Chapter 23 Moonshade's Spy

Chapter 23 Moonshade's Spy
The sky was unusually red and the scent of smoke was all over Crescent in the morning. No one noticed the change in the atmosphere but I could feel it in my bones. The mark on my wrist had not dimmed since the previous day and pulsed like a quiet warning, as though the Ember Queen herself watched through her eyes.

Mira had barely spoken since after the incident. “We shouldn’t have gone down there,” she muttered finally that morning. “You have awakened something that was meant to stay buried.”

My voice was steady as I responded, “It was already awake, I only heard it first.”

As we got to the training field, Theron was already overseeing the morning drills. Warriors were practicing as their metals kept clashing against each other. Theron looked at me sharply although not with anger.

“You missed the early morning drills,” he said.

“I had… things to think about,” I replied.

I tried hiding the glow on my wrist but Theron still noticed. “I can see that,” he said quietly. “Whatever happened last night, keep it to yourself because the pack isn’t ready for more talk of prophecies and cursed bloodlines.”

I wanted to argue,but there was a way he looked at me that made me hold back and I only responded with a single word, “Understood.”

Before Theron could utter another word, a scout came rushing. “Alpha! A rogue seeks refuge at our gates.”

The warriors stopped their training instantly and began murmuring among themselves. Crescent rarely took in rogues because too many of them had turned traitors in the war after the Ember Fall.

“Bring him in.”

Some moments later, two guards brought the rogue to the training ground. He was tall with broad shoulders. He seemed humble, yet when his gaze caught mine, he stayed a bit longer.

“My name is Darius,” he said, bowing his head. “I come from the borderlands. Moonshade’s men hunted my pack and I sought refuge… a chance to fight back.”

Everyone was suspicious and began whispering.

Theron folded his arms. “And why did you come here when every rogue knows Crescent stands against both Moonshade and the Hollow Flame?”

Darius looked at him intently. “Because I’ve fought them and I’ve seen their cruelty. I’d rather die fighting beside those who resist than live crawling under their rule.”

His words were too accurate.

Suddenly, I felt a strange unease settle in my chest. His scent was faintly familiar, but tainted with something metallic… like blood masked with herbs.

Theron hesitated, then finally said, “You’ll be tested. You’ll train with my warriors, sleep in the barracks, and be watched until your loyalty is proven.”

Darius bowed again, but I didn’t miss the expression of satisfaction in his eyes.

By nightfall, Crescent’s great hall was filled with everyone as there was chatter and clinking of mugs. The warriors feasted, celebrating a victory from a border raid earlier that week. I sat close to the edge of the room but I had no appetite. The mark on my wrist pulsed faintly under the table, reacting to something unseen.

Darius sat across the hall laughing with a few warriors, his charm was effortless and his presence disarming. But when our eyes met, his smile fainted for a second.

Mira nudged her elbow. “He’s staring again.”

“I know.”

“ If Theron trusts him enough to keep him here. Maybe you should….”

“....trust my instincts?” I cut in softly. “I do.”

I shifted my gaze to the bowl of food being passed around. When my bowl of stew was set before me, the mark on my wrist flared brighter and sharper as if it had seen something. Just then, a black smoke curled from the surface of the stew, invisible to everyone else but visible to me.

Poison!

My wolf’s growl through my chest before I could stop it. The flames under my skin surged, and the bowl burst into fire, golden, pure, and violent. Every warrior was startled and stood to their feet.

Theron stood still. “What happened?”

I rose slowly with my voice cold as steel. “Someone just tried to kill me.”

The hall erupted in murmurs. As much as they wanted me gone, they would never have tried such.

Darius was the first to move, pretending to rush toward me in concern. “Are you….”

Before he could finish his statement, my mark flared up and his shadow twisted unnaturally. I could perceive the same mixture used by Moonshade assassins to mask their aura.

I raised my hand, and flames coiled around my fingers. “Don’t move.”

As my fire began to rise, the mask slipped from his face enough to show the predator underneath. He moved faster before anyone could react, but my flames caught him just in time wrapping him in a golden cage.

As the fire burned his disguise, he screamed revealing a hidden sigil that was branded into his shoulder and the mark of the Hollow Flame, intertwined with Moonshade’s crescent.

Everywhere became silent for a heartbeat, then Theron stepped forward with his voice like thunder. “You dare bring Moonshade’s poison into my pack?”

Darius snarled as his eyes gleamed red from the firelight. “You think your walls will save you? The Queen’s blood is already claimed and the Hollow Flame rises!”

My fire roared higher, swallowing his words in fury. When the flames finally died, only ash remained.

Theron looked at me. “You saved us,” he said, but his voice carried unease.

I stared at the pile of ashes with my pulse still racing. “They’ll keep coming,” I said softly. “Until they have what they want.”

“And what do they want?” Mira asked.

As my eyes glowed faintly in the firelight, I responded. “Me.”

A heavy silence followed immediately as Theron turned to the guards. “Double the watch. No one leaves the borders unguarded.”

I remained by the ash lost in thought while everyone had left the hall. The mark on my wrist pulsed once more, slower now and almost satisfied.
Mira returned to my side. “You think he was sent for the Ember Queen’s power?”

“Not at all,” I murmured. “He was sent to see if I’d awakened it.”

Thunder began to rumble outside from a distance and storm gathered over the mountains as red lightning splitted in the sky. It was a sign that Moonshade’s magic was stirring again.
Theron approached me quietly with a low voice. “If Moonshade is working with the Hollow Flame, the prophecy’s already in motion and it changes everything.”

I looked at him calmly, “Then let them come and we have to stop running.”

“Aria….”

“I’m done hiding, Theron.” My voice was quiet, but there was something in it that echoed the Ember Queen herself. “If they want my fire… they’ll learn what it means to burn.”

These words hung in the air like an oath and my flames flickered in agreement.

Later that night, Rae came to my room.
"Are you fine Aria?" He asked so softly like someone that really cares about me.

My heart began to thunder in my head.
I trembled while I responded, “Y...y..yes”

He moved closer and held my hands. "Aria, I'm here anytime for you. I'm ready to stand by you at every point if this battle."

“Thank you Rae, this means a lot knowing someone is with me.” We said as we both hugged each other.

I wondered where we are driving at with the closeness.