure how to use it.”

He eyed me suspiciously and then suggested we started moving towards the Coven. As we were leaving the campsite, the Raven flew down and perched itself on the stone near the fire. Squawking and hopping as it enjoyed its snack.

“I see your friend is just Timber,” he said, amused at the sight of the familiar bird, “Head back home when you’re done, okay bud?”

The raven gleefully squawked in response as it gobbled down another fish eye. Content with the interaction, I thanked Timber again and followed Kastion out of the campsite. I didn’t know where to go, so I blindly traced his steps behind him. He quickly grew annoyed with me as he tried asking me questions throughout the hike, and I had to continuously ask him to repeat himself just because I wasn’t paying attention to anything but his body moving in front of me.

A branch snapped behind me, and I quickly turned my head to look towards the sound. Not seeing anything, my eyes naturally fell back to Kastion. I couldn’t help but notice how effortlessly he moved under the moonlight, but I forced my thoughts off of him and back to the shadows dancing around us as the anxiety of the unknown continued to settle within me.

The snow-covered ground felt familiar, yet distant. Like I had been there in a different life, now unsure of the contents of the land ahead of me in this life, this strange feeling only seemed to grow stronger the closer we got to our destination.

I kept spotting movement - shadows vanishing between trees, escaping my sight before I could focus on it. My heart raced as paranoia clawed my mind when my eyes gazed at a nearby tree with fresh bloody tracks heading in the opposite direction.

The suspense and fear of not knowing what was around me lingered on my mind, “We should stop here. It’s too dark to keep moving safely”

He eyed me as if I just disgraced him, “We’re children of the moon goddess, Zander. Doesn’t matter if you’re blood or just welcomed in - her light keeps us safe.”

I hadn’t expected such animosity to come from his tone or body language, but there was a bite to his words I didn’t appreciate.

I tried again, “I just mean to say that we have been moving through the forest for a while and that I am tired. Wouldn’t we also be safe to sleep under her eye in that case, too?”

He took a second to think about it and didn’t look happy about it like I insulted his pride or something, but he grumbled his agreement anyway.

We then made a small fire and lay to rest. Throughout the starry night, I kept hearing rustling noises around our newly made camp. Each time I looked to see what the noise was, I would see a squirrel or rabbit moving through the snow.

Whenever I woke, I fed the fire with fresh wood. Every once in a while, I caught myself thinking that I saw a shadow move in the trees.

I looked around the tree line, in suspense of finding another shadow, but I didn’t. I eased my nerves with the thought that the flickering flames were playing tricks on my mind and quickly fell back to sleep.

A twig snapped, and I shot awake. My breath caught, sharp as ice in my throat, as a figure shuffled closer.

At the edge of the firelight stood the figure - small, hunched, and frostbitten. His raw feet bled into the snow, and his crooked spine jutted like broken branches. Yellow, unblinking eyes locked onto mine.

My heart stopped. My legs suddenly felt like stone, refusing to move. I was frozen, unable to breathe, as he shuffled closer, dragging a decaying foot across the snow. The air thickened, cold, and heavy. Then—the crunch of another twig breaking under his foot.

I gasped and crawled backward. He lunged, slammed into me, and pinned me down. His skin was ice. His breath stank of rot. I screamed, “KASTION!”

My arms shook as I held him back, his forehead slick under my palms. My vision blurred. My strength faltered. I was losing. I was weak.

No. I couldn’t let Kastion see me as weak.

I clenched my teeth, and something snapped inside of me. Rage, shame, and fear surged through me like wildfire, blazing through my veins like molten lava. My vision flared red - then flames erupted, consuming me like dry wood to a raging fire.