The moon was very low in the sky, a small, thin, pale croissant hanging in his soft light on the floors of the forest. There, in the tranquility of night, Selene stood solitary at the edge of the time-trodden clearing, breathing steady while her heart went awry. Secrets were talking among the winds, one of those familiar smells of pine and earth-from a distance, though; tonight there felt something more within.
As if the very air had geared itself for the appointed hour, as if the moon herself watched and waited for Selene to take the first step. She had always expected the moment to arrive, but the crushing weight of her fate seemed heavier than ever.
Her fingers brushed over the well-worn pendant hanging around her neck-there the crest of her bloodline: a crescent moon carved in silver and filled in its center with swirling vortex of magic that only she drunkenly understands. Her grandmother's last words echoed in her mind.
"The moon calls to you, Selene. You must answer."
Her grandmother's voice-now a disembodied echo-lingered at the corners of her mind. For years, Selene had hidden from her shadowy own expectations and from a mundane world she could barely tolerate. Now there was no avoiding the inevitable pull of blood, standing in the heart of the ancient woods.
The moon beckons.
One soft but urgent noise interrupted the tranquility. Selene's eyes went to the movement in the shadows. She was not alone after all. Stepping out between the trees was a presence storm enough for night. The faintest glint of moonlight caught the silhouette of some armor; it was a woman.
Lira.
Selene's blood went faster.
In Aeloria, Lira was already a legend-a warrior who had fought in many wars and crossed every boundary, breaking every expectation. In other words, a woman of fire and freedom, with eyes that saw through every veil, every lie.
Selene had always sensed it, thought it was more than something just unsaid between them, like an invisible string that connected both their fates. But then, no, Lira was not supposed to be here-not in this sacred place.
"What are you doing here?" Selene barely rose above a whisper, but that was a burden of years.
Half-smile, the kind that made Selene's heart beat a little quicker than it had any right to. "I should be asking you that," low and smooth voice. "But I already know. The moon's call." She held her gaze as she stepped closer, her voice softening, "It's hard to ignore, isn't it?"
The silence between them thickened, and Selene's heart raced. Not a chance encounter. This meeting, this moment-everything felt too fated, too inevitable.
Without a doubt, Lira had always had a magnetic pull to Selene. Perhaps it might have something to do with their shared mantle or something other beyond that-the thing that intertwines their fates.
Lira stepped closer, her eyes glinting maliciously bright with the same unspoken understanding. "I didn't expect you to come," she said softly. "I didn't expect that you'd receive to your destiny."
"I haven't received anything," Selene retorted, looking away as her voice fell weakly. "I'm not ready. I don't want this."
"You don't have to be ready," Lira began, stretching out a hand to touch Selene's arm gently. "But you'll find the world does not wait for you to be ready. And neither does the moon."
Selene headed back in her mind, a whirling tempest of thoughts. "I can't do this. This power-the weight of this responsibility-I cannot carry it. I don't even know what it means."
"You don't have to face it alone," Lira reassured. "That's why I'm here."
Selene's heart skipped a beat. "You? Why?"
Lira drew so very close, their bodies almost touching, breathing the same air that crackled like electricity, in a tension neither could deny. "Because I know what it is to run from your fate," she said. Soft, but completely believeable. "And I won't allow you to face it alone."
The world around them fell away as their gazes locked, and during that moment, Selene felt she could see the same uncertainty, the same fear reflected in Lira's eyes. But then it was replaced by something else, something stronger.
They were undeniably magnetically pulled toward each other.
"Why?" Selene demanded again, catching her breath in her throat.
Lira's hand lingered on Selene's arm, and Selene's skin burned where the touch occurred. "Because I believe in you," she whispered, barely audible above the stillness of the forest. "And because I think you need me. Just like I need you."
For a moment, neither of them moved. The air was humming with promise and possibility. And then, as if the world had simply given its permission, Selene crossed the distance between them, her lips coming in contact with Lira's in a kiss that spoke of yearning and a fate that neither could escape.
It was almost as if the moon above them shone more brightly, as if it were acknowledging the bond made in that moment.
Selene drew back first, her heart racing. "What happens now?"
Lira smiled, a glint of determination reflecting in her eyes. "Now we face what is coming. Together."