As dusk fell, the forest held its breath. Where the stones of the ancient Moon Circle remained, arranged in perfect symmetry by ancient hands, a silver mist curved between the trees of Tailwind's sacred grove. The first moon rose, casting a ghostly glow over everything, and fireflies blinked like living stars.
Leah, Susanna, and Serafina stood barefoot on the wet moss, all three of them wearing white linen robes. Their gazes locked in silent determination. Politics and war were not the topic of tonight. It was about becoming tonight.
Wearing a deep violet cloak embroidered with lunar runes that glistened in the moonlight, Gisele entered the circle last. Her face was solemn and ageless, and her silver hair cascaded down her shoulders.
Gisele raised a carved staff topped with crystal and bone and remarked, "The Flame must awaken." "Three daughters of the moon, selected by silence, vision, and blood." You—you are the solution, but the Hollow Alpha stirs.
The leaves above were rustled by a wind that rushed through the grove, unbelievably warm and fragrant.
Gisele filled the bowl in the middle of the stone circle with a silver liquid. "The essence of Moonmother," she muttered. "The breath of stars." The blood of memory. Walk into your flame after drinking.
Serafina was the first to move forward. A surge of force passed through her as she drank—and staggered. Visions of her mother's smile, her time as Luna, her suffering, her decisions, and a glowing wolf of stardust whispering, "You are not broken," filled her mind. The bridge is you.
Susanna came next. Tears fell down her cheeks as she drank. She recognized her history of shame, concealment, and secrecy. and then a queen she had never met placed a crown of ivy and starlight on her head. We don't forget you. The shield is you.
Leah was last. Her tongue was burned by the liquid, and then she found herself on a mountaintop, surrounded by silver flame, while wolves below chanted her name. Runes danced along her arms and her hands glowed. You're not lost. The flamebearer is you.
Suddenly, their eyes flew open.
Soft light, not fire, but moonlight given shape, blazed through the grove. Now all three of them were taller. Serafina's aura glistened like a storm that had been quelled. Susanna's shadow remained motionless. Leah's irises were touched with silver, and her hair glowed dimly.
Gisele looked on, her eyes brimming with tears.
She declared, "You are now the Veiled Flames." "Bound by truth, not blood." The shadow of the Hollow Alpha is very long. However, your combined light will shatter it.
Silent but unbreakable, the three clasped hands. No more uncertainty. Don't wait any longer.
The awakening was under way.