Chapter 1
The Silver Forest
Amara Vale was running.
She didn’t know why.
She didn’t know where she was going.
All she knew was that something was chasing her.
Her bare feet struck the cold ground as she raced through a forest that looked nothing like any forest she had ever seen. The trees were impossibly tall, their leaves glowing with a soft silver light. Tiny particles floated through the air like pieces of broken stars.
Behind her, something growled.
Amara’s heart pounded.
She ran faster.
“Don’t stop!”
A voice suddenly echoed through the trees.
A boy.
Amara turned around.
Nobody was there.
“Who’s there?” she called.
Her voice trembled.
The growling behind her grew louder.
She turned forward again and froze.
A boy stood several feet away.
He was dressed completely in black, his dark hair falling slightly over his forehead. Moonlight illuminated his face, making his eyes look almost silver.
Amara stared at him.
She had never seen him before.
Yet somehow…
He felt familiar.
The boy walked toward her.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said quietly.
Amara swallowed.
“Where am I?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, his eyes moved toward her wrist.
Amara followed his gaze.
A strange crescent-shaped mark was glowing against her skin.
Her breath caught.
“What is that?”
The boy’s expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
He stepped closer.
“Me.”
Amara stared at him.
“I don’t know you.”
The boy looked almost heartbroken.
Then suddenly, the entire forest began shaking.
Birds flew from the trees.
The silver leaves trembled.
Something enormous roared in the distance.
The boy grabbed Amara’s hand.
“Run.”
“Wait—!”
“Amara!”
She froze.
Her name.
He knew her name.
Before she could ask how, a massive shadow emerged between the trees.
The boy pushed her behind him.
Silver light burst from his hands.
Amara screamed.
And then
She woke up.
Amara shot upright in bed, breathing heavily.
For several seconds, she couldn’t remember where she was.
Her bedroom slowly came into focus.
The familiar curtains.
The small desk beside her bed.
The books scattered across the floor.
Morning sunlight slipping through the window.
It had been a dream.
Just another dream.
Amara pressed a hand against her chest, trying to calm her racing heartbeat.
“That was too real.”
She glanced at the clock.
6:17 a.m.
“Great.”
She had barely slept.
Again.
For as long as Amara could remember, she had been having strange dreams.
Not normal dreams.
The same forest.
The same silver moon.
And always the same mysterious boy.
But tonight had been different.
He had said her name.
Amara pushed the blanket aside and stood.
She walked toward the mirror, rubbing her tired eyes.
Then she noticed something.
A faint light was shining on her wrist.
She stared at it.
The crescent-shaped mark from the dream was there.
Amara’s eyes widened.
“No.”
She touched it.
The mark immediately stopped glowing.
She stepped back from the mirror.
Her heart began pounding again.
“That’s impossible.”
There had never been a mark there before.
At least…
She thought there hadn’t.
A knock suddenly came from her bedroom door.
“Amara! You’re going to be late!”
Her guardian’s voice.
Amara quickly pulled her sleeve over the mark.
“I’m coming!”
She grabbed her school bag and hurried out of the room.
As she walked downstairs, she tried to convince herself that everything was normal.
It was only a dream.
The mark was probably some strange birthmark she had never noticed.
And the boy?
Just her imagination.
There was no such thing as magic.
There was no hidden kingdom.
And there was definitely no mysterious boy waiting for her.
At least, that’s what Amara believed.
Until she arrived at Mooncrest Academy.
Students crowded the entrance, laughing and talking as they hurried toward their classrooms.
Amara walked through the gates with Selene beside her.
“You look terrible,” Selene said.
“Good morning to you too.”
“I’m serious. Did you sleep?”
“Not really.”
“Nightmares again?”
Amara hesitated.
“Something like that.”
Before Selene could respond, the sound of the school bell echoed across the courtyard.
Students began moving toward the main building.
Amara followed them.
Then she stopped.
Someone was standing across the courtyard.
A boy.
Dark hair.
Black uniform.
Silver eyes.
Amara’s entire body went still.
The noise around her seemed to disappear.
The boy slowly turned.
Their eyes met.
And Amara recognized him instantly.
It was him.
The boy from her dream.
The boy who had called her name.
The boy who wasn’t supposed to exist.
His expression changed the moment he saw her.
Shock.
Then fear.
His lips moved.
Amara couldn’t hear him from across the courtyard.
But she somehow knew exactly what he said.
“Amara.”
The crescent mark beneath her sleeve suddenly began to burn.
And the mysterious boy started walking toward her.
