Enshrouded in the midnight, the heavens sparkled like scattered diamonds over the velvet night sky. Selene Stormwind, the youngest and troubled member of the ancient Stormwind bloodline, sat on a rather sharp edge of a very old cliff, casting her dark and beautiful eyes over the horizon. The winds tussled with the cloak, the dark folds rippling at the touch of the breeze like a raven's wings, but the moon held her attention as it cast long shadows across the land with its pale glow.
It has been weeks since her encounter with Kaelen-the stranger who entered her life as suddenly as the storm winds that carry her name. The kiss they shared under the moon seemed to seal within her something that could not be described, as if her heart had been tied to his despite the obvious distance.
She attempted to forget him-to banish all thoughts of him from her mind-yet whenever she shut her eyes, it was Kaelen's features, that penetrating look, and unexpressed words that addressed her. They had not spoken since that night, yet it felt like some change had taken place between them. Something huge. Something inevitable.
"Selene." A voice rang in her ears, and she was drawn back from her reverie. She really did not need to look up to know who it was. Standing behind her, arms crossed over her chest, was Seraphina, her elder sister, gazing at the same moon. "For hours, you've been staring at that horizon. What's on your mind?"
Selene sighed, shifted her position, and looked down to the ground below her. "Nothing important. Just... thinking."
Seraphina did not buy that, though. Her expecting smile proved she's familiar with Selene's depression. "It's him, isn't it?"
Selene's breath caught. She turned startled to Seraphina, so easily having read her mind. "I don't know what you mean."
Then Seraphina sat beside her on the edge of the cliff, in some sense comforting yet almost dominating. "You've been dumbfounded after that night. And I'm watching you gazing at that moon, as though waiting for something-someone."
Selene's clenched fists, a mixture of frustration and uncertainty welling up into her. "I don't need anyone. I have my way. I have my duty."
"You say that, but I've known you long enough t'know when something calls to you," Seraphina said softly and gazed at the stars. "And this isn't just about the prophecy anymore, is it?"
The prophecy. The ancient words that had molded the Stormwind family for generations. It had always been and would remain a shadow in Selene's life since her birth. The Stormwind bloodline was destined to change the course of history, a chosen one born under the first full moon of summer, with the power to alter the fate of realms. Selene was to be that one.
But lately, something felt off. The prophecy felt more like a cage than a blessing, and the moon that had guided her ancestors now seemed like a tether, drawing her in only to chain her to a future she wasn't sure she wanted.
"What if I don't want to follow the path they have made for me?" Selene said it a bit tremulously, and then tried to cover it up with defiance. "What if I want to carve my own future without the weight of the Stormwind legacy hanging over it?"
Seraphina's eyes softened with understanding but spoke with quiet strength when she replied: "You are stronger than any prophecy, Selene. You always have been. But you need to understand something: You can't escape what you're meant to do. Not because of duty, but because it's in your blood. Your power runs deeper than you know. And the one you're meant to face- Kaelen- he's a part of that destiny too."
Selene felt her heart skip a few beats at the name. "Kaelen?" she called nearly stuttering, but she could keep her voice from shivering. She hadn't told his name in the past few months, so emotions waved her now, completely ignoring the last words she had tried to put away.
"You think I'm not able to see it." Seraphina said lowly, voice careful, but unyielding. "How he looks at you? The way the moonlight seemed to shine brighter when he touched you? You have a connection with him, Selene. A connection that neither of you can ignore, no matter how much you try."
Selene's mind spun wildly, grappling with the memory of Kaelen's gaze, his touch, his very intense presence in the depths of night. Tried as she might to push him out of her mind by asserting that the kiss had been a mistake, the truth hung, haunting her.
"I don't even know who he is," Selene admitted quietly. "I don't know what he wants, what he means to me at all."
"Then it is time to find out," Seraphina continued with almost a commanding tone and darkened eyes. "This prophecy involves the merging of two souls: one born of the Stormwind blood and another from the other realm. It's always about balance, Selene. You and Kaelen came together for a reason."
Selene turned to face her sister, her mind heavy with doubt. "What if I don't want that balance? What if I want to be free of all of this?"
Seraphina smiled, a quiet sadness in her eyes. "You have always been free, Selene. But sometimes, true freedom comes from accepting the parts of yourself that you deeply hide from yourself."
Selene thought she was even thinking, trying to make sense of it all. Destination for her definition of freedom was escape from her destiny and responsibilities, but what if freedom were conceived as something else entirely? Accepting the unexpected, enduring bonds with others she could not know.
"You know," Seraphina said, breaking the silence, "I've seen the way he watches you. He's not a fool, Selene. He knows something about you that you don't even know about yourself. You have to decide what you want. The prophecy, the moon, and Kaelen-they're all part of your journey now."
Selene stood up, eyes fixed on that lone moon with its silver light wash-waving over her. She had no idea what the future held, but she could certainly tell one thing: the moment she came into contact with Kaelen again, everything would be different, although she was unsure whether she would be ready to face it.
"I'll find him," Selene said quietly, the decision settling within her chest. "And then I'll figure out where this path is supposed to take me. But I won't be anyone's puppet in a prophecy."
Seraphina nodded, standing beside her. "That's all anyone can ever ask of you. Follow your heart, Selene. It will guide you."
Selene turned toward the distant forest. When shadows began to cast as tree arms stretched like night, she knew that her journey is only beginning. Whatever fate has got in store for her, she shall face it with the strength of her ancestors and fire of her own spirit.