Chapter 77 Whisper of the Goddess
POV: Luna
I can't sleep.
It's been weeks since Miguel died, and sleep still feels impossible most nights.
So I do what I've been doing. I walk.
The Academy grounds are quiet this late. Most students are asleep. Only a few guards patrol the perimeter.
I head toward the Moon Circle, drawn there like always. It's the one place I feel close to something bigger than myself.
The moon is nearly full tonight. Bright enough to cast sharp shadows across the standing stones.
I sit in the center of the circle and close my eyes.
That's when I feel it.
A warmth spreading through my mark. Not painful. Not alarming. Just... present.
I open my eyes and look down at my wrist.
My Eclipse mark is glowing. Softly pulsing with silver light.
"What now?" I mutter.
The glow intensifies, and suddenly I feel it. A pull. Gentle but insistent.
Like something is calling me.
I stand and follow the pull toward the edge of the clearing. Toward the forest.
"No way," I say out loud. "I'm not going into the woods alone again. Not after last time."
But the pull gets stronger. More urgent.
And then I hear it.
A whisper. Faint and ethereal. Carried on the wind.
"Daughter of Eclipse."
I freeze. That voice. Female. Ancient.
The goddess.
"Come to me. I have something to show you."
Against my better judgment, I step into the forest.
The pull guides me deeper, but I'm careful to stay within sight of the Moon Circle. If something goes wrong, I can run back.
The whisper comes again. "Do not fear. I mean you no harm tonight."
"Tonight?" I say. "What about other nights?"
Soft laughter. Like wind chimes.
"You have spirit. Good. You will need it."
My mark burns hotter, and suddenly the forest around me shifts.
Not physically. But like I'm seeing it through a different lens.
The trees glow faintly. The air shimmers with silver light. And standing before me, translucent and beautiful, is a woman made of moonlight.
The goddess.
"You called me here," I say. "Why?"
"To show you something. To ease a pain you carry."
She gestures, and the air beside her ripples like water.
An image forms. A vision.
And I see him.
Miguel.
He's standing in a place I don't recognize. A garden of some kind. Silver flowers bloom around him. The sky above is neither day nor night but something in between.
He looks peaceful. Whole. Not scared or hurt or dying.
Just... at rest.
"Where is he?" I whisper.
"The otherworld. Where souls go to heal before moving on." The goddess's voice is gentle. "He is safe there. Beyond pain. Beyond fear."
"Can I reach him?"
"No. The living cannot enter the otherworld except in death. But I wanted you to see. To know that his end was not as terrible as you fear."
Tears stream down my face. "I miss him."
"I know. And you will carry that loss always. But it does not have to destroy you." She moves closer, her presence both comforting and overwhelming. "You have trials ahead, daughter. Challenges that will test everything you are. You must not let grief make you weak."
"How do I do that?"
"By accepting that some things cannot be changed. Only honored." She reaches out, and her translucent hand touches my mark. It flares bright. "Your power grows. But so does the danger. Forces are moving against you. Some you can see. Others hidden in shadow."
"Like the voice in the woods?"
Her expression darkens. "Yes. He has waited long for an Eclipse to emerge. Now that you have, he will not rest until he has what he seeks."
"What does he seek?"
"You. Your power. Your bloodline." She pulls back. "But that is a conversation for another time. Tonight, I wanted only to show you that love does not end with death. It transforms."
The vision of Miguel fades, but the image is burned into my memory.
Him. Peaceful. Safe.
"Thank you," I whisper.
The goddess begins to fade as well. "Remember, daughter. You are never truly alone. Even when it feels that way."
And then she's gone.
The forest returns to normal. No shimmer. No silver light. Just trees and darkness and the distant glow of the Academy.
I turn to head back to the Moon Circle when I feel it.
That sensation of being watched.
I spin around, scanning the trees.
There. At the edge of the clearing.
A figure. Standing in shadow. Watching me.
Not the goddess. Not anything friendly.
This presence feels cold. Calculating.
"Who's there?" I call out.
No answer.
The figure doesn't move. Just watches.
My wolf surges forward, ready to defend or flee.
But before I can do either, the figure melts back into the darkness.
Gone.
But I know what I saw.
Someone was there. Someone real.
Watching me commune with the goddess.
And something tells me that's very, very bad.