The forest bordering the village looked eerily dark, its shadows stretching like grasping fingers under the moonlight. For just a second, I thought I saw something move among the trees, something tall, unnaturally still. My breath hitched, but when I blinked, it was gone. 'Just nerves,' I told myself.
Then, the drums started.
Slow, deep, and steady.
Each beat seemed to vibrate right through the village, settling into my bones. The Call. We all knew about it, though no one ever talked about it straight-up. You just waited for your turn, hoping it would skip you.
My hands clenched into fists.
A soft knock on the door.
"It's time," my mother's voice, steady enough, but her eyes were anything but. They scanned my face with an intensity that made my throat go dry. I nodded, following her downstairs, my legs feeling kind of disconnected.
Outside, torches cast a flickering glow on the village square. Old stones, etched with symbols no one remembers, were scattered everywhere. The villagers stood back, murmuring, their stares feeling like a physical weight. The elders, faces completely blank, formed a circle around the Moon Stone. It pulsed with a faint, inner silver light, and as I got closer, that strange buzzing in my chest got stronger, pulling at me.
One by one, the other young people touched the stone. Nothing happened. They were sent away, their relief practically radiating off them normal, safe, regular. My heart hammered with each step they took away.
Then it was my turn. The silence in the square felt suffocating. I glanced back at my mother, her lips a thin, white line, her hands clasped tight. Turning back to the stone, I reached out.
The second my fingers made contact, a jolt of heat shot up my arm, exploding in my chest like wildfire. The stone flared, blindingly bright, and the drums cut off mid-beat, plunging the square into a heavy silence. From the depths of the forest, a long, low howl answered.
Suddenly, my senses went into overdrive. I heard the crackle of torches, the sharp breaths of the crowd, the rustle of leaves miles away. It felt like the whole forest was awake, breathing.
I stumbled back, clutching my chest, a burning sensation spreading under my skin. Elder Corvin stepped forward, his face pale as a ghost.
"She carries the mark," he announced, his voice heavy.
"The bloodline we prayed for would never come back."
A wave of hushed whispers rippled through the crowd in fear, shock and dawning recognition. My stomach churned. Even though I didn't get his words, my body did. My heart pounded, wild and erratic.
Then, a whisper in my mind, not a sound, but a thought:
Run.
My mother's hand found mine, her grip firm, grounding. But her face was pale. At the edge of the forest, amber eyes gleamed between the trees, watching. They weren't angry, not threatening. They were just waiting.
I should have been terrified. A part of me was, my breath catching, my hands shaking. But beneath the fear, something ancient, something familiar, stirred inside me, as if it too had been waiting.
"Whatever happens tonight," my mother whispered, her voice trembling just a bit, "do not go into the forest."
Footsteps circled the square, slow, deliberate. A low growl vibrated through the night air. A tall shadow flickered past a nearby wall. And in that moment, it all became terrifyingly clear;
They hadn't come to hurt me.
They had come for me.
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