CHAPTER SEVEN:THE NAME THE MOON GAVE
655 Words
The baby cried in the forest long after her mother's body grew cold.
Her small voice broke the silence between the trees.
Three travelers heard it.
They were moving through the forbidden road, carrying goods to another land before winter closed the paths. When the sound reached them, they stopped.
"That is not an animal," the woman said.
They followed the sound.
Moonlight showed them a body first.
A young woman lay against a tree. Her hair spread over the leaves. Her eyes were closed. Blood had dried on her torn dress.
"She's dead," one man said.
Then the cry came again.
They saw the baby between the tree roots. Wrapped in cloth. Her skin was warm. Her tiny chest moved.
"She's alive," the woman whispered.
The youngest traveler stepped back. "This place is cursed. We should leave."
The baby opened her eyes.
Silver eyes.
Like the moon.
The woman felt her chest tighten.
"We can't leave her," she said. "Not like this."
They took the baby and left the forest before the sun rose.
Behind them, the dead woman stayed under the moon.
They brought the child to their small clan village.
The leader of the clan, an old man with a scar across his face, looked at the baby in silence.
"Where did you find her?" he asked.
"In the forbidden woods," the woman answered. "Her mother was dead."
The old man touched the child's forehead.
"She is warm," he said. "But her eyes..."
He turned to one of his guards.
"Take her to the priestess."
The priestess lived in a small hut near the edge of the village. Bones and feathers hung at her door. The air smelled of smoke and herbs.
She sat on the ground when they entered.
The baby did not cry.
The priestess lifted her hands and closed her eyes.
The fire flickered.
The wind moved outside.
Her voice changed when she spoke.
"This child is not ordinary."
The old man asked, "Whose child is she?"
The priestess shook her head.
"I see stone in her blood."
They looked at each other.
"What does that mean?" the woman asked.
The priestess opened her eyes slowly.
"She is stone-born," she said. "Her fate is heavy. Her blood is Alpha blood."
Silence filled the hut.
"Alpha?" the old man said. "From where?"
The priestess shook her head again.
"I see no pack. No father. Only moonlight and blood."
The baby opened her mouth and made a small sound.
The priestess looked down at her.
"They will fear her," she said. "And they will need her."
"Should we kill her?" one guard whispered.
The priestess stood up suddenly.
"No," she said. "You will not touch her."
Her voice was sharp.
"She carries the mark of the Moon Goddess."
They stepped back.
"Then what do we call her?" the woman asked softly.
The priestess looked at the moon through the window.
"She came from night," she said. "She belongs to shadow and silver."
She placed her hand on the baby's head.
"Her name is Nyxara."
The baby blinked.
The fire cracked.
Outside, a wolf howled.
That same night, far away...
An elder dreamed.
The Moon Goddess stood in darkness.
Her voice said:
"The stone child still breathes.
Alpha blood walks the earth."
The elder woke screaming.
"She lives," he whispered. "She still lives."
Fear entered his heart.
Back in the Alpha's land...
They buried Naira's body at dawn.
The ground was cold.
The Alpha stood alone.
"They say she ran," an elder said. "They say the child died."
The Alpha did not answer.
He looked at the grave.
"Then bury the name with her," he said. "There is no child."
The elders nodded.
And a lie became truth.
In the small clan village...
Nyxara slept in strange arms.
She did not know her mother's name.
She did not know her father's face.
She only knew the moon.
And the moon knew her
- Writer
