The Temple Of First Light
1880 Words
Chapter Seven
The mountains seemed endless.
For two days, we climbed through narrow paths, crossed rocky slopes, and followed trails that appeared to have been forgotten by everyone except the wolves.
The higher we climbed, the colder the air became.
Snow covered some of the highest peaks, while thick mist moved between the mountains like something alive.
I had never been this far from Silverfang.
Sometimes, I wondered whether I would ever see home again.
Then I remembered my mother's message.
Do not return to Silverfang until you understand why I left.
Those words stayed with me.
They were no longer simply a warning.
They were a promise that somewhere ahead, the truth was waiting.
On the morning of the third day, Elder Rowan stopped suddenly.
“The temple is close.”
I looked ahead.
At first, I saw nothing but mountains.
Then the mist shifted.
A structure appeared in the distance.
It stood on a massive stone platform between two mountains.
Tall pillars surrounded it.
Its walls were covered in silver markings.
At the center was a large circular window shaped like a crescent moon.
My heart began beating faster.
“The Temple of First Light,” I whispered.
Rowan nodded.
We continued toward it.
The closer we got, the stronger my Moon Seal became.
By the time we reached the steps, it was glowing brightly.
Kael looked at my wrist.
“It has never shone like that before.”
“I know.”
I looked up at the temple.
The entrance was enormous.
Two stone wolves stood on either side of the doorway.
Their eyes were closed.
Above them was an inscription.
I stepped closer.
ONLY THE ONE WHO CARRIES THE MOON MAY ENTER.
I placed my hand against the door.
The stone wolves opened their eyes.
Silver light filled the entrance.
The massive doors slowly opened.
Everyone became silent.
I stepped inside.
The temple was far larger than it appeared from outside.
A long hall stretched ahead.
Tall pillars supported the ceiling, and hundreds of small symbols covered the walls.
At the far end stood a circular altar.
Behind it was a statue of a woman holding a crescent-shaped object.
I knew immediately what it was.
The Moon Crown.
I walked toward it.
The statue's crown looked almost identical to the symbol that had appeared in my visions.
Rowan followed.
“This place has been untouched for centuries.”
“Then how did my mother know about it?”
“She must have found the old records.”
“Where are they?”
Rowan looked around.
“That is what we need to discover.”
We searched the temple.
There were several rooms branching from the main hall.
Some contained empty shelves.
Others contained stone tablets covered in writing.
I moved from one tablet to another.
Most of the language was too old for me to understand.
Then I saw something familiar.
The crescent.
I touched it.
The words around it began glowing.
Suddenly, I could understand them.
The Moon Crown shall remain hidden until the heir awakens.
I read the sentence aloud.
Kael came closer.
“What else does it say?”
I continued.
When the heir carries the awakened seal, the crown shall reveal the path to the Moon Gate.
Rowan's expression changed.
“The crown is here.”
I looked at him.
“You think so?”
“No.”
He pointed toward the statue.
“I know so.”
I approached the statue.
The Moon Seal on my wrist glowed brighter.
I raised my hand.
Nothing happened.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
“Maybe it isn't activated by touch,” Rowan said.
“Then what activates it?”
Before he could answer, I heard something.
A faint sound.
Like someone humming.
I turned.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
The sound came again.
It was coming from behind the statue.
I walked around it.
There was a narrow opening in the wall.
I squeezed through.
The passage led to a small circular chamber.
At its center was a stone basin.
Moonlight entered through a small opening above it.
I stepped closer.
The basin was empty.
Then my pendant began glowing.
I removed it from around my neck.
The moment I held it above the basin, a beam of silver light struck the stone.
The basin filled with shimmering water.
I stared.
A reflection appeared.
My mother.
She stood inside the temple.
But this was not a vision from the Moon.
It looked like a memory.
She was carrying a small object.
The silver key.
She walked toward the same basin.
Someone was with her.
A woman.
I couldn't see her face.
“Please,” my mother said. “You have to understand.”
The woman shook her head.
“You should never have brought the child into this.”
My mother's expression changed.
“She is the heir.”
“She is a danger.”
“She is innocent.”
“She carries the Moon Line.”
The memory flickered.
My mother stepped closer.
“You promised to help me.”
The woman turned away.
“I changed my mind.”
The image disappeared.
I stood frozen.
“Who was she?”
I whispered.
The water became still.
Then another image appeared.
This time, I saw the woman's face.
My breath stopped.
Morwen.
I stumbled backward.
“No.”
She had been here.
She had spoken to my mother.
She knew about the Moon Line.
She knew about me.
And she had called me a danger.
The vision vanished.
I ran back into the main chamber.
Rowan saw my expression.
“What happened?”
“Morwen.”
His face became pale.
“What about her?”
“She was here.”
He stared at me.
“I saw her.”
“Are you certain?”
“I saw her talking to my mother.”
“What did she say?”
“She said I was a danger.”
Silence.
Kael and Daren exchanged looks.
Rowan closed his eyes.
“Then we were wrong.”
“About what?”
“Morwen wasn't simply afraid of the Moon Crown.”
He looked at me.
“She was involved.”
My heart sank.
“Then she knows where my mother is.”
“Possibly.”
“And she may know where the crown is.”
Rowan nodded.
“We have to find it before she does.”
A loud sound suddenly echoed through the temple.
Everyone turned toward the entrance.
Someone had entered.
Kael moved toward the doorway.
“Stay behind me.”
We heard footsteps.
Then voices.
The same voices from the shrine.
They had followed us.
“They found us,” Daren said.
Rowan looked at me.
“We need to move.”
I looked toward the statue.
“The crown.”
“We don't have time.”
“But if they are searching for it—”
“Your safety comes first.”
The footsteps grew louder.
I looked around desperately.
Then I noticed something beneath the statue.
A small crescent-shaped depression in the floor.
I pulled out the silver key.
It fit.
I turned it.
The floor opened.
A staircase appeared beneath the statue.
Rowan stared.
“Your mother left another path.”
We hurried down.
The entrance closed behind us just as voices entered the chamber above.
We moved quickly through the underground passage.
The walls were covered with glowing symbols.
At the end stood a large stone door.
There was no handle.
Only a single sentence.
THE HEIR MUST CHOOSE.
I looked at Rowan.
“Choose what?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
I approached the door.
The Moon Seal glowed.
Three symbols appeared.
A wolf.
A crown.
A crescent moon.
I touched the crescent.
Nothing happened.
I touched the crown.
Nothing.
Then I touched the wolf.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a vast underground chamber.
At the center stood a pedestal.
And on the pedestal was the Moon Crown.
I couldn't breathe.
It was beautiful.
A delicate silver crown with a crescent-shaped center.
Small stones shimmered along its edges.
It wasn't enormous or frightening.
It was almost simple.
But the moment I saw it, I felt something inside me awaken.
The Moon Seal became bright.
I stepped toward it.
Rowan whispered,
“Wait.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
“We don't know what will happen.”
I looked at the crown.
“My mother searched for this.”
“Yes.”
“And someone betrayed her because of it.”
“Yes.”
“Then I need to know why.”
I moved forward.
The moment my hand touched the crown, the entire chamber filled with light.
I heard wolves howling in the distance.
Then the voice of Lyra returned.
“The heir has awakened.”
I closed my eyes.
Images flooded my mind.
Silverfang.
My mother.
Morwen.
My father.
The dark-gray wolf.
The Moon Gate.
And something else.
A figure standing beyond the mountains.
A man surrounded by wolves.
He was holding a black object marked with the same symbol as the Moon Seal.
Then I heard his voice.
“The heir has the crown.”
My eyes opened.
The vision disappeared.
“What did you see?” Rowan asked.
“Someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at the crown.
“He knows I have it.”
Rowan's expression became grim.
“Then we must leave.”
A sound echoed from above.
The people who had followed us had found another entrance.
“They're coming,” Kael said.
I picked up the crown.
Nothing happened.
Then the Moon Seal suddenly changed.
The crescent mark spread slightly up my wrist, forming a thin silver line toward my palm.
I stared at it.
The crown responded with a soft glow.
I understood.
The crown had not chosen me because I was strong.
It had chosen me because I was the heir.
We hurried through another passage.
This time, the path led outside the mountain.
The sun was beginning to rise.
For the first time since leaving Silverfang, I saw sunlight without the forest blocking it.
I looked back at the temple.
My mother had been here.
She had searched these halls.
She had carried the same pendant.
She had stood where I was standing.
And she had trusted someone who betrayed her.
I touched the crown hidden beneath my cloak.
I still didn't know where she was.
But now I had something she had once searched for.
And I had a new question.
Who was the man from my vision?
As we moved away from the temple, a howl echoed across the mountains.
The dark-gray wolf appeared on a distant ridge.
It looked directly at me.
Then another howl answered from far beyond it.
This one was deeper.
Different.
Not the wolf that had guided me.
I stopped walking.
The wolf on the ridge stared into the distance.
Its ears lifted.
Then it disappeared into the mist.
Rowan came beside me.
“What is it?”
I looked toward the mountains.
“I think someone else has awakened.”
And somewhere beyond the northern peaks, something answered with another howl.
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