LUNA'S LAST TEARS

THE KEEPER'S WARNING

Episode 6:

Luna’s heart hammered in her chest as Kaelen’s words echoed through the mist. The weight of them pressed down heavier than the forest fog. She wanted to deny him, to claim she was just an ordinary girl, but she couldn’t. The shrine had chosen her. The dream had spoken to her. The Watchers had hunted her.

“What do you mean?” Elias asked sharply, pulling Luna a step closer to him. “What fate are you talking about?”

Kaelen’s eyes, ancient and sorrowful, lingered on Luna. “The empire’s history is drenched in blood and moonlight. Centuries ago, the first blood-moon child was born,her tears brought famine, her sorrow called storms. Since then, every child born under the red sky has carried both power and ruin. You, girl, are the first in nearly a hundred years.”

Luna’s breath caught. “You’re saying… there were others? Like me?”

Kaelen nodded slowly. “And every empire has feared them. Some tried to destroy them before their power awakened. Others tried to use them, twisting their sorrow into weapons. None escaped fate.”

Elias bristled, anger flashing in his eyes. “She’s not a weapon. She’s not cursed. She’s”

“She is the blood moon’s child,” Kaelen interrupted, his voice firm but not unkind. “And whether she wishes it or not, her tears will shape the empire’s future. The only question is,how?”

The silence that followed was suffocating. Luna felt Elias’s hand tighten around hers, grounding her, but the unease in his grip betrayed the storm inside him.

Luna swallowed hard. “What do I do then? How do I stop it?”

Kaelen’s gaze darkened. “That is what you must discover. But know this—the Watchers are not your only enemies. The empire itself will rise against you once they learn who you are. Your only chance is to understand your gift before they claim you.”

Her gift. That word felt wrong in her ears. Was it a gift, or a curse?

Kaelen stepped back into the mist, his figure half-shadow. “Seek the ancient shrines. They will guide you, if you survive long enough to reach them.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Luna stood frozen, the silence pressing around her. She felt Elias’s eyes on her, searching her face for answers she didn’t have.

“Luna,” he whispered, “what if he’s right?”

She looked down at her trembling hands, remembering the silver light, the whispers, the dream. A chill settled over her.

“What if he is?” she murmured.