The Moon Child

Escape

Rory had never known fear like this. It wasn’t the kind of fear that lurks in your chest, a quiet, gnawing thing. It wasn’t the kind that made your pelt crawl or your mind raceway with persuasion of impending danger. No, this was something different. This was the kind of fear that wrapped itself around your heart like a vice, squeezing until you could scarcely sustain.

It wasn’t the kind of fear you could outrun. It was born from the obscure, from the realization that the world you have had just shattered, and you had no idea how to put the pieces back together.

But in the midst of that fear, something else stirred. A quiet, steady voice in the back of her mind, whispering words of reassurance. The lunar month had always called in to her, and now, it seemed to be guiding her — pulling her along a path that she didn’t fully understand but acknowledge she had to follow. She glanced over at the man walking beside her, his presence a steadying force in the overwhelming darkness.

His name, he had told her, was Landon, but little else about him had been revealed. There follows something enigmatic about him, something that felt both familiar and foreign at the same prison term. His movements were fluid, his eyes sharp, as though he was constantly cognizant of everything around him, even in the thick of the night.

They had been walking for what felt like hours, through the dense forest that is Palisade Lunaria. The only sound was the crunch of parting beneath their feet and the occasional rustle of the wind through the branches.

Rory had long since lost track of the direction they were manoeuvring, but she trusted Landon, as much as she could trust anyone in this unknown new reality she received herself in. "Where are we headed? " Rory asked, her voice rough from the strain of both physical exhaustion and the whirlwind of emotions still swirling inside her.

" Why are we leaving the pack 's territory? " Landon didn’t answer immediately, as if liberate the question carefully. " You need to understand what you are, Rory. You can’t do that in the pack’s soil. They won’t let you. They see you as a threat now, and they won’t intercept hunting you.

We’re going somewhere safe — somewhere far from the pack, where you can begin to understand what’s happening to you. " She wasn’t sure why, but the calm certainty in his voice gave her a strange sense of peace. If he was right, if the face pack would truly hound her down and never allow her to learn the accuracy of what she was, then escaping had been her only option.

"What do you mean, ' what’s found to me '? " Rory inquired, the weight of her own confusion pressing down on her. " I don’t understand. I don’t even know what I am anymore. The Moonchild … it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t feel real. "

Landon ’s eyes flicked toward her, his look unreadable. " I ’s real, Rory. Every word of it. You’re a Moonchild — born with the power to control the moon, to harness its conjuring trick. You’re a being of the Night, a creature that could convert everything.

That’s why they rejected you. They feared what you might become. ""Feared? " Rory echoed, her voice rear in disbelief. " They feared me because of this? " She motioned vaguely at herself, at the feeling of power and confusion that thrummed through her veins. "

They rejected me because I ’m the Moonchild? I don’t even know what that signifies. How could they turn their backs on me like this? " Landon's face softened, a spark of sympathy interbreeding his features. " Because of the prognostication. The Moonchild is not just a title of respect.

It’s a burden. A burden that has the potential to destroy or save everything. " He stopped walking for a moment, turning to front her. " The pack’s leaders knew what you were before you did. They saw the signboard — the way the moon always seemed to shine brighter when you were near, the way your powers manifested, even when you didn’t understand them.

They knew you were the one the divination spoke of. And they feared what that would imply. " Rory swallowed, trying to process his words. A prophecy? A burden? None of this made sense. She had always been one of the pack. A loyal, trusted member. And yet, now she was running, being forced to flee from the very hoi polloi she had considered family.

She had always thought in their trueness, their unity. But now, she could only see betrayal, a betrayal she could not escape. "Do you know what the prophecy says? " she asked, her voice shaking with a mixture of choler and fear. Landon’s eyes darkened as he nodded. " I do. But it’s not something you should carry with you right now. You’re not ready for it.

First, you need to learn to control your powers. You demand to understand what they stand for, and how to practice them. And that’s why I’m taking you to a safe place. A place where you can start to unravel the truth. " Rory felt the weight of his words sink in, pressing down on her like a physical force.

There was so much she didn’t understand, so much she needed to learn, and it felt like the weight of the total world was instantly on her shoulders. She was the Moonchild, the one whose baron could convert everything. But she had no idea how to control it, how to embrace it.

The fear that had once been distant and vague was now a constant fellow traveller, clawing at her, demanding answers.

They continued walking, the quiet stillness of the forest only broken by their footsteps. Rory tried to calm the storm raging inside her, to focus on the path ahead. She needed reply. She needed to understand why she had been rejected, why she had been cast out.

She needed to know what was expected of her now that she knew the truth about who she was. Eventually, after what palpate like an eternity, Landon stopped. They had contact with a clearing, a small, disjunct eyepatch of land surrounded by dense trees.

In the center of the clearing stood a small stone cottage, nestled among the foliage. Its stone walls seemed to flux seamlessly with the surrounding wood, as if it had always been there, part of the land itself. Landon motioned for her to follow him, leading her toward the cottage.

As they approached, Rory could feel the atmosphere shift around them. It was subtle, but unmistakable. There was something here, something ancient and herculean that seemed to pulse with life. The door creaked open as Landon pushed it, giving away a dimly lit interior.

The air inside was thick with the scent of herbaceous plant and incense, the flickering light from a few scattered candles spewed shadows on the stone walls. It was humble, yet welcoming. And, in that moment, Rory felt something she hadn’t felt in time of day : a sense of safety.

Landon stepped inside and turned to look at her. " This is where you’ll stay for today. You can rest, but there’s much to do. You have to learn about yourself, Rory. You have to prepare for what’s coming. " Rory stepped across the threshold, her heart heavy with the weight of his words.

The cosmos she had known was gone, and in its place was a future full with uncertainty. But one thing was clear : she was no longer the same person who had fled from the pack. She was the Moonchild. And whatever that meant, whatever she was destined to become, she would face it head - on. Landon shut the door softly behind them, and for the first time in hours, Rory allowed herself to breathe, if entirely for a moment.