PROLOGUE I
The Moon’s Wrath
Centuries Ago
Long ago, the moon was not just a celestial body, it was a living realm, a sovereign queen among the gods.
Selvanyra.
Mother of Light. Keeper of Balance.
She was not what the world saw now—a pale, watching...thing. She was alive, fertile, a divine womb of radiance. From her breath came the Lunacies, children made of starlight and silver threads, each born into mortal vessels to walk the earth as her messengers, guiding fate and protecting the balance of all things unseen.
But then, one of them was murdered. By amortal.
The death shattered the moon. The earth shook with Selvanyra’s grief. Her tears turned the oceans red. Her wail blackened the sky for seven days.
And when her sorrow was full, she gave her punishment:
You will not die. You will not rest.
I curse you with endless time and empty flesh.
I steal from you what you stole from me—a soul.
Walk the world hollow.
You shall have life endlessly.
Without end, without peace, without soul.
She took his soul and locked it in her silver vault, deep within her grieving body. Then, shattered by loss and wearied by the wickedness of the world, Selvanyra turned away.
She folded herself into the sky, burying her body in stone, her light becoming distant.
She stopped birthing children after that and left the earth behind to live among her other offspring of starlight.
Magic faded. The world tilted a little colder.
And all forgot what it had once meant to be seen by her.
But the universe demanded balance, and the curse was twisted into a prophecy.
If the killer walks the earth long enough,
the soul he stole shall return,
and come to him of her own will.
The past shall awaken,
and the choice shall burn.
If she gives her soul willingly,
he shall live again, but she must perish.
If she refuses, he shall wander forever.
