Chapter 6

Snow fell like ash from the evening sky.

The temple grounds were covered with silence, save for the rustling of old sandals against fallen dry leafs.

Feng Hau's breath puffed into the cold as he led Jang Mi through a winding passage she had never seen before — one carved beneath the eastern wing of the temple.

The girl walked beside him, silent but tense. Her hands were hidden in her sleeves, glowing faintly — always faintly now.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked after much contemplating.

"Somewhere your power can grow… " the monk said and paused without turning.

"...safely."

"I thought you said I wasn't ready to start training to be a Val?!"

"Yes, you're not ready…" Feng Hau paused his hand resting on a wooden door, its frame was carved with crescent moons and snowflakes. His voice was quieter now, almost distant.

 "…but the world doesn't wait for readiness, the world doesn't even care if you're ready or not ."He said.

The door creaked open.

Inside stood a tall woman cloaked in deep violet and white, her face was half-veiled in silk and her silver braids draped over her shoulders. Her eyes — ageless but piercing — studied Jang Mi as if she had seen her before.

Well, she had.

"You knew my parents," Jang Mi said quietly.It wasn't a question.

The woman nodded once.

"Your mother was the strongest Val I ever trained," she said. "And the kindest." the she smiled. Jang mi could see her smile even through her veil.

Feng Hau bowed deeply.

"Great Priestess Soyeon. I entrust her to you."

"No one must know," she said sharply, her gaze not leaving Jang Mi. "If the court learns who this girl is… or what she carries…Are you sure she'll be safe here. Even I am not sure about my ability to protect her."

"They won't," Feng Hau promised.

The Great Priestess stepped forward and gently placed her fingers on Jang Mi's forehead and at once, the air changed.

The room filled with a soft hum of energy. The candlelight flickered blue-white, drew toward the girl and snow dusted across the floor even though no windows were open.

"It's already awakening," the priestess whispered. "The Snow Moon's gift."

Jang Mi's lips trembled. What had just happened? Her power had never felt like that.

"What if I can't control it?" she asked. 

"Then it will destroy you." the priestess replied.

"And if you do…" she said as she caressed Jang Mi's face. "…You may one day destroy those who took everything from you."

The words rang through her chest like a bell. She clenched her fists, and for the first time in years, she felt a flicker of something close to fire — not warmth, but purpose.

Feng Hau knelt beside her.

"I will return when the time is right. Until then, trust her. She will teach you to become what you were born to be." he told her.

Jang Mi turned to him, eyes wide and voice small.

"Will I be alone?"

The monk hesitated before telling her.

"Only for a little while."

Then he was gone.

That Night

She stood at the window of her new chamber — a hidden room behind the Val training quarters, where no one could see her.

Outside, the other girls trained outside, beneath the night sky.

Their laughter echoed distantly, a sound she had never been part of.

She pressed her forehead to the cold glass of the tiny window.

"If the Blood Moon child is real," she whispered, "will he be alone forever too?"

Behind her, the Great Priestess watched — but not with pity, with quiet understanding.

"Loneliness sharpens the blade, but love tempers it." She said.

Jang Mi didn't answer but deep inside her chest, something stirred — the first step of a long, secret path.