Chapter 20 – The Journey Begins
261 Words
Morning light filtered through the trees as Ava stood quietly at the edge of the clearing.
The forest had returned to its usual calm, but the events of the previous night still lingered heavily in her mind.
The witches.
The power she had unleashed.
The war Darius had warned her about.
Her hand drifted to the crescent mark on her wrist. It pulsed faintly, as though reminding her that everything had changed.
“You feel it now, don’t you?” Darius said from behind her.
Ava nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
There was no denying it anymore.
Whatever she had become, it wasn’t something she could ignore.
“They’ll come again,” she said.
“They won’t stop.”
Darius stepped beside her, his gaze fixed on the distant mountains rising beyond the forest.
“No,” he agreed. “They won’t.”
Ava took a slow breath.
Fear still lingered deep within her, but it no longer controlled her.
Something stronger had taken its place.
Resolve.
“Then I need to be ready,” she said firmly.
Darius studied her for a moment before nodding.
“Good.”
He turned toward the mountains.
“Because what comes next will shape everything.”
Ava followed his gaze.
The peaks stood tall against the horizon, ancient and unyielding.
Somewhere out there, her destiny awaited.
She glanced once more toward the direction of Shadowfang territory.
Toward the life she had lost.
Then she turned away.
The girl who had been rejected was gone.
And the journey of the Moon Goddess had just begun.
- Writer
