Chapter 1
The first time Elara felt the moon watching her, she was ten.
The second time, it gave her a letter.
It arrived on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, soaked through from the evening rain. She found it tucked beneath the rusted handle of the garden gate, sealed with a wax crescent that shimmered silver under the stormlight. Her name was written in ink that looked like starlight.
Elara Wynter. Chosen.
She stared at the letter, heart thudding like a drum. This had to be a prank some elaborate joke pulled by her cousin or that annoying boy from the bakery who still believed in fairytales.
But the wax seal was cold, the ink was real, and when she opened it, the parchment inside felt older than the house she lived in.
> You have been selected for the Moonlight Trials.
On the night of the first blood moon, you will arrive at the mirrored lake.
Come alone.
Tell no one.
Bring nothing but your name.
Seven will be summoned. One will be chosen. The rest will forget.
Elara’s hands trembled as she folded the letter back.
The moon hung low over the hills beyond her house, glowing red through the clouds like a slow-burning ember. Blood moon. Just like the letter said.
She turned toward the house warm lights glowing in the kitchen, her aunt’s voice humming as she baked. Safe. Normal.
But the gate clicked shut behind her.
And in her bones, Elara knew: nothing would ever be normal again.
