THE SEALED MOON

: H

d myself standing in a long corridor, surrounded by strange paintings and towe

led the corridor, and the building shook beneath my feet, I tried to run, but my legs felt

ed faintly of roses, her hands trembled as she

moon," she

up, desperate to see her face, but the smoke blurred

ed, my voice sounded

had broken something inside her, her lips parted, but no answer came

me who you a

me, I could feel her desperation, eve

eet moon," she whispered.

nd us. I wanted to know why the palace was burning, but more than anythi

linched and turned toward the sound, terror cross

pening? I

uld tell me everything. Instead, she kissed my forehead and reach

m the flames, shining brightly

of me seemed to recognize it. She placed it

safe," sh

t its unfamiliar design, struggling to understa

this?"

osed my fing

s," she replied, h

st, her heart pounded beneath my ear, and I realized she was just

ose it," I

dn't understand. Then another crash sounded, and s

go," she s

reach it, something crashed behind us. She stumbled,

e her anymore. "M

an went still. For a brief moment, she held me even tighter, pr

on," she whi

o see her clearly, to remember her fa

!" I screamed, my voi

The silver pendant flashed in my palm before the flames

ight, and I pressed a hand against my chest, my

n I recognized my room, the familiar wind

real, I wiped my damp palms against my nightclothes and tried

weet

the familiar loneliness I felt when others mocked me for being wolfless. This pain

l I could recall were her trembling hands an

image remained vivid in my mind. Why had it felt

yond the pack grounds lay Crescent Forest, the same

looked at those trees, something tha

ing whether the two experiences were connecte

ver learn where I came from but what if t

t tightene

frightened she had been, and how her voice had fil

nown her? What if sh

unable to answer

xplanation made sense, but it didn't explain why the pendant fel

ossible. For twenty years, I had believed my mi

beneath the years I couldn't remember. I pressed a ha

ound me beneath that oak. I didn't know why my mem

swers and somewhere deep inside me, I feared th