chapter 12
What the Moon Forgets
The temple was gone.
In its place stood only quiet earth,
burnt trees, and ash floating like snow.
For the first time in years,
the Third Moon had vanished.
But its disappearance left behind a strange stillness…
and a strange emptiness inside Lyra.
---
They had won.
And yet… something didn't feel like victory.
She stood on the edge of the ruins,
her cloak fluttering in the wind,
watching the sky where the Third Moon once hung.
Calem stepped beside her, arms folded.
> "You're not happy."
Lyra (quietly):
> "I don't think I know what happiness feels like anymore."
---
Malrik approached, holding three pieces of the shattered Black Star Icon in a leather pouch.
> "These still hum with his energy. We can't leave them here."
Lyra:
> "No… we bury them. Deep. Far from the moons."
Calem frowned.
> "And if someone digs them up?"
Lyra turned to face him. Her eyes were colder now.
> "Then they'll face me."
---
That night, they camped near the river.
The sky was calm, lit by the first moon alone.
A quiet fire cracked between them.
They didn't speak much —
but silence between them now felt shared, not empty.
---
Later, alone by the water's edge…
Lyra knelt, her fingers brushing the stream.
The reflection of the single moon stared back at her.
But then —
the water shimmered. Shifted.
And in the ripples…
a second moon appeared.
Just for a moment.
Then it was gone.
---
She didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
> "It's not over," she whispered.
A soft voice replied behind her:
> "It never really was."
She turned.
And saw a woman in silver robes,
her eyes glowing white,
her presence ancient.
---
> "Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
> "I watched when your kind first named the moons.
I watched when they forgot their true purpose."
Lyra (cautious):
> "What purpose?"
The woman leaned closer.
> "The moons do not only reflect light, child.
They reflect memory.
And some memories… are too dangerous to return."
---
Lyra stood, spine stiff.
> "Then tell me what I've forgotten."
But the woman only shook her head.
> "No. You must remember on your own.
When the Second Moon rises again —
he will return with it."
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
> "We destroyed him."
> "You destroyed a shadow," the woman whispered.
"Not the one who cast it."
---
Suddenly, the woman vanished —
as if she'd been moonlight all along.
Lyra stared at the water once more.
Two moons shimmered again, then disappeared.
She turned to walk back to camp,
her fingers brushing the pouch that held the star fragments.
Inside one of them…
something had begun to pulse.
---
Far away, in the north…
A boy opened his eyes in the snow.
He had no name.
Only pain.
And in the sky above him…
the Second Moon had already risen.
---
To be continued…
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