THE MOON GODDESS OF SILVERFANG

The Journey Begins

Chapter Four

I did not sleep that night.

My mother's voice remained in my mind.

Do not trust the one who fears your crown.

I kept replaying those words, trying to understand what she meant.

The easiest answer was Morwen.

She had feared the Moon Seal from the moment she saw it.

But my father had also looked frightened.

So had Elder Rowan.

Perhaps my mother had not been warning me about only one person.

Perhaps she had been warning me about everyone.

I sat beside my window until the moon began to disappear behind the clouds.

The silver key rested in my palm.

North.

That single word seemed to carry more weight than it should have.

Beyond the northern mountains was the Temple of First Light.

According to my mother's letter, that was where I was supposed to go.

But how?

I had never traveled beyond Silverfang.

I had never even been close to the northern mountains.

And now I was supposed to leave everything I knew behind.

The thought frightened me.

Yet another feeling was stronger.

I needed to know what happened to my mother.

At dawn, I made my decision.

I was going north.

I placed the silver pendant around my neck and hid the key beneath my clothes.

Then I opened the door.

The corridor was quiet.

I moved carefully through the house and headed toward the old storage room.

My mother had once kept her belongings there.

Most of the room had been untouched for years.

Dust covered the shelves.

Old blankets were folded in one corner.

Broken furniture filled another.

I searched through the boxes until I found a small leather bag.

Inside were a few coins, a small knife, dried herbs, and a piece of cloth.

It wasn't much.

But it was enough to begin.

I was about to leave when I noticed something underneath the cloth.

A small wooden disk.

I picked it up.

The same crescent symbol was carved into its surface.

My breath caught.

There was writing on the back.

When the Moon calls, follow the light.

I read the sentence twice.

Then I placed the disk inside my bag.

“Elara?”

I nearly dropped it.

I turned.

My father stood at the doorway.

He looked tired.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then his eyes moved to the bag.

“You're leaving.”

It wasn't a question.

I looked down.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“North.”

His expression tightened.

“You cannot.”

“I have to.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I don't know what is waiting there.”

“And staying here is supposed to make me safe?”

He had no answer.

I stepped closer.

“You told me the truth yesterday. Now I need you to tell me everything.”

He sighed.

“There are things I don't know.”

“Then tell me what you do know.”

He walked into the room.

“Your mother began investigating the Moon Crown several months before she disappeared.”

“Why?”

“She believed it was connected to your bloodline.”

I touched the Moon Seal.

“She knew about this before I did.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Because it appeared briefly when you were a baby.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

“Your mother saw it.”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because she asked me not to.”

My anger weakened.

“She knew this would happen?”

“She believed the seal would eventually awaken completely.”

“Did she know about the Temple?”

“Yes.”

My heart began beating faster.

“Then why didn't she take me there?”

“She intended to.”

“What stopped her?”

My father looked away.

“She disappeared before she could.”

Silence filled the room.

“Did Morwen know?”

He hesitated.

“Yes.”

I looked at him sharply.

“How much?”

“I don't know.”

“You must know something.”

“She knew your mother was investigating the Moon Crown. She knew your mother intended to travel north. Beyond that, I cannot say.”

I wanted to ask more.

But then something outside caught my attention.

A wolf howled.

My father looked toward the window.

“Stay here.”

He left the room.

I followed.

Outside, several warriors were already gathering.

The northern trail was being watched.

The pack was on alert.

Then Elder Rowan appeared.

His eyes immediately found me.

“You've made your decision,” he said.

“Yes.”

He nodded as if he had expected it.

My father looked at him.

“You knew?”

“I suspected she would choose this path.”

“She cannot go alone.”

“I agree.”

My father frowned.

“You're suggesting we let her leave?”

“No,” Rowan said. “I'm suggesting we prepare her properly.”

My father looked at me.

“Elara, the northern mountains are dangerous.”

“I know.”

“You don't.”

“I know enough.”

He studied me.

Then he looked at the Moon Seal.

Finally, he nodded.

“If you leave, you take protection with you.”

“I don't want a group.”

“You won't get a choice.”

For the first time, I almost smiled.

My father still sounded like my father.

The Alpha.

The man who had spent years trying to protect me from a truth I had never understood.

“Who will come?”

“Two warriors,” he said. “They will travel with you until you reach the mountain pass.”

I nodded.

Rowan stepped forward.

“There is something else.”

“What?”

He reached into his robe and removed an old map.

He opened it carefully.

The map showed Silverfang and the lands beyond it.

A line ran north through the forest and disappeared among the mountains.

“The Temple of First Light is here.”

He pointed toward a small symbol beyond the mountain range.

“How long will it take?”

“If the weather remains clear, several days.”

“Several days?”

“Yes.”

I swallowed.

Rowan pointed to another location.

“But you must avoid this area.”

“Why?”

“The Hollow Forest.”

I had heard stories about it.

No wolf from Silverfang traveled there.

“Why?”

“Because wolves who enter sometimes never return.”

My stomach tightened.

“Then how do I get around it?”

“There is an old trail.”

He traced another line across the map.

“It is longer, but safer.”

I memorized the route.

Then Rowan handed me the map.

“Your mother used this.”

I looked at him.

“You gave her this?”

“Yes.”

That small answer made everything feel more real.

I was not simply following a mysterious legend.

I was following the path my mother had once walked.

Before noon, I was ready.

My bag was small.

A change of clothes.

Food.

Water.

Herbs.

The wooden disk.

The silver key.

And the pendant.

I stood at the edge of Silverfang.

The forest stretched before me.

Behind me was everything I had ever known.

My father's house.

The pack.

The memories of my childhood.

Even the painful ones.

Morwen stood several meters away.

She watched me silently.

I expected her to say something cruel.

Instead, she said quietly,

“You look like your mother.”

I froze.

It was the first time she had ever said that to me.

I turned toward her.

“What did you say?”

She looked at the ground.

“Nothing.”

“No. You said I look like her.”

Morwen's face became unreadable.

“For years, you hated her.”

“I never hated her.”

“You treated me as though I was responsible for losing her.”

Morwen looked at me.

“You don't understand.”

“Then explain.”

She shook her head.

“I can't.”

“Why?”

“Because some truths are dangerous.”

I almost laughed.

“That's what everyone keeps saying.”

Morwen looked toward my wrist.

“The Moon Seal isn't a blessing.”

My expression changed.

“What is it?”

She hesitated.

“A choice.”

“What does that mean?”

Before she could answer, my father called my name.

I looked back.

When I turned around again, Morwen had already walked away.

I stared after her.

Something about her words stayed with me.

A choice.

Perhaps the Moon Goddess did not choose people simply to give them power.

Perhaps she chose them to make decisions no one else could make.

I turned toward the northern trail.

Elder Rowan waited nearby with two warriors.

One was a tall young man named Kael.

The other was an older warrior named Daren.

My father approached me.

For a moment, he simply looked at me.

Then he pulled me into a brief embrace.

I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be held by my father.

“Come back,” he whispered.

“I will.”

“I mean it.”

“So do I.”

He stepped back.

“Whatever you discover, remember that you are my daughter.”

My eyes became warm.

“I know.”

I turned away before I could cry.

Then I began walking.

One step.

Then another.

The gates of Silverfang slowly disappeared behind us.

The familiar sounds of the pack faded.

Soon, only the forest remained.

Kael walked ahead.

Daren stayed behind.

Rowan had decided to accompany us for the first part of the journey.

For several hours, none of us spoke.

The deeper we traveled, the stranger the forest became.

The trees grew taller.

The air became colder.

And the Moon Seal remained warm against my skin.

By sunset, we reached a small clearing.

“We stop here,” Daren said.

We made a small camp.

I sat near the fire, staring at the map.

The Temple was still far away.

I wondered whether my mother had sat somewhere like this.

Had she been afraid?

Had she known she might never return?

I closed my eyes.

A faint whisper reached me.

Elara.

I opened them.

No one had spoken.

The others were asleep.

I looked toward the trees.

Something moved between them.

Silver eyes.

The dark-gray wolf.

It stood at the edge of the clearing.

Watching me.

I stood.

The wolf turned and walked away.

I followed.

Only a few steps.

Then I stopped.

I remembered Rowan's warning.

The wolf looked back.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then it disappeared.

I returned to the camp.

But I knew something had changed.

The wolf had followed me beyond Silverfang.

And somehow, I believed it was not hunting me.

It was guiding me.

The next morning, we continued north.

By midday, the mountains appeared in the distance.

Huge.

Dark.

Covered in mist.

I stared at them.

Somewhere beyond those mountains was the Temple of First Light.

Somewhere along that same path was the truth about my mother.

And perhaps the truth about me.

I tightened my grip on the silver pendant.

The journey had only begun.

But I could already feel the Moon calling me forward.

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