EPISODE 6: The First Hunt In The City
982 Words
Aria woke up choking on silence.
Not quiet…..silence. The kind that presses against your ears until your chest tightens and your instincts start screaming before your brain catches up.
She sat bolt upright in bed.
The city lights of Pravielle still glowed beyond the glass wall, silver and gold bleeding into the dark like nothing was wrong. Traffic hummed faintly below. Normal. Too normal.
Her wrist burned.
Aria clenched her teeth and grabbed it. The crescent moonmark pulsed once, slow and heavy, like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to her.
“…What now?” she whispered.
The answer came as a feeling. Fear.
Not hers.
Someone else’s. Sharp, panicked, close.
She didn’t bother putting on shoes.
The hallway outside her room was empty, which was the first bad sign. The Bloodmoon Tower never slept. There were always guards, always movement, always that low wolf-hum under everything.
Tonight? Nothing.
She rounded the corner toward the training floor ... .and nearly hit Kael.
He caught her shoulders automatically, eyes already hard. “You felt it.”
“Yeah.” Her voice came out rough. “What is it?”
“Unregistered shifting in the east district.” He didn’t soften the words. Didn’t pad them. “Shadowfang.”
That name slid straight down her spine.
Rian leaned against the far wall, jaw tight, fingers flexing like he wanted to break something. “They’re testing us. Seeing how fast we respond.”
Lucien stood half in shadow, half out, eyes reflecting something darker than the room. “And whether the princess reacts.”
Aria’s stomach twisted. “So they want me to panic.”
“They want you exposed,” Kael corrected.
Dorian stepped closer, voice gentle but urgent. “Which is why you’re staying here.”
Aria opened her mouth.
Kael cut her off. “This isn’t training, Aria.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t argue.”
She stared at him. Really stared. By the way his shoulders were already tense, like he was bracing for an impact that hadn’t hit yet.
“I’m not asking to fight,” she said. “I just…..something’s wrong. Worse than usual.”
Lucien’s gaze flicked to her wrist. “Your power’s reacting before the threat arrives.”
Kael hesitated.
That was all it took.
The next thing Aria knew, she was in the backseat of the car with the city racing past the windows, heart panting so hard it hurt.
The east district looked normal at first glance. Shops are still open. Streetlights glowing. But the wolves… the wolves were wrong. Sat too still. Watching too hard.
Fear clung to the air like smoke.
Aria’s chest tightened. “He’s already here.”
Kael’s head snapped toward her. “Where?”
She didn’t answer.
She shooted .
“Aria!” Dorian shouted.
She cut down a passage, breath sharp, pulse roaring. The fear got louder with every step. A child’s fear. High and panicked and close…..
She skidded to a stop.
A market stall lay overturned in the street. A woman squatted behind it, arms wrapped around a small boy whose face was streaked with tears.
And standing in front of them, smiling like this was a game, was a Shadowfang scout.
He wasn’t huge. Wasn’t armored. Just lean, fast, eyes glowing red as fresh blood.
“Well,” he said lightly, gaze sliding to Aria. “You’re brighter than I imagined.”
The woman screamed.
The scout lunged.
Aria didn’t think.
She stepped forward and threw her hand out.
Silver light crashed into existence between them, solid as a wall. The impact rattled her bones, sent a shock up her arm, knocked the scout back with a snarl.
Her heart stuttered.
She’d done that.
Kael hit the scout a second later, all brutal perfection, driving him into brick hard enough to crack stone. Rian followed, blades flashing, cutting off escape. Shadows surged as Lucien moved, the darkness itself bending to his will.
The scout laughed anyway.
Blood dripped from his mouth as he pushed himself upright, eyes never leaving Aria. “So it’s true.”
Aria’s skin burned under his gaze.
“The lost princess,” he rasped. “Alive. Glowing. Bleeding.”
Her breath hitched.
“Tell them,” he went on, voice thick with triumph. “Tell them the Bloodmoon heir stands unguarded in the open.”
Kael moved to strike….
Too late.
Darkness bursted outward, swallowing the street in a heartbeat. When it cleared, the scout was gone.
Whistle shrieked somewhere far off.
Dorian was at Aria’s side instantly, hands on her arms. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, but her hands wouldn’t stop trembling. “He knew. He knew who I was.”
Lucien’s voice was soft. Dangerous. “That was the point.”
They didn’t stay long enough for questions.
Back at the tower, lockdown protocols banged into place. Screens lit up. Voices overlapped. Guards rushed in and out.
Aria stood in the middle of it all, numb.
Then one of the technicians swore.
“Uh… Kael?”
“What.”
“We’ve got a problem.”
The screen shifted—and Aria saw herself.
Barefoot. Silver-lit. Standing between a monster and a child like she belonged there.
The angle was bad.
Too clear.
Too public.
Rian blew out a breath. “That’s already online.”
Kael’s jaw clenched. “How many views?”
“Rising.”
Aria’s reflection stared back at her from the screen. Not weak. Not hiding.
Exposed.
Her moonmark pulsed again……harder this time.
Lucien still went.
“What?” Aria asked.
He looked at her slowly. “Someone just responded.”
The lights in the room flickered.
Then every screen went black.
And in the sudden darkness, a single message appeared in glowing red text:
FOUND YOU.
Aria’s breath caught.
Somewhere, deep beneath the city, something ancient smiled.
And the hunt officially began.
- Writer
