By The Moon's Light

The Hunters

Chapter 4 –

(Malikye’s POV)

The inside of the shop felt older than the city itself.

Once the door closed behind us, the noise of the outside world faded almost completely, as though the walls were swallowing sound. Only the soft crackle of a nearby fire and the quiet rustle of hanging herbs filled the space.

I followed the old woman through a narrow doorway behind the counter. The room beyond was warmer, lit by several lanterns and a large iron stove that glowed faintly orange. Shelves lined the walls, packed with bottles, scrolls, and objects whose purpose I couldn’t even begin to guess.

The place smelled like sage, cedar, and something faintly metallic.

Magic.

The word lingered in my mind uneasily.

I had always known magic existed. I had seen small pieces of it during my travels—street mages bending light, fortune tellers whispering spells under their breath, charms that brought luck or misfortune depending on how they were used.

But what had happened in that hotel room wasn’t the sort of magic people practiced for coin in crowded markets.

That had been something ancient.

And apparently it lived inside me.

The old woman stopped beside a wooden table and motioned for Kael to sit. He obeyed without complaint, shrugging off his coat so she could inspect the wound across his shoulder.

Up close, the injury looked worse than it had earlier. The creature’s claws had torn through both fabric and flesh, leaving jagged marks across his upper arm.

“You’re bleeding on my floor,” she said calmly.

Kael glanced down. “So I am.”

“That is inconsiderate.”

I leaned against the wall. “I agree. Very rude.”

The old woman disappeared briefly and returned with a basin of steaming water and several small jars.

“You,” she said, pointing at me without looking up. “Sit.”

I obeyed, lowering myself into the chair opposite Kael.

For a moment, no one spoke.

The quiet allowed the reality of the evening to settle into my bones.

Hunters.

Moon magic.

A prophecy.

And the uncomfortable possibility that I was somehow at the center of all of it.

The old woman began cleaning Kael’s wound with practiced hands. He didn’t flinch, though I noticed his jaw tighten slightly.

“You should have avoided engaging them,” she said.

“They came through the window.”

Her hands paused.

Then she looked at me.

“Did they now?”

I lifted both hands slightly. “In fairness, I also found that surprising.”

Kael nodded toward me. “His magic awakened. The hunters were drawn to it.”

Her eyes moved slowly to my right hand.

The crescent mark.

Even in the dim room it still held a faint silver glow.

She studied it for several long seconds before returning to Kael’s shoulder.

“I feared that might happen,” she murmured.

I leaned forward.

“Since everyone here seems to understand what’s happening except me, perhaps someone could start explaining things in words that resemble logic.”

The old woman tied a cloth around Kael’s shoulder before finally looking at me fully.

Her gaze was sharp, assessing.

“My name is Selene,” she said.

Of course it was.

I resisted the urge to comment.

“I am one of the last Moon Witches,” she continued. “And I was among those who helped hide you when you were a child.”

My breath caught.

“You knew me?”

“Yes.”

I searched her face for recognition but found none.

“You were very small,” she said. “Only a few months old when we brought you here briefly before moving you again.”

The room seemed to tilt slightly.

“You mean… you actually met me?”

Selene nodded.

“You had the mark even then.”

My hand curled instinctively.

“Why hide me?” I asked.

The question felt heavier than the others.

She didn’t answer immediately.

Instead she walked to the stove and stirred something in a small iron pot.

Finally she spoke.

“Because Damon wanted you.”

The name made the air feel colder.

“You said that earlier,” I said quietly. “But you never explained why.”

Selene turned back toward me.

“Because you are his son.”

The words fell into the room like stones dropped into deep water.

Kael watched me carefully.

I sat very still.

I had suspected it, of course.

The book had all but confirmed it.

But hearing someone say it aloud made the truth heavier.

More real.

“My father,” I said slowly, “is a man who sacrifices children.”

Selene’s expression didn’t soften.

“Yes.”

I let out a breath.

“That’s… unfortunate.”

Kael looked mildly alarmed.

Selene, however, gave a small approving nod.

“Your reaction suggests you are not eager to follow in his footsteps.”

“I try to avoid mass sacrifice when possible.”

“That will serve you well.”

I rubbed my face again.

“So Damon had children… sacrificed them… and somehow I survived.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Selene’s eyes drifted briefly to the satchel hanging at my side.

“You were not meant to be sacrificed.”

That answer surprised me.

“What?”

“You were meant to become something else.”

The unease inside my chest grew stronger.

“What exactly does that mean?”

Selene stepped closer.

Her gaze fell again to the mark in my palm.

“You were born beneath a rare celestial alignment. A Blood Moon that appears only once every few centuries.”

“I’m sensing that’s not a good sign.”

“For most people, it would mean nothing. But for children born into Damon’s bloodline…”

She paused.

“…it means power.”

I remembered the silver light bursting from my hand.

The creature dissolving.

The voice that had spoken through me.

My stomach twisted.

“And Damon wanted that power,” I said.

“Yes.”

“But I disappeared.”

“You were taken.”

“By you?”

“By several of us. The Night Seers and the Moon Witches.”

Kael spoke for the first time since the conversation began.

“We infiltrated Damon’s stronghold the night you were born.”

Selene nodded.

“Your mother tried to escape. She knew what Damon intended for his children.”

“What happened to her?”

The question came out before I could stop it.

Selene hesitated.

Then she answered gently.

“She did not survive the escape.”

The words landed heavily.

I had spent my entire life trying not to wonder about my biological parents.

Trying not to imagine the circumstances that left me alone in the world.

Now the truth was standing in front of me.

And it was worse than anything I had imagined.

I stared at the floor.

“So she died protecting me.”

“Yes.”

Silence stretched between us.

Finally I forced myself to ask the next question.

“And Damon?”

Selene’s eyes hardened.

“He has spent years searching for you.”

My head lifted.

“But everyone believes he vanished.”

Selene gave a humorless smile.

“That belief has been carefully encouraged.”

“Meaning?”

“Damon never disappeared.”

A cold ripple passed through my chest.

“He has simply been waiting.”

“For what?”

“For you to grow up.”

My pulse began to pound.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does,” Kael said quietly.

I looked at him.

“Explain.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“Damon needed time. Your power would have been useless to him as an infant.”

A terrible realization began forming in my mind.

“You mean…”

Selene finished the thought.

“He needs you alive.”

The room felt suddenly too small.

“Alive… for what?”

Selene and Kael exchanged a glance.

Then she said the words that made my stomach drop.

“To complete the ritual that will make him unstoppable.”

I laughed softly.

Not because it was funny.

Because sometimes laughter is the only response your mind can produce when faced with something completely insane.

“That’s… extremely inconvenient.”

Selene studied me carefully.

“Your humor again.”

“It’s either that or screaming.”

“A reasonable choice.”

I leaned back in the chair.

“So let me summarize. My father is an ancient warlord who sacrifices his children for magical power. I was stolen as a baby to stop him from using me. Now I’ve accidentally announced my existence to the world by blasting monsters out of a hotel room.”

“More or less,” Kael said.

“And Damon’s hunters are coming.”

“Yes.”

I rubbed my temples.

“This has been a very long evening.”

Selene walked to a nearby shelf and retrieved a small wooden box.

She opened it and removed a delicate silver bracelet.

Moon-shaped charms hung from it.

She held it out to me.

“Wear this.”

“What does it do?”

“It will help contain the energy of your mark.”

“Contain it?”

“Until you learn to control it.”

I slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

Immediately the burning sensation in my palm faded slightly.

I exhaled.

“Oh… that’s actually helpful.”

Selene nodded.

“Your magic is tied to the moon itself. When it awakened tonight, it sent a signal across the magical world.”

Kael crossed his arms.

“Which is why Damon’s hunters arrived so quickly.”

I frowned.

“How many of them are there?”

Selene’s expression darkened.

“More than you would like.”

“Excellent.”

Kael walked toward the window.

Through the cracks in the shutters, moonlight spilled across the floor.

He stood there quietly for a moment.

Then he said something that made my stomach sink.

“They’re already here.”

Selene moved beside him.

“What do you see?”

“Shadows on the rooftops.”

I stood up.

“You’re joking.”

“I am not.”

My pulse surged again.

“You mean the monsters from earlier?”

“Some of them,” Kael said.

“But not all.”

Selene closed the shutters immediately.

The room plunged into dim lantern light.

“They’ve found you faster than expected.”

I felt the mark in my palm pulse faintly.

Even with the bracelet.

“Why can they track me?”

“Because of your blood,” Selene said.

“And because of your magic.”

Kael turned toward me.

“When your power awakened tonight, it announced something to the supernatural world.”

“What?”

He looked directly at me.

“That the Moon-Born Son lives.”

Outside, something moved across the roof.

A low scraping sound.

Claws.

Selene extinguished two lanterns.

“Stay quiet,” she whispered.

I held my breath.

The scratching sound grew louder.

Then came a voice.

Thin.

Crooked.

Almost human.

“He is here…”

Another voice answered from the darkness outside.

“We can smell him…”

My heart pounded.

Selene gripped a silver dagger.

Kael drew his blade again.

The voices multiplied.

“Heir…”

“The Moon Son…”

“Damon’s blood…”

A claw scraped across the door.

Slowly.

Testing.

Then a whisper slid through the wood.

“We found you…”

Selene looked at me.

Her voice was calm but urgent.

“Malikye.”

“Yes?”

“It’s time you learned something important.”

“What’s that?”

Her eyes flicked to the door as something heavy slammed against it.

“You are not the one being hunted tonight.”

The door shook violently.

Wood splintered.

Selene finished the sentence quietly.

“They are.”