Prologue
850 Words
Prologue
Twenty Years Ago
The moon turned red the night the Moonfang Royal Clan died.
It hung above Mooncrest Kingdom like a warning, bathing the palace in crimson light.
Fire swallowed the golden towers.
Wolves howled in the distance, but inside the palace, there was only screaming.
“Hold the eastern gate!”
A royal warrior staggered forward, blood running down his armor. His wolf stood beside him, wounded but still baring its fangs at the army surrounding the palace.
Behind him was the final door to the royal chamber.
He knew he wouldn't survive.
But he planted his feet anyway.
“Tell the princess…”
His voice broke.
“Tell her the Moonfang name was never abandoned.”
The enemy charged.
The warrior roared and shifted.
Then the gates disappeared beneath a wave of bodies.
Inside the royal chamber, Queen Lyra Asteria held her newborn daughter against her chest.
The baby was strangely quiet.
Her tiny golden eyes stared at the burning palace through the window.
The queen pressed her lips against her daughter's forehead.
“My little star…”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“You came into a world that will never understand you.”
The doors burst open.
King Aldric entered.
His armor was torn. Blood covered one side of his face.
But when he saw his wife and daughter, something softened in his eyes.
“The eastern gate has fallen.”
Queen Lyra tightened her arms around the baby.
“Who betrayed us?”
Aldric didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Her face went pale.
“The Council?”
He nodded.
Outside the chamber, twelve figures stood beneath the blood-red moon.
The Council of Elders.
At the front stood Magnus Voss.
He stared at the burning palace without triumph.
Only fear.
An elder beside him lowered his voice.
“Magnus… the child is still inside.”
Magnus's jaw tightened.
“She cannot be allowed to grow.”
“She's only a newborn.”
“You saw the prophecy.”
The elder looked away.
Magnus remembered the vision that had haunted him for years.
A golden-eyed woman standing above a world of ashes.
Kingdoms burning beneath her feet.
Thousands of wolves screaming.
And something ancient awakening beneath the Moon Temple.
He had believed the woman in the vision was the cause.
So he had made his decision.
“End the Moonfang bloodline tonight.”
Inside the royal chamber, Aldric looked down at his daughter.
The baby opened her eyes.
For one brief moment, golden light filled the room.
The ancient symbol beneath the floor awakened.
A crescent moon wrapped around a golden feather.
Aldric stepped back.
“No…”
Queen Lyra stared at the symbol.
“What is it?”
“The First Blood.”
The palace shook.
Cracks spread across the stone floor.
Something beneath the kingdom answered the baby's cry.
Aldric grabbed his daughter's tiny hand.
“The world will hunt you.”
Queen Lyra kissed her forehead.
“They will fear you.”
Her voice trembled.
“But remember this…”
“You were loved before you were feared.”
The chamber doors began to crack beneath the force of the invading army.
Aldric looked at his wife.
They both understood.
There was no escape for them.
But perhaps there was one for their daughter.
The queen removed the crescent pendant from her neck and placed it around the baby's.
Then she handed the child to the oldest royal guardian.
“Take her.”
The guardian froze.
“My Queen—”
“Take her somewhere they will never look.”
“Where?”
“The human world.”
Aldric stepped forward.
“Erase every trace of her existence.”
The guardian's eyes filled with tears.
“And when should I bring her back?”
The queen looked at her daughter one last time.
“When the Moon calls her home.”
The doors exploded.
The guardian turned and ran.
Behind him came the sound of steel.
Then silence.
---
Hours later, far beyond the burning kingdom, an old man moved through the forest with a bundle pressed against his chest.
He was exhausted.
Blood stained his clothes.
The baby's cries were the only sound following him.
He finally stopped beneath an ancient tree.
He looked down.
The baby had stopped crying.
Her golden eyes stared back at him.
The old man swallowed hard.
“They'll search for you.”
He pulled a dark blanket around her.
“They'll search for the princess.”
His fingers closed around the crescent pendant.
“But they won't find her.”
He looked toward the distant glow of Mooncrest burning beyond the mountains.
“From tonight…”
His voice broke.
“You are no longer Princess Moonfang.”
The baby reached for his finger.
He gave a sad smile.
“Your past ends here.”
He turned toward the human world.
Behind him, the red moon slowly returned to silver.
But deep beneath the ruined Moon Temple…
something opened its eyes.
And somewhere in the darkness, an ancient voice whispered:
“The last one lives.”
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