The sky had turned silver by the time Luna, Riven, and Zeph left the temple.
Though the sun still hung above the horizon, a strange stillness clung to the air, like the world had paused to watch her next step.
Luna walked at the front. Her feet were silent against the forest floor, her pendant dim now, its energy resting. But inside her, something had changed. Her body felt warmer, heavier. Not in pain—but as if she was made of more now. As if her soul had thickened with the truths she had seen.
> "I swear," Zeph said, dragging his boots through a pile of leaves behind them, "If we find one more ancient, glowing, world-altering temple, I'm filing a complaint to the Cosmic Council of Overdramatic Quests."
Riven grunted. "You never stop talking."
> "What can I say? Silence makes me itchy."
Luna didn't respond. She was watching the trees.
Their leaves were still. Too still.
Then a breeze passed, but only the left side of the forest swayed. The right remained perfectly frozen.
> "That's not right," she murmured.
> "What?" Riven said, stepping up beside her.
She pointed. "Air should move in balance. It doesn't choose sides."
Zeph tilted his head. "Maybe it's shy?"
> "No," Luna said softly. "It's the beginning of an imbalance."
She pressed her hand to the earth. Terranak's essence stirred faintly. The ground was steady, but the deeper pulse—the bond between elements—felt strained. Like a string pulled too tight.
> "You're feeling it too," said Riven. Not a question. A knowing.
Luna nodded. "Something is wrong with the elements. I think... the Kings sense it too."
---
They made camp near a shallow river, not far from the temple.
Zeph was the first to fall asleep, mouth open, limbs sprawled like a starfish.
Riven took the first watch. Luna sat beside the river, letting her fingers drift along the surface. Kaelora's presence flickered beneath the water, calm but distant.
> "You're quiet," Riven said, stepping closer.
> "There's too much in my head," she replied.
He didn't sit. Just stood behind her, close but not too close.
> "You did well today."
She didn't smile. "I saw things I wasn't ready for. My father... he planted that prophecy."
> "We'll find him. And he'll answer for it."
She looked up at him. "What if I become like him?"
> "You won't."
> "How can you be sure?"
> "Because I know your heart, Luna."
He held her gaze. His expression had softened, the usual edge dulled. There was something raw there. Something he didn't let others see.
But before Luna could respond—
CRACK.
A branch snapped in the distance.
Zeph shot upright, suddenly wide awake.
> "Please tell me that was a squirrel."
But they knew it wasn't.
Luna stood quickly, and the air chilled. A shadow slipped between the trees. Then another. Hooded figures emerged from the dark, silent and coordinated.
> "The cult," Riven growled, drawing his blade.
> "They found us fast," Luna said, summoning fire to her palm. "How?"
> "Maybe someone left a magical trail of breadcrumbs," Zeph muttered.
They circled the trio.
The lead cultist stepped forward. His hood was etched with strange markings.
> "You carry what should not be carried," he said. "You bear too much power, girl."
> "And yet here I stand," Luna replied coldly.
He raised a twisted staff. The ground pulsed black.
Suddenly, a void beast rose from the soil—skeletal, smoky, wrong.
> "Take her," the cultist commanded.
Riven lunged forward. Zeph yanked Luna back just in time as the beast struck where she had stood.
> "Protect Luna!" Riven barked.
> "Oh, great! I'm on babysitting duty again," Zeph grinned, then threw a wind blast to scatter the attackers.
Luna raised both arms.
Fire and water collided in her hands, forming steam that blinded their enemies. She pushed it outward, buying time.
> "Go!" she shouted.
They ran.
Branches tore at their arms, shadows following close behind. Luna could feel the void beast gaining.
Then, up ahead—a rock formation.
> "There!" Zeph pointed. "We can trap it!"
They slipped through a narrow crevice. Luna turned, eyes glowing.
> "Ignar," she whispered. "Give me fire that leaves no ash."
The King answered. A ring of white-hot flame erupted behind them.
The beast screamed.
Then silence.
---
Later, they sat against the rocks, panting.
> "We can't keep running," Luna said.
> "We won't," Riven said, blood on his cheek.
> "But why now?" Zeph asked. "Why show up right after the temple?"
Luna stared into the dark.
> "Because something has changed. The sixth sigil... woke something. And now they're hunting it."
She stood, walking away from the others for a moment. The night breeze cooled her face.
> "Terranak," she whispered.
The ground hummed.
> "I need to speak with one of you. Please."
A stone lifted nearby. From it, a faint image formed—Terranak, King of Earth. His body was a mountain, his eyes molten gold.
> "Luna," he rumbled.
> "Why are the elements shifting? What is the sixth sigil?"
> "It is unity," Terranak replied. "A power that only one soul in a generation can awaken. It connects what was once broken."
> "And the void?"
His form flickered.
> "The void feels your rise. It stirs."
> "Will I be enough?"
> "You must be," he said, and faded.
---
Luna returned to camp. Zeph was asleep again. Riven stood alone.
She looked up at the stars.
> "Let them come," she whispered. "I'm not the girl who hides anymore."
---
To be continued...