~Savanna's POV~
The training ground empties fast as the sky darkens.
Steel clinks. Boots scrape dirt. Laughter thins, then fades. One by one, the young warriors turn toward the paths that lead home. No one lingers when the new moon is close.
I stand alone, my blade still in my hand.
I lift my eyes to the sky. There is nothing there. No silver. No glow. Just a blank stretch of dark, like something erased.
Did the Moon Goddess forget me?
Is this how I'm going to live forever?
The questions burn inside my head. I don't speak to them. My jaw tightens until it aches. Heat builds in my chest, thick and restless, like fire trapped under skin.
The wind brushes past me, cool and light, but I barely feel it. My body already knows what's coming. It always knows.
The new moon never comes gently for me.
Three days. Sometimes four. That's how long the dark spirit takes control. I don't guide it. I don't slow it. I only wait and hope the walls hold.
My fingers curl tighter around the hilt of my blade.
"I can't stay here," I whisper.
I turn and run.
The narrow road cuts through bushes and low trees. Branches scratch my arms. Leaves snap under my boots. My breath comes sharp and fast, but I don't slow. The sky feels too heavy above me.
Every step home feels like a race against myself.
When I reach our house, I stop hard and bend forward, hands on my knees. Stone walls. Clay packed between the cracks. A thatched roof dark against the sky. Home.
Voices drift out through the open door.
My elder brother, Nicholas, laughs. My junior sister, Amanda, argues. My mother's voice rises over theirs, steady and warm as she cooks. The smell of food hits me, rich and familiar. For one brief moment, my chest tightens.
Lila's voice follows. My elder sister, the Beta of our pack, Moon-kingdom. Calm. Controlled. She speaks to Father in low tones. Pack matters.
Normal sounds. Normal life.
I straighten.
There is no time for it.
I step inside without greeting anyone. No one stops me. No one ever does on nights like this.
I go straight to my room.
My weapons hit the floor with a dull clatter. Sword. Dagger. Spearhead. I tear off my leather armor and let it fall where it lands. Sweat chills on my skin.
The heat inside me flares.
My hands begin to shake.
"Lock the shrine," I shout.
The words tear out of my throat.
Everything moves at once.
The shrine only holds if the door is sealed from the outside before the dark spirit peaks.
One careless moment, and bones go silent.
Footsteps rush behind me. My mother gasps. Nicholas calls my name. Amanda freezes. Father curses under his breath. Lila is already moving.
I run.
The shrine room sits behind the house, small and squat, built of old stone. I push through the doorway and stumble inside.
Candles burn along the walls. Ash coats the floor in a wide circle. Bones lie half-buried in gray dust, old and smooth.
I barely cross the threshold before Father and Lila slam the door shut.
Iron scrapes stone.
The bar drops into place.
The sound echoes through my skull.
The room shudders as the spirit hits me.
Pain explodes along my spine. My fingers stretch. Nails crack and lengthen. Bones grind inside my arms and legs. My jaw locks as something heavy pushes up from my chest.
I scream.
The sound that comes out isn't mine.
It's deep. Rough. A man's voice layered over mine, louder and crueler.
I slam my fists into the door. Into the walls. Into the ceiling. Each blow should shatter stone.
Instead, an invisible force throws me back every time. The room answers my violence with its own.
Hands I can't see strike me. Push me. Hold me down.
The shrine does its job.
It is my prison.
It is my shield.
Time breaks apart.
The dark spirit moves when it wants. I stay locked inside for days during the new moon window. I don't sleep. I don't eat unless someone dares slide food through the narrow slot.
Sometimes I count the hours by the candles. Sometimes I don't count at all.
On the second day, there is a knock.
Three slow taps.
"Savannah," my father says.
I press my forehead to the cold stone and force my voice steady.
"I'm here."
Silence stretches.
"Say my name," he says.
"Father."
The door creaks open just enough for him to step inside. He carries a bowl. Steam curls into the air. My favorite stew.
He sets it down and keeps his distance.
"You'll be fine," he says softly. "This will pass."
I eat. I drink. I let myself believe him.
When he leaves, he touches my shoulder.
The door closes.
Footsteps fade.
***
The spirit comes back hard.
I slam into the wall again. This time, nothing stops me.
Stone cracks.
I freeze.
I hit another wall. No resistance. No force pushing back.
Cold dread cuts through me.
The door.
I stagger toward it and press my palm against the wood.
It opens.
My father forgot to lock it.
The sky outside is pale with early morning light. The house is quiet. Too quiet.
I step out.
Nicholas and Amanda are in the yard, sweeping dirt and leaves. Nicholas looks up first. His face breaks into a smile.
"Savannah—"
I don't hear the rest.
The spirit surges forward and takes everything with it.
I jump.
Nicholas screams once. My hands tear into him. His body shudders, then collapses into sand, slipping through my fingers like ash.
Amanda runs.
I don't chase her.
I ran the other way.
The trees swallow me fast. I don't meet anyone on the path. If I had, they would be dead. I don't think so. I don't slow until my legs give out.
The spirit loosens its grip.
Pain crashes back into my body all at once. Every muscle screams. Blood coats my skin. I collapse into the dirt and black out.
When I wake, the sun is high.
Memory hits me like a blade.
Nicholas.
I sob until my throat burns. Until my chest aches so badly I can barely breathe. His face won't leave my mind. His laugh. His voice.
"My brother," I whisper. "My brother."
What kind of monster does this?
Who cursed me like this?
No answer comes.
I stand and run again. This time, I won't stop.
Moon-Kingdom blurs behind me as I cross the boundary stones. My feet carry me without thought. I don't want to explain. I don't want judgment.
I want to disappear.
Red masks block my path.
They stand silent. Faceless. Still. I shove past them. My hands pass through like smoke. They don't react.
I step into the neighboring pack's land.
People walk by. Wolves laugh. Children run. I shout. I grab an arm.
No one sees me.
No one hears me.
My knees buckle.
"Why?" I cry. "Why only me, and not the rest of my pack members?"
I push forward again.
The world bends.
I stumble backward and slam into stone.
I'm back at Moon-Kingdom's border. The masked figures stand where they were before.
"Go back," they say.
Over and over.
I ask them everything. Who they are. Why do they follow me? Why won't they let me go
? Why always me?They never answer.
I turn back.
Moon-Kingdom waits.
My prison.
My refuge.
As I walk, one thought claws through the grief.
If death is the only thing that can end this, maybe I should stop running and let it take me.