Elemental Throne The Rise of Luna

The morning came with no birdsong.

Just silence, and the slow crackle of dying embers.

Luna stirred from a sleep filled with restless dreams. Not quite nightmares—just fragments. Silver eyes. A cracked sky. Her own reflection, shivering in the dark.

She sat up slowly. The camp was quiet.

Zeph was perched on a nearby rock, trying to balance a twig on his nose.

Riven stood at the edge of the lake, arms folded, staring into the still water like he could read answers in its reflection.

And Luna… Luna felt different.

Like something inside her had shifted. Her skin was hers, but her soul was echoing.

---

> "Sleep okay?" Zeph asked, catching the twig just before it fell.

Luna hesitated. "I don't know."

Zeph blinked. "That bad, huh?"

She didn't answer. Her fingers reached instinctively for her pendant—and for a second, it burned cold against her chest.

She flinched.

> "Luna?" Riven's voice broke through, sharp and concerned.

She looked up at him.

> "We need to move," he said. "There's something wrong with the forest ahead. It's too quiet."

---

Later on the trail…

They walked through a stretch of woods where the air shimmered oddly. It wasn't heat. It was like walking through memory.

The leaves were gray instead of green. The trees bent just slightly in their direction. And every few steps…

They heard voices.

> "She will break—"

"No, she must not remember—"

"The seal is cracking—"

Luna froze.

> "Do you hear that?"

Zeph and Riven exchanged looks.

> "I hear wind," Riven said tightly. "And it doesn't like us."

Zeph didn't speak. For once, he looked disturbed.

---

As they moved forward, the path opened into a hollow—a clearing of statues.

Seven of them, crumbled and cracked, half-swallowed by vines and ash.

Luna approached the nearest one. It had no face left, only the shape of a crown and arms outstretched.

On its chest, someone had freshly carved a glowing void sigil.

Her breath caught.

> "This is a King's statue," she whispered. "But… who?"

No one answered.

Not even the Kings.

---

Suddenly, wings flapped—loud and furious. A flock of white-eyed spirit birds burst from the trees, circling above them like a cyclone.

Then—

They spoke.

Not in song.

In Vaelith's voice.

> "The stars blink not in blessing, but in warning."

> "She awakens too fast."

> "And when she falls, it will not be alone."

Then the birds scattered, leaving behind a snowfall of ash.

---

> "I'm going to punch him," Zeph muttered. "Next time I see him. Just—punch. Right in the shadowy mouth."

> "That was a message," Riven said darkly. "Not just to Luna. To us."

> "Yeah, I got that part."

Luna stared at the carved void mark. Her hands trembled, but not from fear.

From resolve.

---

As they left the hollow…

They met her.

A hunched figure sitting on a moss-covered stone. Wrapped in layers of fabric, with long silver-white braids and eyes like old moonlight.

The woman smiled without teeth.

> "Moonchild," she croaked. "You walk the road too quickly."

> "Who are you?" Luna asked, hand near her pendant.

> "Someone who's already seen the end. And still decided to speak."

She reached into her cloak and handed Luna a faded, folded piece of parchment.

> "The flame opened a path—but not all paths are meant to be walked."

Before they could question her, the woman stood… and was gone.

No footsteps.

No trail.

Just mist.

---

That night, Luna sat with the parchment unfolded in her lap.

It was a map—drawn in ancient script and elemental sigils, leading to a place not marked on any known chart:

The Cradle of Unity.

And scribbled in the corner, barely visible:

> "Where the Moonlight breaks the Crown, the Void shall weep."

---

To be continued..