chapter 3: The Mark Of The Guardian

Luna gasped as her eyes snapped open.

She was back in the forest, lying on the cool earth beneath the ancient tree. The night air wrapped around her, thick with the scent of damp leaves and pine. Everything was still, as if the world had been holding its breath.

Yet inside her, something was different. Awake.

She sat up slowly, her body aching with a strange heaviness, as if she had traveled across worlds. Her fingers curled into the soil. The visions still burned behind her eyes—the Astral Chamber, the Guardians, the silver flame that had sunk into her very being.

Had it been real?

Her pulse pounded. If it was, then—

A voice shattered the silence.

"Luna!"

She flinched.

The voice was urgent, frantic. Twigs snapped under hurried footsteps. Leaves rustled as someone pushed through the undergrowth, fast and desperate.

Then—

"Luna! Where are you?"

She knew that voice.

Mother.

Luna turned sharply, her breath catching. Through the trees, a figure emerged—a woman with wild, unbound hair, her dark cloak billowing behind her as she ran.

Seraphina.

Her mother's face was pale in the moonlight, her dark eyes searching the clearing with raw fear. She clutched the edges of her cloak, her chest rising and falling with deep, ragged breaths.

The moment her eyes locked onto Luna, she froze.

"Luna," she breathed, relief softening her features—only to be replaced by alarm.

She rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside her.

"Where have you been?" She grasped Luna's face, her fingers firm yet trembling. "I've been looking everywhere for you! You were gone for hours—I thought—" Her voice broke. "I thought I lost you."

Luna opened her mouth, but the words tangled in her throat.

She wanted to explain, but how could she?

That she had been taken to a place beyond this world? That she had stood before the Guardians, beings of legend? That they had called her the last of them?

Seraphina's fingers dug into her shoulders. "Do you have any idea how long you've been missing?"

Luna blinked. "Missing?"

Her mother let out a shaky breath. "The sun set hours ago. You vanished before dusk. The hunters searched the woods. I searched the riverbanks—" Her voice cracked. "I thought—"

She stopped herself, shaking her head.

Luna's stomach twisted.

She hadn't realized.

Time had been different in the Astral Chamber. It had stretched and blurred, the moments endless. But here—

Her mother had been searching for her, fearing the worst.

Guilt pressed against Luna's ribs.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Seraphina pulled her close, holding her tightly. Luna could feel her mother's heartbeat, fast and unsteady.

Then—Her mother stiffened.

She pulled back abruptly, her sharp gaze locking onto something.

Luna followed her eyes—

And froze.

A mark.

Glowing silver beneath her skin, just below her wrist.

The symbol pulsed softly, an intricate rune made of delicate lines and shifting light.

It was the same one from the tree.

The Mark of the Guardian.

Seraphina's breath hitched. Her hand flew to her mouth.

"No…" Her voice was barely a whisper.

Luna's chest tightened. "Mother? What's wrong?"

Seraphina didn't answer. She only stared at the mark, her expression unreadable.

But Luna saw it—the flicker of fear.

Her mother knew what it was.

Luna swallowed hard. "How do you—"

The forest shifted.

The trees, the air—something changed.

A stillness settled over them, deeper than before. The rustling leaves stopped. The distant hum of insects vanished.

A heavy presence pressed against Luna's senses.

She turned, scanning the trees.

And then she saw it.

A shadow.

It stood at the edge of the clearing, just beyond the reach of the moonlight. A tall, unmoving figure, its outline barely visible among the trunks.

At first, it didn't move.

Then—its eyes opened.

Two red glows, like embers in the dark.

Luna's breath caught.

A slow step forward. Not a threat—a sign.

A warning.

The moment she had awakened, something had stirred.

Something was watching.

Seraphina grabbed her wrist, fingers pressing against the glowing mark. "We need to leave.

Luna hesitated. The shadow wasn't approaching, wasn't attacking. It was waiting.

For what?

The mark pulsed beneath her mother's grip, warmth spreading through her veins. The moment Luna felt it, the shadow reacted.

It stepped back.

Then—vanished.

As if it had never been there.

Luna stared at the empty space where it had stood.

Her mother's grip tightened.

"This is only the beginning," Seraphina murmured, her voice distant. "They've sensed it now. They know."

Luna turned to her, a chill creeping down her spine.

"Know what?"

Seraphina met her gaze, her expression unreadable.

"That you've awakened."

No more questions, we have to leave now!