The morning after the dream, Eira woke with her heart pounding and the scent of burning wood thick in her nose.
But there was no fire.
Only memory.
The stone chamber was quiet except for the low crackling of a dying fire and Cassian's steady breathing on the other side. Corren was already awake, sitting cross-legged near the collapsed archway with his masked face tilted to the light.
The dream still clung to her: her mother screaming, the golden mask, the moon splitting like glass.
"What does it mean?" she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
Corren answered anyway. "It means the past isn't finished with you."
Eira didn't bother to ask how he knew. He hadn't looked at her. Hadn't moved. But somehow, he'd heard her whisper from across the ruin.
"The mind often remembers before the heart is ready," he continued. "And the fire—that's a mark. It leaves echoes."
Eira's hand drifted to the necklace she always wore, the crescent-shaped charm her mother had given her. Its silver was warm to the touch, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. It had glowed once, years ago. She'd never figured out why.
Cassian stirred then, stretching with a grunt. "We still in one piece?"
"Physically," Eira muttered.
Corren stood. "Eat quickly. We move at dawn's fall."
Cassian blinked. "Don't you mean 'dawn's rise'?"
"No. Trust me."
---
They left Valeharrow by back routes—hidden trails Eira never would have noticed on her own. Every step away from the ruins felt heavier, like she was dragging chains made of memory.
Hours passed in a blur of overgrown paths and whispering winds. Birds refused to sing. Even the air held its breath.
"Where are we headed now?" she asked eventually.
Cassian pointed ahead. "To a burned village. What's left of Emberwick."
The name was familiar, like a whisper on her skin. "That's... where my mother was born."
Corren turned to look at her. "Then you'll want to see it."
They reached Emberwick just as the sky began to turn violet with dusk. The village was little more than blackened skeletons of homes, their chimneys rising like broken teeth. Ash still coated the ground in places, and the earth refused to grow anything.
No birds. No wind. Just silence and the scent of old smoke.
Eira stepped over a cracked threshold and felt a strange pull. Her feet moved on their own, guiding her through the ruin of what was once a square cottage. She brushed aside a half-burned tapestry near the back and froze.
A stone floor, stained in a wide crescent—so faint it might've gone unnoticed.
She reached down.
The ground trembled.
Magic surged beneath her fingertips, wild and ancient.
"Something's buried here," she whispered.
Cassian was suddenly at her side. "What do you feel?"
Eira pressed both palms to the stone. "A memory. A ward... like a lock. Someone sealed something here."
Corren approached slowly. "Then unseal it."
Eira hesitated. "It could be dangerous."
"So is everything else about you."
She closed her eyes, letting her magic rise. The burn behind her ribs sparked, then surged like starlight up her arms. She whispered the words instinctively—Lunara val thornea—and the stone flared with silver light.
The crescent mark burned away, revealing a hollow chamber underneath.
Inside was a single book.
Leather-bound, worn by time, and etched with her mother's sigil: a crescent moon with seven stars. Eira clutched it close, her breath catching.
Her mother had hidden this. Hidden knowledge.
She didn't open it yet.
Cassian placed a hand on her shoulder. "We should go."
But Eira didn't move. "Someone's watching."
Corren drew his blade. "Where?"
"There."
She pointed toward the shadows of a collapsed barn. Cassian moved swiftly, circling around. A soft rustle of leaves—then a yelp.
A child was dragged into view, kicking.
"Let go of me! You're with her, aren't you? The Moonburned Witch!"
Cassian blinked. "Moonburned what now?"
Eira stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The child, no older than eleven, glared at her with fierce, dirt-streaked eyes. "You're the one they talk about. The silver-eyed girl who burned her town. My grandmother said to run if I ever saw you."
Eira stiffened. "I didn't burn anyone."
The child spat at the ground. "They say you're cursed. That you kill everyone you love."
Cassian's jaw clenched. "That's enough."
Eira raised a hand. "No. Let her speak."
The child—her name was Luma—had lived on the edge of Emberwick, hiding in a root cellar for years. She'd heard stories whispered by wandering survivors, tales twisted by fear and time.
They all said the same thing.
A silver-eyed girl. A fallen star. Fire without smoke.
Corren watched Eira carefully. "You have burned things before."
"Yes," she said. "When they came for my mother. I didn't know what I was doing."
The words tasted like ash.
She turned to Luma. "I'm not a monster."
The girl eyed her. "Prove it."
Eira knelt and offered the crescent necklace. "This is yours now. My mother gave it to me to protect me. I don't need protection anymore."
Luma took it slowly. "Will it stop the Queen's guards?"
"No. But it will remind you you're not alone."
Cassian nodded in approval. Corren just folded his arms.
"You're changing," he said later that night as they made camp.
Eira didn't reply.
She was staring at the book.
She waited until the others slept before opening it.
The pages were covered in Moondust script—ancient, curling letters that shimmered faintly in moonlight. But her mother had taught her to read them.
Each line was a spell. A story. A warning.
And then—near the center—a diagram.
Two intertwined figures: one cloaked in silver flame, the other in a mask of gold.
One marked "Lunaria." The other "The Hollow Prince."
Beneath them, a prophecy she didn't want to read.
But she did.
> When fire meets the hollow crown, the sky shall break and kingdoms drown.
One of shadow, one of light—one shall fall to end the fight.
Her breath hitched.
Was this her?
Was he the one in the mask?
Cassian stirred beside her, murmuring something unintelligible in sleep.
She looked at him—truly looked—and wondered...
Was he the prince?
Or was it Corren?
And if the prophecy was true… which of them would have to die?