The moon turned red at midnight.

Not pink.

Not orange.

Red.

A deep, unnatural crimson that stained the clouds above the kingdom of Aetheria and painted the mountains in the color of blood.

For centuries, the people of Aetheria had been taught one rule.

When the moon turns crimson, never look at the sky.

Children heard the warning before they learned to read. Mothers whispered it when storms rolled across the mountains. Old priests carved it into temple walls.

And every hundred years, when the Crimson Moon appeared, the kingdom locked its gates.

But seventeen-year-old Liora Vale had never been very good at following rules.

She stood alone on the highest tower of the village observatory, her silver-blue hair whipping wildly around her face as the wind screamed between the ancient stone walls.

Her eyes remained fixed on the sky.

“Beautiful…” she whispered.

The Crimson Moon hung impossibly low above the mountains.

Liora knew she should look away.

Instead, she smiled.

“Everyone is afraid of you.”

A distant thunderclap shook the tower.

Liora’s smile disappeared.

Something was moving across the moon.

At first she thought it was a bird.

Then she realized it was far too large.

A dark shape crossed the glowing surface.

It seemed to fall.

Liora stepped closer to the edge.

“What… is that?”

The object disappeared behind the clouds.

A second later—

BOOOOOOM!

The entire mountain trembled.

Stone cracked beneath Liora’s feet.

She stumbled backward.

“What was that?!”

Another explosion echoed through the valley.

Then silence.

Liora grabbed her lantern and raced down the tower stairs.

She passed the sleeping observatory workers without stopping.

Outside, the village of Elarin was completely dark.

Every house had its shutters closed.

Every door was locked.

The villagers were obeying the ancient rule.

Liora wasn’t.

She ran toward the northern forest.

---

The forest was different beneath the Crimson Moon.

The trees seemed taller.

The shadows seemed alive.

Even the wind had stopped.

Liora pushed through thick branches, following the trail of smoke rising between the trees.

Her heart hammered against her chest.

She didn’t know what she expected to find.

A fallen star.

A meteor.

A monster.

Maybe something worse.

Then she reached the clearing.

Her breath caught.

A crater stretched across the forest floor.

Trees had been thrown aside as if they were pieces of grass.

White smoke curled upward.

At the center of the crater lay a boy.

Liora froze.

He looked about her age.

His black hair was covered in ash. His clothes were torn, strange pieces of dark fabric that seemed unlike anything worn in Aetheria.

He wasn’t moving.

“Oh no…”

Liora hurried down into the crater.

She knelt beside him.

“Hey.”

Nothing.

She touched his shoulder.

His eyes suddenly opened.

They were gold.

Not brown.

Not amber.

Gold.

And inside them was something Liora had never seen before.

Fear.

The boy stared directly at her.

“Where…”

His voice was barely a whisper.

“Where am I?”

Liora swallowed.

“Elarin Forest.”

The boy looked around.

His breathing became faster.

“No…”

“What?”

“This isn’t supposed to happen.”

He tried to stand.

His knees immediately collapsed.

Liora caught him.

“Careful!”

The moment she touched him, a strange symbol appeared on his wrist.

A glowing black mark shaped like a crescent moon.

Liora stared at it.

The boy pulled his arm away.

“Don’t touch me.”

His voice was suddenly cold.

Liora frowned.

“I was trying to help.”

The boy looked at her.

For a moment neither spoke.

Then something moved in the forest.

A branch snapped.

The boy’s expression changed.

“Run.”

Liora blinked.

“What?”

“RUN!”

A roar exploded from the darkness.

The trees shook.

Something enormous emerged between them.

It looked like a wolf.

But no ordinary wolf could stand three meters tall.

Its body was covered in black armor-like scales. Crimson light burned inside its eyes, and smoke poured from its mouth.

Liora stumbled backward.

“A Shadow Beast…”

She had heard stories.

Everyone had.

Shadow Beasts were creatures from the forbidden northern lands. Monsters that appeared only during Crimson Moon nights.

But stories weren’t supposed to be real.

The beast lowered its head.

The boy stood between Liora and the creature.

“You’re injured,” Liora whispered.

“I know.”

“You can’t fight that thing.”

The boy looked over his shoulder.

“Then I suppose I’ll have to make it quick.”

The beast attacked.

BOOM!

The boy jumped.

His body moved impossibly fast.

He twisted through the air, narrowly avoiding the creature’s claws.

The beast struck the ground.

The earth exploded.

Liora covered her face.

“Who are you?!”

The boy landed on a tree branch.

He looked at his own hands.

Something strange began glowing beneath his skin.

Thin lines of blue light spread from his fingers toward his arms.

The boy stared at them in disbelief.

“No…”

“What?”

“I don’t have this power anymore.”

The Shadow Beast charged again.

The boy raised his hand.

A circle of blue energy appeared in the air.

The creature crashed into it.

For a moment, everything stopped.

Then—

CRACK!

The energy barrier shattered.

The boy was thrown backward.

He slammed into a tree.

“AH!”

Liora ran toward him.

“Are you okay?”

He coughed.

“Do I look okay?”

“No.”

“Then stop asking.”

Despite herself, Liora almost laughed.

The beast turned toward them.

Its mouth opened.

A sphere of crimson energy formed between its jaws.

Liora’s smile vanished.

“Move!”

The blast fired.

The boy grabbed her hand.

They ran.

The crimson beam tore through the forest behind them.

Trees disintegrated.

The ground split.

They reached the edge of a cliff.

Liora stopped.

There was nowhere left to go.

The boy looked down.

A thousand-foot drop waited below.

Behind them, the Shadow Beast approached slowly.

Its claws scraped against the stone.

Liora’s voice trembled.

“We’re trapped.”

The boy looked at her.

“What’s your name?”

“What?”

“Your name.”

“Liora.”

He nodded.

“Liora…”

He looked toward the Crimson Moon.

“My name is Kael.”

The beast roared.

Kael stepped toward the cliff.

Liora grabbed his sleeve.

“What are you doing?”

“Jumping.”

“You’re insane!”

“Probably.”

He smiled.

Then he jumped.

Liora stared in horror.

“KAEL!”

Without thinking, she jumped after him.

Wind exploded around them.

They fell.

Faster.

Faster.

Liora screamed.

“You idiot!”

Kael looked upward.

For the first time, his expression showed genuine surprise.

“You followed me?”

“You didn’t exactly give me a choice!”

Below them, the forest rushed closer.

Kael stretched out his hand.

Blue light erupted from his palm.

A giant circle appeared beneath them.

The air trembled.

The circle shattered into hundreds of glowing fragments.

Then something impossible happened.

The fragments transformed into enormous blue wings.

They spread beneath them.

The fall stopped.

Liora’s hair flew across her face.

She stared.

Kael looked equally shocked.

“I…”

He stared at the glowing wings.

“I don’t remember how to do this.”

Liora looked at him.

“Who are you?”

Kael didn’t answer.

Above them, the Crimson Moon pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

Then the entire sky turned black.

The blue wings disappeared.

They began falling again.

“KAEL!”

He reached for Liora.

Their hands connected.

And the moment their fingers touched—

BOOOOOOM!

A wave of light erupted from them.

Far away, inside the forbidden northern mountains, something ancient opened its eyes.

A voice whispered through the darkness.

“The Starborn has returned.”

Another voice answered.

“Then find him before he remembers who he is.”

Back in the forest, Kael and Liora landed safely in a river.

Water exploded around them.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Liora lifted her head.

“You…”

Kael floated beside her.

“You saved us.”

Kael looked confused.

“No.”

He stared at their joined hands.

“You saved me.”

Liora slowly looked down.

Their hands were still connected.

She quickly pulled hers away.

A strange warmth remained in her palm.

Kael climbed onto the riverbank.

Liora followed.

The forest was silent.

The Shadow Beast was gone.

But something far more frightening had appeared.

A symbol was glowing on the sky above them.

A massive silver eye.

Watching.

Liora’s face went pale.

“Kael…”

“I see it.”

“What is that?”

Kael’s golden eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know.”

The symbol began to crack.

Black lightning spread across the clouds.

Then a voice echoed through the entire forest.

“Kael Ardyn.”

Kael froze.

Liora looked at him.

“That’s your full name?”

He shook his head.

“I’ve never heard it before.”

The voice spoke again.

“Heir of the Fallen Star.”

The Crimson Moon began disappearing behind the clouds.

“The forgotten prince has awakened.”

Kael stepped backward.

“No…”

Images flashed through his mind.

A burning palace.

A woman crying.

A silver-haired girl standing beneath a star-filled sky.

A sword covered in blue fire.

And a throne surrounded by darkness.

Then one final image.

His own hand covered in blood.

Kael screamed.

Liora rushed toward him.

“Kael!”

He collapsed.

She caught him before he hit the ground.

His golden eyes slowly closed.

For the first time since falling from the sky, he looked peaceful.

Liora held him carefully.

She looked toward the distant mountains.

The Crimson Moon had disappeared.

But the darkness remained.

And somewhere beyond those mountains, something was coming.

Something that knew Kael’s name.

Something that had been waiting for him.

Liora looked down at the unconscious boy.

She had no idea who he was.

She didn’t know where he came from.

She didn’t know why he had fallen from the moon.

But she knew one thing.

She couldn’t leave him alone.

Not now.

Not after seeing the fear in his eyes.

Liora stood and helped Kael onto her shoulder.

“Come on, mysterious moon boy.”

She began walking toward the village.

“You’re going to explain everything.”

Behind her, deep inside the forest, two crimson eyes opened.

A low voice whispered:

“The Starborn has found the Silver-Eyed Girl.”

A pause.

Then a dark smile appeared in the shadows.

“Just as the prophecy predicted.”

Above the forest, the last fragment of the Crimson Moon disappeared.

And somewhere in the darkness—

a bell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The ancient war had begun again.