Chapter 1:The Awakening Mark
💫 Marked by Midnight
Chapter 1: The Awakening Mark
The moon was full the night Shivana turned twenty-one — too full. It hung in the sky like an omen, bleeding silver light across the sleeping village of Duskvale. The streets were quiet, except for the whisper of wind that curled around the ancient forest bordering her home.
Shivana sat on the rooftop of her aunt’s cottage, her knees hugged to her chest, staring up at the sky like it held answers. But all it gave her was silence — and the strange burning sensation crawling along her spine.
She hissed quietly, pressing a hand to the base of her neck. It was happening again. The dream. The pain. The mark.
It had started two weeks ago — dark, midnight-like lines swirling across her skin under moonlight, disappearing by dawn. She hadn’t told her aunt. Or anyone. Who would believe her?
She thought she was going crazy.
Until tonight.
Until the mark burned hotter than ever before — like a brand claiming her.
Suddenly, a jolt of pain shot down her spine. She fell forward, choking on a gasp as the world tilted. Her vision blurred, the sky bending, stars swirling into a vortex of silver light. She could hear something… a voice?
“Shivana... it’s time.”
She scrambled to her feet on the roof, wild-eyed, but no one was there. Just the trees. Just the dark.
But something was watching her.
A pair of golden eyes flashed from the forest’s edge. Then disappeared.
---
Inside the house, her aunt lay still in bed, but her breathing quickened. She could feel it too — the change.
Far away, deep in the northern woods, a man stood beneath the same moonlight. His long coat flared in the wind, silver runes along his collar glowing faintly. His eyes were gold, cold, ancient.
“She's awakened,” he muttered. “The bond has begun.”
He turned toward the waiting wolves behind him.
“Prepare the carriage. We leave at dawn. I’m claiming my bride.”
---
Back in Duskvale...
Shivana couldn’t sleep. Her skin felt like it was humming, the mark along her back now fully visible in the moonlight. Twisted script she couldn’t read. Ancient. Living.
She stood before her cracked mirror, heart pounding.
“What is happening to me?”
The reflection flickered.
For a split second, she saw herself with glowing eyes… and a crown of moonlight.
Then it was gone.
