Chapter 2: The Brightest Moon
The night after the Dark Night did not fade into morning.
Instead, the moon grew brighter.
It rose higher than ever before, round and powerful, glowing with a silver light so intense it washed the fairy world in pale fire. Every leaf shimmered. Every river gleamed like molten glass. Even the air seemed alive, humming with ancient magic.
The elders gathered beneath the Moonspire, their wings folded in silence. They knew this sign. The Brightest Moon appeared only when the fairy world stood at a crossroads—when destiny awakened.
Liora felt its pull the moment she stepped outside her hollow. The moonlight wrapped around her like a calling, warm but heavy. Symbols she had never learned suddenly flickered in her mind: old spells, forgotten names, and a single word whispered again and again.
Keeper. As she flew toward the Crystal Fields, she saw fairies emerging from every corner of the land. Some stared in awe. Others trembled. The moon revealed truths—hidden fears, lost memories, and magic long buried. No illusion could survive its light.
At the heart of the fields, the Moonstone began to crack.
A beam of pure silver struck it from the sky, and the ground shook as a voice echoed—not loud, but impossible to ignore.
"The balance is broken."
Liora stepped forward, her wings blazing brighter than they ever had before. She didn't know why, only that the moon was watching her. Choosing her.
Far beyond the glowing fields, in the shadowed edge of the fairy world, something ancient opened its eyes.
The Brightest Moon had risen.
And nothing would ever be the same again.