The path to the temple is lined with soft, green grass and tall stone markers humming with gently with energy. As Nocturna crosses the invisible threshold of the temple's warded perimeter, she feels a ripple-like a breath held and released-the Sunfire crystals do not resist her. They let her pass. A few feet away from the nearest stone poles a figure wearing a black and gold lined robe, the womans grey-blonde hair is tried loose over one shoulder as she scatters grain from a wooden bowl. Around her a handful of chicken's clucks and peck the ground, their feathers a patchwork of rust red and dusty white. She is humming something low and melodic. Only when the hens pause and glace towards Nocturna does the woman lift her gaze. The womans eyes widen slightly but only for a breath. Then with no alarm in her face no suspicion in her deep brown eyes she speaks, voice as calm as the morning light. "You passed the crystal veil without resistance. That tells me your darkness is not wild... only wounded." A white feathered hen hops over and pecks at the hem of the woman's robe. She ignores it her full attention on Nocturna now. She doesn't reply, the glint of the something catches her eye. An eclipse pendant hangs around the woman's neck, the dark curve cradled in gold. It's harmless in appearance but to Nocturna it might as well be a brand. That symbol-the union of shadows and light-was the downfall of her clan. Her jaw tightens the air shifts slightly around her not threating but charged. A quiet storm behind her eyes. "I heard this place accepts all who come here," her voice carries no hostility just a thread of something harder beneath: disbelieve, bitterness', maybe even hurt.
The woman gives a soft smile, the kind that comes from hearing that question often before but never growing tired of answering it. She scatters more grain. "Not all," she says honestly. "Only those who come in peace." Her tone is warm not warning just truthful. "The wards know the difference. They don't care what you are only why you're here." She steps aside giving Nocturna unobstructed view of the temple beyond grey stone warmed by sunlight, other robed people moving slowly, trending to gardens, preparing food or simply sitting in silence. "If you've come to rest, to seek, to heal..then yes. This place accepts you." A short pause then gently, "Would you like to come in?"
The bath was simple-carved stone, fed by warm Springwater channeled through narrow aqueducts. Steam curled in the air, clinging to the edges of the room like ghosts not yet ready to let go. Noctuna sank deeper into the water, arm draped over the rim, eyes half-lidded. Her body ached from the content travel. Having not had a proper bath in days. The dirt that clung to her skin now the warmth drew it out, softened her made her feel more like herself. Her mind drifted back to the dragon. The dragon hadn't roared, hadn't attacked her but stood behind her as calm as the old trees that bowed around it and protected her. Then willing brought her here...Nocturna couldn't help but see it as a sign from the stars themselves assisting her in some way.
In the days that followed in the sanctum of the Eclipse as she quickly found out, Nocturna kept to herself, drifting through the temple like a shadow. She watched more than spoke. Trusting nothing. Every night, without fail, she saw Lilly-the same woman who welcomed her when she arrived-walk to the edge of the temple's wards with a small bundle of food. Bread, fruit, sometimes a bit of stew wrapped in cloth. She would kneel, placing it gently on the ground just outside the crystal-bound safety zone and whisper. "Just in case someone out there needs it." She never waited to see if someone came, just left it and walked away.
Weeks passed.
One morning, Nocturna was tending to the gardens doing her part to earn her stay and caught sight of a group gathered in quiet prayer. There was no plea for miracles, no dramatic call for divine power. Just soft voices offering thanks for the sunrise, for warmth of the earth for another breath. Among them. A little girl in white turned, looked up at Nocturna and smiled. With delicate hands she wove a crown of daisies and placed it into Nocturna's hands. "What's this for?" Nuri asks. "Because your hair looks like the night without stars." The girl replied and ran off back to the group.
Two months go by. One evening, drawn by the distant rise and fall of song, Nocturna found herself walking without meaning to. The evening chants came from within the payer room. Gental harmonies flowed from it, she leaned against one of the open doors listening reminding her of the times her own people would join and sing to the moon and stars. On her way back to her room she passed the infirmary and saw Lilly sitting alone. Shoulders hunched, tears tracing silent paths down her cheeks. The lost traveler she'd been caring for these last few days hadn't made it. Lilly had done all she could. Nocturna didn't speak nor interrupt. Leaving a single wildflower on the bench beside her and slipped away. The next morning as she stood near the old Fountian gazing at the statue of the king atop it, a priest she'd seen often but never spoken to her. Approached, he looked at her with gentle time-worn eyes. "You don't have to believe in the Luminous."
Nocturna looked at him with surprise and confusion written on her face earning a chuckle from him. "I've seen many none-believers in my time, but maybe you can believe in what people do in their name." Nocturna slowly gazes back to the fountain saying nothing a moment longer before she went on her way to milk the goats. However, his words lingered dulling the urge to run for now.
Three months have passed since Nocturna arrived at the temple and in that time, something within her had begun to mend-quietly, like a cracked stone slowly warmed by sunlight. Her body had recovered, her throughs no longer felt like jagged shards scraping against each other. She slept through the night and ate without rushing and even found herself smiling the tiniest bit a couple of times. She felt more whole in a way she hadn't felt in a very long time. But she couldn't stay. The peace of this place wasn't hers to keep. It had offered her rest, and she accepted it. Now she could feel toad calling again like the whisper of the wind before a storm. Standing at the window in her room a hand resting on the slight swell of her stomach. The life growing inside her was steady now, strong enough to remind her with little flutters that she wasn't completely alone out here. And though her path was still uncertain. Nocturna knew one thing clearly: she was no longer running. She was moving forward.