Chapter 1 The Howling Silence

The sky over Noctarion never changed.

It hung in perpetual twilight-a bruised canvas of violet and ash, pierced only by the pale glow of the Hollow Moon. The moon didn't wax or wane. It pulsed. Faintly. Like a heartbeat buried in stone.

Tonight, it pulsed faster.

Seren Veyra crouched at the edge of Thornmere, the forest of witches, where the trees whispered secrets and the wind carried emotion like scent. Her breath was shallow, her senses sharp. She wasn't supposed to be here.

The Moonbound Pact forbade werewolves from entering Thornmere without permission. But Seren wasn't just a werewolf. She wasn't just a witch. She was something else-something the dominions didn't have a name for.

Her fingers trembled as she reached for the silver pendant around her neck. It was warm. Again.

That only happened when the Hollow Moon stirred.

She had felt it since morning-a low hum in her bones, a pressure behind her eyes, like something ancient pressing against her soul. The witches called it the Drift, and Seren had learned to listen. It was emotion, raw and unfiltered, carried on the wind. Tonight, it screamed.

Behind her, the trees groaned. A figure stepped into view-tall, cloaked, eyes gleaming like wet obsidian.

"You shouldn't be here," the stranger said, voice like velvet over broken glass.

Seren didn't flinch. "Neither should you."

The stranger smiled. "I'm not here for you. I'm here for what's waking."

The pendant pulsed. The ground beneath her feet shivered.

And somewhere deep in the Hollow, something ancient opened its eyes.

---

Seren backed away slowly, her boots crunching over frost-laced leaves. The stranger didn't move. His cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing a glimpse of silver armor etched with runes.

A Keeper.

She had only seen one once before, at a distance, during the Trial of Threads. They were the enforcers of balance, the guardians of the Citadel of Ash. Neutral. Unyielding. Dangerous.

"What's waking?" she asked, voice low.

The Keeper tilted his head. "You feel it, don't you? The pull. The hunger. The Hollow Moon is stirring, and it's calling to its blood."

Seren's heart thudded. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do," he said softly. "You've always known."

He stepped forward, and the trees bent away from him. The Drift recoiled. Even the forest feared him.

Seren's instincts screamed. She turned and ran.

---

Thornmere was alive. The trees shifted, roots slithered, branches reached. Emotion magic saturated the air-fear, grief, rage. It clung to her skin like mist.

She darted between twisted trunks, leapt over tangled roots, and slid down a mossy slope. Her pendant burned against her chest. The Hollow Moon pulsed overhead, casting long shadows that moved when she didn't.

She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the forest, where the trees thinned and the land opened into the Vale of Echoes.

There, she collapsed to her knees, gasping.

The Keeper hadn't followed.

But something else had.

A whisper curled around her, soft and cold: "Seren..."

She spun around. No one.

The whisper came again, this time from within. A memory. A voice she didn't recognize.

"You were never meant to remember."

---

She staggered to her feet, heart pounding. The Vale stretched before her-an expanse of silver grass and ancient stones. In the distance, the Citadel of Ash loomed, its spires piercing the sky like needles.

She had to get there. Had to find answers.

But first, she needed help.

She turned toward the eastern ridge, where the Moonbound wolves kept their hidden den. Her kin. Her curse.

---

The den was carved into the cliffside, masked by illusion and guarded by scent wards. Seren passed through them easily. She was one of them, even if they didn't want her.

Inside, the air was warm and thick with musk. Wolves lounged on stone ledges, sharpening claws, whispering in low growls. They looked up as she entered.

One stood.

Riven, her cousin. Broad-shouldered, amber-eyed, and always angry.

"You smell like witches," he said.

"I was in Thornmere."

"You broke the Pact."

"I saw a Keeper."

That silenced him.

She stepped closer. "Something's wrong, Riven. The Hollow Moon is waking. I felt it. The Keeper said it's calling to its blood."

Riven's eyes narrowed. "You're not its blood."

Seren touched her pendant. "Then why does it burn?"

---

The den fell quiet.

Riven looked around, then motioned for her to follow. He led her into a narrow tunnel that opened into a chamber lit by bioluminescent moss. In the center stood an altar carved from obsidian, etched with the sigil of the Moonbound Pact.

He placed his hand on the stone. It glowed faintly.

"Grandmother said you were born wrong," he said. "Born during the Hollow Moon. No thread. No balance. Just chaos."

Seren stepped forward. "Maybe I was born to fix it."

Riven snorted. "Or break it."

She met his gaze. "I need to go to the Citadel."

He hesitated. "They won't let you in."

"Then I'll break in."