Chapter 7 THE MOONFIRE’S TOUCH

The world shimmered.

Silver mist gathered again before me, thick as smoke, bright as lightning behind my eyelids. I could feel her before I saw her—the hum in the air, the weight pressing down on my chest.

The Moon Goddess had not left.

Her voice vibrated through the trees, deep and melodic, the kind of sound that lived in bones rather than ears.

Child of Thorne… the fire has waited long enough.

The wind died. Every leaf hung still. The entire forest seemed to hold its breath.

Then she descended.

Light poured from the heavens, forming her shape once more. She wasn’t a woman this time—she was a force. Her form stretched wider than the clearing, her hair flowing like rivers of stars, her eyes two burning moons. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

When she spoke, the ground trembled beneath me.

"Do not fear what was always meant to be yours."

“I—I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why me?”

Her gaze pierced straight through me, and for a heartbeat, I saw flashes—fire, blood, a thousand wolves bowing beneath a red moon.

My body shook.

"Because you carry the last spark of what the world forgot."

And then she reached for me.

Her hand—made of liquid light—touched my forehead.

The pain hit instantly.

It wasn’t pain like I’d ever known. It was like being set aflame from the inside out, every nerve screaming, every vein bursting with light. I gasped, arching backward as silver fire erupted beneath my skin.

“Stop—please—”

But there was no stopping it. The Goddess’s touch burned through my thoughts, through my heartbeat, through my soul.

My skin glowed, pulsing white-hot. Veins of light spread across my arms, twisting up my neck, crawling toward my eyes. I could feel the fire searing through every inch of me—yet beneath the pain, something else bloomed. Power.

I could feel the earth vibrating. The trees bending toward me. The air trembling as if the forest itself was bowing.

My screams shattered the silence, echoing through the woods. The Moonfire tore through flesh and bone, filling the space where weakness used to live.

And still, she didn’t stop.

Her voice was everywhere now. In the ground, in the air, in the pounding of my heart.

"You are chosen…"

The light inside me flared brighter, consuming everything—every thought, every breath, every trace of who I had been.

"…and cursed."

The words struck like a blade.

The burning became unbearable. My body felt as though it might split apart from the force trying to escape it. I collapsed, clawing at the dirt, my vision a storm of silver and white.

The Goddess’s form shimmered above me, blinding, beautiful, terrifying.

Power without control will consume what you love.

Her voice faded as the fire reached my eyes. For a second, I saw nothing—just light. Endless, roaring light.

Then, as suddenly as it had come, the pain began to recede.

The forest exhaled. The light sank back into my skin, leaving faint glowing lines along my arms and collarbone. The mark at my chest pulsed once, twice—then dimmed.

Smoke rose from the ground where I lay. The earth beneath me was scorched in a perfect circle.

I tried to move, but my limbs felt foreign. Heavy. My vision swam.

When I finally looked down at my hands, they shimmered faintly, veins of silver light still dancing beneath the skin.

It was beautiful.

And horrifying.

The Moon Goddess was gone—but her voice lingered, a whisper in the back of my mind.

"Awaken, daughter of Moonfire."

A single tear slipped down my cheek. It glowed silver as it fell to the ground, sizzling like acid when it touched the soil.

The scent of burnt earth and ozone clung to the air. Somewhere far off, a wolf howled—a long, mournful sound that seemed to echo through me. I felt it answer inside my chest, my own wolf stirring in wonder and fear.

“What am I now?” I whispered. My voice cracked, foreign to my own ears.

The forest didn’t reply, but it watched. Every shadow leaned closer, every breath of wind carried a faint hum. The power inside me still pulsed, slow and heavy, like a second heartbeat.

I touched the ground again. The soil sparked where my fingertips brushed it. Little trails of silver light spread outward, alive, writhing before sinking back into the earth. The trees shivered in response, their leaves rustling as though they recognized me.

For the first time, I understood the weight of her words. Chosen and cursed. Power wasn’t a gift—it was a chain.

If I couldn’t control it, it would burn through everything I loved.

Kael’s face flickered in my mind—his cold eyes, his turned back, his command to have me removed. The thought should have hurt. Instead, it ignited something deeper, darker.

I rose slowly, trembling, feeling the power settle into my veins like molten silver. My once-torn gown hung in tatters, the edges singed and shimmering. I caught a glimpse of myself in a pool of moonlit water beside the clearing. My reflection wasn’t entirely human. My eyes glowed faintly, shifting between gray and silver, alive with light that didn’t belong to this world.