Chapter 28 - moon goddess - Ephy PoV
1061 Words
There is no pain in the darkness.
No cold.
No chains.
No Dalston.
Just nothingness.
For a long moment, I float in it weightless, voiceless, unanchored.
I can’t feel my body.
I can’t feel the mark.
I can’t feel the spell binding me.
Then..
A spark.
A golden fleck of light appears in the void, fluttering like a tiny firefly.
Another spark joins it.
Then another.
Until the darkness around me cracks and splits.
suddenly I am standing.
Barefoot.
Weightless.
In a forest made of light.
Every leaf glows as though carved from stardust.
The air hums with soft, ancient magic older than Lycans, fae, dragons, wolves, older than vampires, older than anything Dalston could ever touch.
A voice echoes through the trees, soft and feminine:
“At last, my daughter wakes.”
I spin and see her.
A tall figure emerges from between glowing trees, each step leaving a trail of shimmering dust. She is breathtaking silver hair that floats like wind-blown silk, eyes glowing gold, skin radiant with soft light.
Her presence feels familiar.
So familiar my heart aches.
“Who… who are you?” I whisper.
She smiles gently, though sorrow shadows her gaze.
“I am the part of you and all being my dear.”
My breath catches.
“You’re… the moon goddess.”
“I am.” She steps closer, lifting her hand.
“What is this place?”
“My realm. The core of magic. The home of everyone’s lineage.”
My throat thickens. The word home. My mother. “Then… is my mother here?”
Her smile softens with grief.
“No. But I walked beside her. I loved her. And I swore to guard you when the time came”
My eyes burn.
I don’t know if I’m crying here or in my body but I feel it.
“She’s gone,” I whisper. “They sent her to Meldron. She..she’s gone.”
The goddess reaches out but doesn’t touch me, only lets her light warm the air between us.
“Her body may have been taken,” she says softly. “But a mother’s soul does not yield so easily. Remember that.”
A flicker of hope sparks in my chest.
Before I can speak, the forest dims.
Shadows creep along the trees, and the air trembles.
Dalston’s voice echoes faintly from far away, muffled, distant:
“Wake her.”
I flinch.
The goddess expression hardens, fierce and protective.
“Listen to me, Ephy. There is little time.”
Light bursts around us again, pushing the shadows back.
“You carry power untouched for centuries. Dalston thinks he has claimed you but he has only chained your body, not your soul.”
My hands glow slowly at first, then blindingly bright.
“What do I do?” I ask, panic rising. “Tell me how to break free.”
“You must awaken fully,” she says. “Your wolf and your fae must become one.”
“I don’t know how—”
The golden forest flickers, shadows trembling at the edges, but the goddess lifts her hand and the darkness recoils. Her eyes glow brighter now not soft, not gentle, but ancient. Commanding.
“There is more you must know,” she says urgently, her voice echoing like wind through crystal.
My heart pounds. “More?”
She steps forward, cupping her glowing hands around mine.
Warmth pulses through my veins, spreading to my chest, melting the cold Dalston left inside me.
“Yes, child. You are not meant to walk this path alone.”
Confusion twists in my gut. “What do you mean?”
Her smile turns knowing, almost bittersweet.
“Your mate.”
The ground seems to drop beneath me.
I shake my head. “I..I didn’t know if I would have one being a hybrid”
“You are only just turning eighteen and you’re not just fae you have a wolf.” Her voice deepens. “Your fae side lies dormant until your awakening which has already begun but until you meet your fates the magic will stay within”.
My breath catches.
A mate.
Out there.
“Who is he?” The question bursts out before I can stop it.
The fae woman’s eyes soften like she’s seeing someone far away.
“A warrior. A protector. A man forged by battle and betrayal. He carries the blood of kings and the soul of fire.”
Her lips curve in a faint, knowing smile.
“He is drawn to you already, though he does not yet understand why.”
A hot rush floods my chest recognition, warmth, yearning, though I don’t know who it’s for.
“Is he..” My voice falters. “Is it Jackson?”
The forest glows brighter, as if reacting to the name.
She does not answer directly.
Instead, she says:
“Your destinies are intertwined.
Just as your mother and father once were.”
My pulse skips.
“You and your mate,” she continues, “are meant for more than escape, more than survival. The kingdom of Talvarna needs the both of you.”
A wind sweeps through the trees, stirring glowing leaves that swirl around us like falling stars.
“A darkness is rising one. A shadow that has waited centuries for your kind of power.”
The ground trembles beneath my feet as the vision begins to fracture again.
“You two are the balance,” she says firmly.
“The key to restoring what was lost.
The ones destined to break the chains on this land.”
My voice cracks. “I’m not ready for any of this.”
“You will be.” She presses her glowing forehead to mine, her magic flooding through me, filling every hollow space inside me that Dalston’s spell tried to claim.
“Find him, Ephy. Wake fully. The kingdom has been waiting a very long time for its queen.”
The ground trembles. Cracks of darkness split across my vision.
Dalston’s voice grows sharper:
“Wake NOW.”
The goddess grabs my face in her hands warm, glowing, desperate.
“Remember this, Ephy..
You were never meant to belong to him. You were meant to destroy him.”
A surge of gold erupts through my chest.
The vision shatters.
Darkness drags me backward.
And then..
I wake.
- Writer
