chapter 17

When Dreams Bleed

Astrael ran through the woods.

But it wasn't snow beneath his feet — it was ash.

The trees whispered his name.

But they weren't speaking it with wonder…

They spoke with fear.

> "You shouldn't be awake yet," a voice hissed.

He turned.

A child stood there.

No older than seven.

Eyes glowing violet, just like his.

But his mouth was stitched shut.

Astrael tried to speak, but no sound came out.

Then—

The moon above shattered into pieces.

And the world went white.

---

He jolted awake.

The watchtower was silent.

Everyone still slept… except Lyra.

She stood by the window, staring into the distance.

He rubbed his temples.

> "Another dream," he muttered.

But his hands trembled.

Because this time…

he remembered the child's face.

And he'd seen that stitched mouth before.

In an ancient drawing.

One that Malrik had shown him from a banned tome.

The child was called the Silence Seed.

A failed Moonborne…

who was buried alive to prevent his scream from tearing time itself.

---

Astrael found Malrik by dawn.

> "That old book—the one about forbidden lunar rituals.

You said there were others like me."

Malrik hesitated.

> "There were. But most of them died… or worse."

> "Worse?"

Malrik looked away.

> "Some were split between realms.

Not alive. Not dead.

Half-memory. Half-nightmare."

Astrael felt cold in his bones.

> "I saw one. In my dream.

He didn't speak, but I knew him."

Malrik's expression darkened.

> "Then your dreams aren't dreams anymore.

They're messages.

From the Moon itself."

---

Meanwhile, Lyra walked deep into the trees alone.

Back to the place she had sworn never to return.

A grove.

Silent.

Sacred.

Stained in memory.

She dropped to her knees beside an old stone — cracked and half-buried.

And carved into it:

Vaelira. Daughter of Lunara.

> "You were my twin," Lyra whispered.

"I loved you. But you chose destruction."

The wind stirred the leaves.

And in the hush that followed, Lyra finally asked:

> "What if you were right… and I was the mistake?"

---

At the same moment—

in a place beyond time—

Vaelira knelt before a floating figure made of starlight and shadow.

> "The crack has formed," she said.

"And the Moonborne has begun to remember."

The figure spoke without moving.

> "Then soon, the Gate will open.

And the Second Moon… will fall."

Vaelira rose, smiling.

> "My sister will try to stop me."

The figure's laughter echoed.

> "Let her try.

She already chose wrong once."

---

Back in the waking world, Astrael stared at the sky.

The fracture in the Second Moon was widening.

Barely visible.

But growing.

And inside him, a voice whispered—

> "The silence is breaking.

And when it does…

the past will scream."

---

To be continued…

---