The Forgotten one
Beneath the mountain haven, deep within the sacred tunnels once used by the Moonborn for rituals and retreat, Aria stood in a circle of ancient stone. Etched symbols pulsed faintly under her feet—remnants of an age that had been buried in silence.
The black feather lay in the center of the circle.
They had tried burning it.
Freezing it.
Breaking it.
Nothing worked.
Kade leaned against the wall nearby, his arms crossed, gaze fixed on the artifact like it might leap into his throat at any second.
"I've seen a lot of cursed things," he muttered. "But that feather... it feels like it's watching us."
Mira stepped forward and knelt by the circle. "I recognize the energy."
Aria glanced at her. "From the crypt?"
"No," Mira said. "From before I was taken. When I was still in the womb."
Everyone stilled.
"You remember that?" Reid asked, incredulous.
Mira didn't blink. "Some of us were born with memories. Things passed through blood. Dreams. Whispers. They told stories of a being older than the Moon itself."
She reached toward the feather.
"Kai, help me."
The stormborn hesitated, then stepped forward and held his palm over it. Sparks of lightning danced from his fingers, not touching it, but sensing something within.
Kai's brow furrowed. "It's not just a message. It's a marker."
Aria took a step back. "A beacon?"
"Yes," Mira said. "And it's already sent its signal."
---
That night, the dreams came again.
Aria stood in a world of ash—endless gray stretching to a horizon made of bones. The sky above her was cracked like glass, bleeding starlight.
She saw him.
The Forgotten One.
He had no face, only a mouth that never stopped whispering. His limbs were long, stretched like shadows made flesh. Chains hung from his arms, but they floated, as though weightless.
When he spoke, his voice came from everywhere.
"Your circle is flawed. Your blood is weak. Your howl is incomplete."
Aria tried to run—but the dream held her.
"You awaken powers you do not understand. You play gods without paying their price."
His voice was calm.
Cold.
Final.
"I will claim the Moon."
---
She woke gasping, her skin slick with sweat. Kade sat up beside her, his eyes already scanning for danger. He had sensed it too—through the bond.
"You saw him," he said.
She nodded, barely breathing. "He's real."
And he was coming.
---
The next morning, Mira gathered the others in the circle cave.
"There's a name," she said, unrolling an ancient scroll they had recovered from the crypt ruins. "One older than the Moonborn line. One not written in any known tongue."
She tapped the center.
There, burned into the parchment, was a sigil shaped like a spiral swallowing itself.
"This is the sign of Velkarin."
"Who?" Lyra asked, one eyebrow raised.
Mira's voice dropped. "The first werewolf."
Reid stared. "I thought that was a myth."
"It was," Mira said. "Until now."
Kai folded his arms. "You're telling me some ancient god-wolf is rising to eat the Moon?"
"No," Aria said. "He's rising to replace it."
---
They didn't wait.
Preparations began that same hour.
The haven had grown—four more packs had answered Aria's call. Dozens of Moonborn stood ready to defend what they had built. Blacksmiths forged weapons laced with silver and obsidian. Spellcasters drew protective circles across the clearing.
Kade took command of the warriors.
Reid trained the young ones.
Lyra sharpened strategy.
Kai prepared storm barriers.
Mira guarded the archives.
And Aria… she led.
Even when the fear clawed at her spine.
Even when the feather still pulsed in the circle below.
She led.
---
But Velkarin was not waiting.
That night, lightning split the sky—but not natural lightning.
Flames fell with it.
A crack opened in the earth near the southern ridge—and something began to crawl out.
Reid saw it first on patrol: a being with fur like liquid oil and eyes like broken glass.
He called it a scout.
It didn't howl.
It sang.
A note so low it made birds fall dead from the sky.
---
When Aria confronted it at the edge of the woods, it didn't attack.
It spoke.
"You are not her."
Aria narrowed her eyes. "Who?"
"The Moon Queen. The One Who Fell. The One I once loved."
Aria's mark flared.
"I am not her," she said. "But I will stop you."
The creature bared its jagged teeth.
"Then you are already broken."
And it vanished into smoke.
---
Later that night, Aria stood alone under the moonlight, watching clouds swirl unnaturally.
Kade joined her, silent at first.
"He's not just a monster," she whispered. "He's a memory. A regret."
He nodded. "And regrets are the most dangerous kind of ghosts."
She turned to him. "Do you think we can win?"
Kade didn't hesitate. "If we fall, we fall together."
Aria looked back up at the sky, where the stars had begun to disappear—one by one.
And she whispered:
"Then let the Moon hear us howl."
---
Far be
yond, in a canyon carved by time…
Velkarin stood upon a throne of bones, surrounded by wraiths in wolf form.
The sky above him pulsed like a heartbeat.
He smiled.
And spoke a single word:
"Soon."