Moonlight forgotten

Episode 8

**Kael Odd Dreams**

The fire was mostly extinguished. There were only a few orange flickers dancing along the wood, creating shadows on the small hut's walls. I reclined on the fur bed and gazed up at the ceiling. Hours before, Liana had become silent, breathing steadily and softly across the room.

I couldn't sleep, though.

Not because I didn't feel exhausted. The cold, the wounds that were still mending, and the weird, restless energy that was building inside of me all caused my body to hurt. No, I was unable to fall asleep because I kept hearing a call each time I closed my eyes.

A voice.

A smell.

Even though I didn't recognize them, those eyes made me feel at home.

I rolled onto my side and tightened my hold on the blanket's edge. Along with smoke and Liana's delicate perfume, the room smelled of pine. My heart began to beat a bit quicker.

She looked after me. Even though she didn't have to, she saved me. And now—something I didn't comprehend was haunting me.

The dream came as soon as I finally fell asleep.

---

It was a field where I stood. Above, a deep blue sky was full of stars that appeared to be within touching distance. A gentle breeze blew across my skin, bringing with it the aroma of wildflowers and rain.

Then I caught sight of her.

A female.

She wore a pale blue dress that wavered in the breeze as she stood barefoot in the grass. Her eyes gleamed silver, and her hair was dark and long. I lost my breath when they locked with mine.

She was someone I knew.

No. I didn't. However, my spirit did.

She remained silent. She simply extended her hand.

I took a step forward.

My chest hurt. My heart pounded like a drum when I was around her. I wanted to rush over to her, put my arms around her, and put my face against her neck.

However, the sky altered as soon as I took a step.

Clouds rolled in, dark. Overhead, thunder splintered.

She started to wane.

"No," I muttered. "Refrain from leaving."

She tried to speak, opening her mouth, but nothing came out. I couldn't hear the words that formed as her lips moved.

Then tears welled up in her eyes.

She gestured behind me with a raised hand.

I pivoted.

and seen flames.

Red flames raced toward us in a wall. Smoke flooded the air, animals shrieked, and trees snapped and cracked.

I turned around, but she was gone.

I was also by myself.

---

With a cry, I jumped out of bed, my body drenched in perspiration. My hands were shaking.

The dream had seemed genuine. Too authentic.

"Kael?" Liana spoke quietly. She approached me and lit a candle. "What took place?"

With my heart still pounding, I gazed at her.

I responded in a raspy voice, "I saw her."

"Who?"

I ran a hand through my wet hair and said, "IΠI don't know." "However, I was acquainted with her."

Something I couldn't quite put my finger on filled Liana's eyes as she blinked. Concern? Anguish?

She said, "You were calling out in your sleep." "You told me not to go."

I turned aside, scared and bewildered. "She seemed to be a part of me."

Liana was quiet for a while. Then, "Perhaps it's a recollection," she added. Making an effort to go back.

That thought struck me like a blow. One of the memories.

Is it possible?

The dream hadn’t felt like a dream. It had felt like a chunk of my life—ripped away and concealed in a fog. It was now retaliating against me.

For a moment, when I glanced at Liana once more, I thought about her eyes. Despite their differences, they shared a common sadness.

The same want.

However, she wasn't in the dream.

Was it?

I required clarification.

However, a deep growl reverberated from outside before I could say anything.

Liana tensed. "Have you heard it?"

Ignoring the agony in my shoulder, I was already standing. "Remain here."

She took hold of my arm. "Kael, hold on—"

It's too late.

I had already started to move, venturing out into the freezing night.

The moon was high. Around us, the jungle is silent.

However, there was a movement among the trees.

A shadow. A smell.

Known.

False.

Behind me, Liana called softly, "Kael."

I signaled her to stay back by raising a hand.

Then I noticed it.

A wolf.

Not any wolf, though.

Large and red-eyed, it stood across the clearing, watching me with a spooky stillness.

My heart fell.

Because my own wolf stirred deep within me.

and uttered the single word: **"Enemy."**

Once more, the dream changed.

Under a twilight sky, Kael was running across a wide meadow this time. The wind was cold, sharp, and whispering something he didn't fully understand. A girl stood far away, always a few paces ahead, just out of grasp. Her white clothing shimmered like moonlight, and her long dark hair floated in the wind.

He yelled at her. "Please wait!"

Slowly, she turned. Shadows briefly obscured her face. Then the clouds shifted, and moonlight illuminated her features.

Kael stopped cold.

Her eyes were a gentle storm-gray, glittering like rain over stone. She looked sad. Known. A peculiar ache blossomed in his chest as if his soul recognized hers.

“Who are you?” he murmured.

The girl tilted her head, scrutinizing him like she was searching for a bit of herself too. “You knew me… before.”

His breath hitched. “I don’t remember…”

She took a step closer. Her voice was simultaneously a song and a weep. "However, your heart does."

The meadow burnt away as she reached out to touch him.

Suddenly, Kael found himself standing in a fire-lit clearing as flames raged from the grass. The girl has vanished.

A cry, deep, angry, and wounded, pierced the dream.

Then he noticed it.

Snarling from the darkness was a huge wolf with red eyes that glowed. Its fangs dripped blood. Even though its fur was as dark as the night, the red in its eyes—

It caught sight of him.

Kael stopped.

The wolf gave a deep snarl before lunging. Kael shouted just as its teeth dug into him, and he woke up with a start.

---

His gulps of breath were irregular and harsh. Sweat adhered to his body. Blue-gray early-morning shadows covered the cabin, and the fire had subsided.

Liana, snuggled up on her blanket beside the fire, stirred. The image of those red eyes was still flashing in Kael's mind when he sat up, chest tense.

It was only a fantasy.

However, it felt more than a dream.

He examined his trembling hands and combed through his hair. The girl seemed too real for some reason. Additionally, that wolf

Silently, Kael got up and went outside the hut to get some fresh air.

He accepted the cold, even though it bit him.

Above, pine trees murmured. The branches held on to the snow. A hoot came from an owl somewhere.

In an attempt to quiet the odd throbbing in his chest, Kael took a steady breath.

Then he heard it.

Crunch.

Snow on the ground.

Kael whirled.

"Who is present?"

Quiet.

Then there was another crunch, this one closer.

He moved away from the cabin. "Exhibit yourself."

Nothing moved, but a gust of wind responded.

Kael's jaw tightened. He turned to face the hut again; Liana was still there, oblivious.

He ought to return.

He pivoted.

However, before he could move—

A whisper fluttered past his ear.

“She's not safe…”

Kael’s heart jumped.

He spun, eyes scouring the darkness, but saw nothing.

“Who’s there?” he shouted.

Still nothing. Only the wind in the trees.

But deep inside, his instincts shouted.

That dream wasn’t simply a dream.

And something—someone—was watching.

---

Liana was awake and massaging her eyes when Kael returned inside.

"Kael?" she said in a quiet voice. "You were absent."

He said, "I wanted air."

When she noticed the expression on his face, she stood slowly and furrowed her forehead. "Are you alright?"

He paused. "I noticed something. in a dream. A wolf and a girl.

Liana stopped.

He gave her a look. She had a genuine feeling. The wolf's eyes were red as well.

Liana's face went white. "Eyes red?"

"You've also watched it?"

"I have heard tales," she said. A cursed wolf, perhaps. An outlaw who pursues ancient lineages.

Kael felt sick to her stomach.

"What lineage?"

Liana turned her head away. "Those who have Alpha blood..."

Kael's hands at his sides became tense. "Who am I, Liana?"

Her eyes, filled with fear and grief, met his.

"Kael, I believe you were a really significant person. And someone wanted you to leave.

The cabin walls shook in the howling wind outside.

Kael's thoughts were racing. He *knew* the girl in his dream. His heart did.

Additionally, the red-eyed wolf Hunting him wasn't the only thing.

The hunt was for *them*.

---

Kael had trouble falling asleep later that night.

With her hair spread out like a dark veil, Liana had once more fallen asleep close to the fire.

His heart ached as he gazed at her.

What caused his chest to burn even if her presence calmed him?

She had something to hide from him. He sensed it. However, she was also keeping him safe. That much was obvious.

The dreams still troubled him.

She didn't feel like Liana, the girl. However, the same sadness was mysteriously present in each of their eyes.

He shut his eyes once more.

And the dream came back, sharper and quicker.

The woods were where he was. sprinting.

Branches ripped into his flesh.

"Find me," the girl's voice reverberated. Prior to it being too late.

As he rounded a bend, she reappeared.

She was *crying* now, though.

She questioned, "Why did you abandon me?"

Desperate, Kael reached for her.

"I don't remember—I didn't mean to—"

There was a shadow behind her.

Once more, the red-eyed wolf.

It *attacked her* this time.

Kael let forth a scream, but his body remained motionless.

With its claws at her throat, the wolf restrained the girl.

Once more, Kael came up with a start as his scream tore through the dream.

However, there was a problem.

The fire had been extinguished.

Liana was *gone* as well.

Then he leaped up.

"Liana?"

No response.

His heart pounding, he went outside barefoot in the snow.

"LIANA!"

A wail reverberated through the forest.

Not that far.

Kael's blood froze.

He ran in the direction of the sound.

through the trees.

over snow and roots.

Until he discovered it.

Her blanket.

Torn.

Snow-covered and—

Blood.

new blood.

As he touched the crimson-stained fabric, Kael fell to his knees, his fingers shaking.

And up ahead...

Huge footprints.

deep within the snow.

descending into the shadowy forest.

The wolf with the ruby eyes was real.

It had also taken Liana.

*As the wind howled louder, conveying the tiniest echo of her scream, Kael's hands balled into fists. His chest was burning with rage—and fear—as he gazed at the pawprints disappearing into the shadowy woodland. The fantasies weren't fantasies. They were cautions. He was running out of time now.

**He stood right up. There was a roil beneath his skin.

** "Liana, I'm coming for you." **