moonlight serenade

The New Transfer

*Chapter 1: The New Transfer*

The wind howled against the window as the train curved through thick pine-covered hills. Lyra Moonhart sat quietly, her chin resting in her palm, her eyes fixed on the growing silhouette of the mountain ahead. Somewhere beyond that peak lay Lunaris Academy—the school she never applied to, yet was summoned by.

Her acceptance letter had appeared one morning in her mailbox, written in silver ink on parchment, sealed with a strange emblem: a full moon crossed by a sword.

*We await your arrival by the next full moon. Do not be late.*

There was no signature.

Her aunt had gone pale the moment she saw it. “Your mother went there,” she whispered. “And your father... vanished shortly after.”

Lyra pressed her coat tighter. She didn’t know much about her parents. Her aunt had raised her, never saying much about where they came from. But something about the name *Lunaris* stirred something ancient in her bones. Like she’d heard it in a dream.

The train screeched to a stop. A voice echoed across the car: “Final destination. All passengers for Lunaris Academy, disembark.”

In her dorm room, Lyra met her roommate, *Selene Vale*—a girl with silver eyes and books stacked as high as her bed. “Don’t wander outside past midnight,” Selene said casually. “Especially not near the western woods.”

“Why?”

“That’s where the wolves roam.”

Lyra paused. “Wolves?”

Selene smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You’ll see soon enough.”

Outside, the moon bathed the academy in silver light. Somewhere beyond the forest, a lone wolf howled—low and long.

And Lyra, for reasons she couldn’t explain, felt her heart answer.

She stepped onto a stone platform lit by floating lanterns. No town. No station master. Just a single path leading into the forest, glowing faintly as if moonlight had melted into the stone.

***

The school appeared just before midnight. Grand towers stretched toward the sky, and the main building stood like a castle carved from white marble and obsidian. Glowing runes marked the arched entrance. Lyra's footsteps echoed as she walked into the courtyard, clutching the letter.

“Late.”

She turned. A tall, silver-haired man with piercing eyes stood by the gate. His voice was calm but cold.

“Name?” he asked.

“Lyra Moonhart.”

The man looked at her again. “So it begins,” he muttered, then gestured. “You’re Dorm 3-B. Follow the lights.”

She walked past rows of students, some laughing, some sparring with floating orbs. But then she saw *him*.

In the shadows of the west wing stood a boy. Tall, dark, and silent. His black hair shimmered under the moonlight, but what truly caught her breath was his eyes—golden, fierce, not quite human.

For a second, they locked eyes.

And for that moment, the world fell silent.

Then he turned, disappearing into the trees beyond the academy walls.