Chapter 4: Blood Moon Rising
873 Words
POV: Seraphina Vale
The Blood Moon rose like an omen, casting the Blackthorn forest in a haunting crimson glow. Every root, every shadow pulsed with unease. Seraphina stood at the cliff’s edge, overlooking the valley that separated Blackthorn from the rest of the Northern Territories.
The seal was weakening. She could feel it.
Kael stepped beside her, silent for a long moment. “I’ve doubled the patrols. No one’s getting near the chasm.”
“It won’t be enough,” she whispered. “The Abyssbound isn’t just trying to escape… it’s trying to feed.”
Kael’s eyes darkened. “On what?”
“Fear. Rage. Death. If the packs go to war, it will rise.”
Behind them, the pack stirred—uneasy with the moon, the silence, the unknown. Elders whispered of old curses. Warriors rubbed runes on their blades. Something ancient was being remembered in the blood.
And in the middle of it all stood Seraphina, caught between healer and Luna, between peace and prophecy.
Kael touched her arm. “You’re shaking.”
She forced a breath. “It’s not fear. It’s… resonance. My magic is reacting to the seal. I need to get closer.”
He frowned. “The old chasm is cursed. No one’s gone near it in generations.”
“Then we’ll be the first.”
⸻
POV: Kael Draven
By the time they reached the chasm, the moon was at its zenith—huge, crimson, and angry. The ground trembled beneath their feet. Seraphina’s pendant glowed like fire.
The seal pulsed below—a circle of black stone inscribed with shifting runes. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.
And in the center… a heartbeat.
A massive, inhuman one.
Kael instinctively stepped in front of Seraphina.
“That’s it,” she breathed. “The seal. It’s alive.”
Before they could move, a deafening howl split the air.
Shapes burst from the woods—twisted wolves, their eyes glowing red, their bodies warped by something unnatural.
Corrupted.
Kael’s claws extended instantly. “Get behind me!”
But Seraphina didn’t move. She lifted both hands, her eyes turning silver-bright.
A wave of power surged from her.
The corrupted wolves screamed as her magic struck them—searing light against shadow. Three collapsed. The rest scattered into the trees.
Kael turned to her, panting.
“You’ve changed,” he said.
Seraphina’s eyes didn’t lose their glow. “So have you.”
Behind them, the seal throbbed.
And deep beneath the earth… the Abyss-bound stirred.
POV: Seraphina Vale
The journey to Mooncrest was silent, tense. Seraphina hadn’t returned home since the bonding ceremony, and though Kael had offered to send a scout, she knew she had to face her people herself.
The Codex she found in the Blackthorn archives had revealed something even more terrifying than the Abyss-bound: Mooncrest’s former Luna—her own mother—had helped seal it. And left behind a hidden legacy Seraphina had never known existed.
They arrived under cover of night, greeted not by open arms—but blades.
Mooncrest warriors surrounded them instantly.
“Stand down!” Seraphina shouted, stepping forward.
A tall man pushed through the crowd Elias Vale, her father, Mooncrest Alpha. His silver beard bristled with fury.
“You come with the Blackthorn Alpha during the Blood Moon? Are you insane?”
Kael growled lowly, but Seraphina raised a hand.
“We need your help,” she said. “Mother left something buried beneath the Luna shrine. A lock. I think it’s tied to the seal in Blackthorn.”
Elias stiffened. “You were never meant to find that.”
“But I did,” she said. “And if we don’t unearth it, the Abyss-bound will rise.”
A heavy silence fell.
Then Elias finally turned, motioning them forward.
“Come. If your mother left something behind, it’ll be in the catacombs.”
⸻
POV: Kael Draven
The Mooncrest Luna shrine was carved into the cliff-side—delicate and luminous, the opposite of Blackthorn’s brutal stone. But beneath its beauty lay an undercurrent of power Kael didn’t trust.
They descended into the catacombs—Elias leading, Seraphina beside him, and Kael just behind, always watching.
At the deepest point, they found it.
A crystal sarcophagus covered in runes—pulsing, whispering.
Seraphina approached it slowly. “She’s here.”
“What do you mean?” Kael asked.
“She died sealing it,” Elias said grimly. “The cost of the binding was her life.”
Seraphina touched the glass—and her eyes rolled back.
⸻
POV: Seraphina Vale (Vision)
She stood in a vast field of ash. Her mother stood ahead, silver hair blowing in the wind, blood on her hands.
“Seraphina,” she whispered. “You’re not just my daughter. You’re the key.”
“The key to what?” Seraphina asked.
Her mother looked past her.
“To the second seal. It lies within your bond. Within Kael.”
Suddenly, the sky split open. The Abyssbound rose like a mountain, roaring.
And Seraphina screamed—
She awoke in Kael’s arms, gasping. Her pendant burned.
Kael held her tightly. “What did you see?”
She swallowed. “The second seal isn’t a place. It’s you.”
- Writer
