Moonbound : Legacy of the Lost Flame

The sky over Sector V-3 didn’t have stars. Not real ones, anyway. Only white blinking lights across a fake dome sky—a synthetic projection meant to simulate what the ancestors once called “night.” Kaira Solene didn’t care. Stars were irrelevant. She had a mission. She adjusted the visor over her eyes, the HUD flickering with coordinates and biological warnings. “You’re close,” came the voice from Command. “Power spike detected 100 meters east. Stay alert.” Kaira nodded silently. Her boots crunched across red lunar soil, softened by wind simulations. Beyond the dome, the Outer Wilds loomed—uncharted forest zones where no tracker signal worked, and no agent returned without scars. She stepped past the threshold. The grid buzzed behind her and she died. No connection. Her pulse quickened. The Outer Wilds were illegal. Alive. Wrong. She pulled her plasma staff from her back. “Proceeding into Zone W-9.” No reply. Static. The forest air smelled strange—metallic and earthy. The trees here weren’t data-grown. They pulsed faintly, silver veins running up obsidian bark. The wind rustled leaves like whispers. Then came the sound. Snap. Not wind. Not tech. Something alive. She turned but it was too late. A blur of black and silver slammed into her. She crashed into the mossy earth, weapon knocked from her hands. Claws grazed her throat. Breath hot on her cheek. Eyes—silver, glowing, unhuman—locked onto hers. The creature above her wasn’t a simulation. It wasn’t a hallucination. It was real. Seven feet tall in its crouch, half-man, half-wolf, muscles coiled like springs, fur streaked with stardust. A Lunari. Extinct for 300 years. Her mind screamed to fight. But her body… froze. Because something inside her stirred. Warmth spread down her spine. Her pupils narrowed. Her senses expanded. The wolf inhaled deeply. Then it spoke—not aloud, but directly into her mind. “You’ve returned.” Kaira’s heart pounded. “What… are you?” Its voice was deep. Ancient. Full of grief and recognition. “You are Moonbound. My fate. My kind.” She shook her head. “No. That’s not possible.” “Your blood says otherwise. Your body is already shifting.” And that’s when she saw it—her hands. Her veins glowed faintly silver. Her nails curved. No... The wolf—Riven—moved back slightly, allowing her to breathe, though his gaze never wavered. “You were born in the Domes,” he said aloud now, his voice raw gravel. “But you are not theirs.” Kaira pushed up, trying to ignore the heat rising in her chest, in her limbs. “You're a myth.” “I was,” he said. “Until you woke me.” She gripped her staff again, backing away. “I’m not yours.” But the way her body responded—the way the world around her welcomed her… She wasn’t so sure. Behind her, something howled. Not Riven. Others. He turned toward the sound, fangs flashing. “You need to run,” he said. “They’ve found you.” They’ll tear you apart before you bloom.” Kaira hesitated. “Why would you help me?” He met her eyes. And for the first time, she felt it—real, unfiltered, ancient longing. “Because if you die, so do I.”