The Moonstone pulsed again that night.
Alisha felt it before she saw it—the familiar tug in her chest, the quiet insistence she had learned not to ignore. She left her chambers without waking the guards and made her way through the silent palace, her footsteps echoing softly.
The Inner Sanctum welcomed her with gentle light.
The Moonstone hovered above its pedestal, brighter than before. As she approached, warmth spread through her limbs.
"I'm listening," she whispered.
The light surged.
The world dissolved.
She stood in a vast hall of moonlight, its ceiling open to a star-filled sky. A shattered throne lay at the far end, cracked cleanly down the center.
A woman knelt before it.
Her dark hair was pulled back simply. Her posture was weary—but unbroken.
Alisha's breath caught. "Mother?"
The woman turned.
Her eyes were Alisha's eyes.
"I hoped you wouldn't have to see this so soon," the queen said gently.
Tears blurred Alisha's vision. "Why didn't you come back for me?"
The queen stood, her expression full of sorrow. "Because if I had, you would have died with me."
The vision shifted.
Alisha saw the truth unfold—The Shadow King was once Lunaris, First Sovereign of the Moon.A ruler who believed balance was weakness.Who sought eternity—and broke the laws of the celestial order.
"I sealed him," the queen said. "Not because I was stronger… but because I was willing to give everything."
"Why didn't you destroy him?" Alisha asked.
The queen smiled sadly. "Because destruction is not always the answer."
She stepped closer, placing a glowing hand over Alisha's heart.
"You will have to choose what I could not."
The vision faded.
Alisha woke on the Sanctum floor, tears soaking her sleeves.
She understood now.
This wasn't just a war.
It was a reckoning.
r