Chapter 3 The crescent Keep

They traveled for hours beneath the twin moons. Kael led Elira to a hidden fortress carved into a cliffside-Crescent Keep-where moonlight danced across marble towers and glowing vines.

Inside, Elira met Lady Seris, the Moonfire Order's last surviving High Priestess. She was tall, silver-haired, and blindfolded-yet she saw everything.

"You are the final descendant of the Lunaria bloodline," Seris told Elira, her voice like wind over glass. "The Moonfire chose you. And now, so must you choose."

"Choose what?"

"Whether to awaken your full power-or run from it."

Elira's hands trembled. "I don't understand any of this. I didn't ask for magic. I didn't ask to be special."

Seris gently touched her face. "No one ever asks to bear a crown of stars. But when destiny calls, we must decide if we rise... or fade."

That night, Elira stared at the moons and made her choice.

She would train.

She would learn.

And she would find out why the Shadow Court wanted her dead.

Elira's days became filled with moon rituals, spellcasting, and sword drills-especially under Kael's instruction. He was harsh, but never cruel. When she failed, he picked her up. When she wept, he pretended not to see-but stayed nearby.

But just as she began to understand her powers, another visitor arrived at Crescent Keep.