Chapter 2: The Guardian’s Awakening

The night air wrapped around Luna like a veil, cool yet charged with an unseen force. She remained on her knees, staring at the shimmering leaf in her palm. The visions still burned in her mind—flames, war, a dark figure lurking at the edges of her consciousness.

Her breath came in shallow gasps.

What does it mean?

The forest around her was too quiet. Even the usual hum of crickets had vanished.

Then, the tree before her moved.

Not in the way ordinary trees swayed with the wind—this was deliberate, controlled. The bark rippled like water, and the silver patterns that glowed upon its trunk pulsed in a steady rhythm.

Luna's fingers tightened around the leaf.

Then, a voice.

Soft yet powerful, ancient yet strangely familiar.

"You have come at last, Eclipse Child."

Luna gasped, scrambling to her feet. She spun in a full circle, searching for the speaker.

"Who—who said that?"

The wind whispered through the trees, carrying the voice once more.

"We have waited long for you."

A shiver ran down Luna's spine.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice barely steady.

The glowing symbols on the tree pulsed faster, and suddenly, the ground beneath her feet shifted. A circle of runes appeared, spreading outward in an intricate spiral. The earth trembled as if something long dormant had awakened.

Luna stepped back, but the moment she did, a force tugged at her chest.

Not physically—something inside her responded. A connection.

The silver patterns on the tree blazed like fire. The air hummed.

Then—

A burst of light erupted from the ground, and the world around her twisted, folding in on itself like ripples in water.

Luna barely had time to scream before everything went dark.

The Astral Chamber

When Luna's vision cleared, she was no longer in the forest.

She stood in a vast, open space where the sky was neither day nor night—only an endless stretch of swirling silver and gold, the constellations shifting in slow, deliberate motion above her. There was no wind, yet the air pulsed, alive with unseen energy. The ground beneath her feet was impossibly smooth, like polished obsidian, reflecting the celestial expanse overhead.

Luna turned in slow wonder, her heart pounding in her chest. The vastness of this place swallowed her, made her feel both insignificant and strangely important.

"Where… am I?" she whispered.

A soft glow appeared before her, flickering like the first breath of dawn. Then, one by one, three figures emerged from the shimmering light.

They were cloaked in flowing robes woven from the very fabric of the cosmos, their forms outlined in shifting stars. Their faces were obscured by shadows that moved like mist, yet their presence was overwhelming—ancient, powerful, and all-knowing. The very air around them trembled.

One stepped forward, and though they made no sound, the space itself seemed to shift in acknowledgment of their movement.

"Welcome, Luna of Malot," the first figure intoned, their voice layered, as though many voices spoke as one.

Luna instinctively stepped back, her pulse quickening. "Who… who are you?"

The second figure lifted a hand, fingers like streams of liquid silver. The constellations above twisted and reformed, shaping images in the sky. Visions.

Luna gasped as she saw—

• A city engulfed in flames, its towers crumbling into ash as shadows spread like ink across the land.

• A figure cloaked in darkness, their very presence suffocating, eyes like smoldering embers.

• A golden crown, untouched, waiting upon an empty throne.

• Herself, standing at the center of a battlefield, her hands glowing with raw energy, her expression unreadable.

The third Guardian finally spoke, their voice softer but no less commanding.

"We are the last of the Guardians, the remnants of an order long forgotten."

Luna's breath hitched.

The Guardians.

She had heard the name before—whispers in old stories, myths passed down in Malot. They were said to be the protectors of balance, wielders of an ancient magic so powerful that it could shift the course of history.

But they were gone. They had vanished centuries ago, leaving nothing but fading legends.

Luna swallowed hard, her voice barely steady. "Why am I here?"

The first Guardian raised a hand, and for a brief moment, Luna felt the space around her tighten—like the universe itself was holding its breath.

"Because," the Guardian said, their voice carrying the weight of prophecy, "you are the last."

The last.

Luna's heartbeat roared in her ears.

"The last what?" she whispered.

The second Guardian lifted both hands, and the visions returned—clearer, sharper. This time, she felt them. The heat of the burning city. The cold dread of the shadowed figure's gaze. The weight of the unseen crown.

The battlefield

Luna staggered backward as the images faded, her chest rising and falling in panicked breaths.

"I—I don't understand!" she gasped.

The third Guardian stepped forward. "A great war is coming," they said solemnly. "The world stands at the edge of ruin. The darkness that once consumed the old kingdoms is stirring once more. And only the last Guardian can stop it."

Luna shook her head, retreating another step. "No… no, that's not me. You must have made a mistake!"

The first Guardian raised a hand, palm open. A small, silver flame appeared, flickering like a star brought to life. It burned with an ethereal glow, pulsing with a rhythm that matched the rapid beating of Luna's heart.

"You are that Guardian, Luna," the Guardian declared.

Luna felt as though the ground beneath her had crumbled away.

"No," she choked out. "I—I can't be. I'm just—just me. A girl from Malot. I don't have that kind of power! I don't even know how to fight!"

The second Guardian's voice was calm yet unyielding. "Power is not always something one chooses. Sometimes, it chooses you."

The silver flame trembled—then, without warning, it leaped from the Guardian's palm, streaking toward her in a blur of light.

Luna barely had time to scream before it struck her.

The fire engulfed her ,But it did not burn.

Instead, warmth surged through her, spreading to the very core of her being. Light coiled through her veins, filling every inch of her body with a power unlike anything she had ever known. It was ancient, endless, a force that had been waiting—waiting for her.

Luna squeezed her eyes shut as the energy roared inside her, her limbs trembling. Visions flared to life again, but this time they weren't just glimpses. She felt them. The rise of forgotten kings. The wars fought in shadow. The whispers of Guardians long before her.

And then—

A voice. Not the Guardians'.

A voice that belonged to something much, much older.

"You have awakened."

Luna gasped, her eyes snapping open. The silver flame flickered once, then disappeared, its warmth lingering inside her like an ember waiting to ignite.

She fell to her knees, hands clenched into fists, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gulps.

The Guardians watched in silence. Luna finally understood. She wasn't just different.

She had been chosen. And her journey… had only just begun.