Alisa and the BeastmenPrologue — When the Moon Forgot Its Light
The night it happened, the moon looked too close.
It hung above the city of Elyndor like a wound — a perfect circle bleeding silver across the clouds.
People stopped in the streets to take pictures, whispering about omens, about tides, about beauty.
And then the light went out.
Not like a sunset, not gradual.
It was as if something had swallowed the sky whole.
No sound, no wind — only the echo of a heartbeat that wasn't anyone's, yet belonged to everyone.
Buildings fractured.
Glass turned to ash before it hit the ground.
Every shadow twisted into something that breathed.
And amid the falling light, a girl's voice — faint, terrified, but clear enough to split the silence.
"Please… not again."
Then, nothing.
The city vanished.
Elyndor was erased — no survivors, no rubble, just a hollow circle of scorched soil where life refused to return.
But thirty nights later, under a new moon, a single figure was found at the center of the wasteland.
A girl, pale as dawn, barefoot in the ash, eyes open.
She did not cry.
She did not speak.
Her golden eyes reflected the sky — not as it was, but as it had been before the eclipse.
Her name, they said, was Alisa Vareth.
For a time, Alisa believed she was human.
The doctors told her she was lucky.
The priests told her she was chosen.
The government told her to forget.
But in the stillness between dreams, she heard them —
voices that were not human.
Growls softened into words.
Whispers that carried memory.
"You called the moon, and the moon answered."
"We remember the scent of your blood, Queen of the Wild Sky."
And in her heart, something ancient stirred — something that remembered how to devour the sun.
On the thirteenth night after her return, she saw him.
He stood in the reflection of her hospital window — not outside, not inside, but between.
White hair like winter's last breath, eyes the color of a dying star.
Half of his face human, half marked by fur and faint scars.
When he smiled, the world around her seemed to bend.
When he spoke, her pulse stopped obeying her.
"You're late," he said softly.
"Do you know how long I've waited, Alisa?"
Her lips trembled.
"I don't know you."
His eyes — wild, mournful — did not blink.
"Then why," he whispered, "does my heart still beat in your chest?"
The window cracked.
Moonlight spilled in like liquid silver.
And the voice inside her head — the one she thought was madness — finally answered.
"Kai."
The moon rose again that night — but it was not the same moon.
It was alive, bleeding and beautiful, watching as its lost children began to cross into the waking world.
And Alisa, trembling and breathless, realized the truth she had always feared:
The city hadn't been destroyed.
It had been taken —
and she was the reason why.
Chapter 1 — The Girl Who Returned Alone
When Alisa woke, the world was humming.
Not machines, not voices — but the air itself, vibrating like a held breath that had lasted too long.
The ceiling above her was white, sterile, and cracked in one corner, and for a strange moment she couldn't tell whether she was lying under plaster or inside a cocoon.
She turned her head. Tubes whispered beside her arm, feeding light instead of medicine. The monitors pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat — slow, deliberate, unhurried, like the tide.
Someone had written her name on the chart by her bed: ALISA VARETH.
She stared at the letters as if they belonged to someone else.
The door opened.
A nurse entered, but her footsteps faltered when she met Alisa's gaze. "Ah… you're awake," she whispered, as though speaking too loudly might break the fragile thing in the room. "You've been unconscious for two weeks."
"Two… weeks?" Alisa's voice sounded wrong. Rough and low, like a note played on an old instrument.
"Yes. You were found at the center of the Elyndor crater. Do you remember what happened?"
Alisa hesitated. In her mind she saw silver dust swirling through darkness. A city that breathed once, then stopped. And a pair of eyes — bright, feral, tender.
She shook her head.
The nurse smiled in relief, though her hands trembled as she adjusted the drip. "Rest. You're safe now."
Safe. The word felt like a lie, but Alisa didn't correct her.
That night, the moon returned to the sky.
It hung smaller now, as if afraid of being seen. The hospital lights dimmed, and shadows lengthened in impossible directions.
Alisa couldn't sleep. Her body remembered something her mind did not — a rhythm, a pulse that wanted to run, to howl.
And beneath that pulse, a whisper:
You shouldn't have come back alone.
She sat up. The window was fogged from her breath, and when she wiped it with her palm, she froze.
A figure stood outside, beyond the iron gate, beneath the skeletal trees — white hair catching the moonlight like frost.
He didn't move, yet the distance between them seemed to dissolve. Her chest tightened. Her heart beat once, twice, and the monitor beside her flickered off.
The figure lifted his hand and placed it over his heart.
And without thinking, Alisa mirrored him.
For an instant, the world tilted. She smelled rain and fur, felt warmth like the memory of sunlight on her skin.
Then the lights came back, the window cleared, and the figure was gone.
Days passed.
Officials came and went, their questions like knives polished with politeness.
"Miss Vareth, can you describe what you saw before the collapse?"
"Were there any unusual phenomena — lights, voices, hallucinations?"
"Do you recall anyone named Kai?"
She didn't answer. The name was a secret that tasted like blood.
They eventually left her alone, calling her traumatized. The word sounded easier than haunted.
When she was released, she found Elyndor surrounded by military fences. The city where she had grown up was now a crater filled with pale mist. The air shimmered faintly — like moonlight trapped under glass.
A guard warned her not to cross the boundary.
But that night, she did.
The mist was warm. It coiled around her ankles like smoke from a forgotten fire.
As she stepped deeper, the silence thickened until even her heartbeat faded.
And then she saw him again — standing where the heart of the city had been.
White hair. Silver eyes. The same impossible calm.
"Why do you keep following me?" she whispered.
"I don't," he replied. His voice was low, rough, almost tender. "You're the one calling me."
Alisa took a step back. "Who are you?"
He smiled, faintly sad. "You used to call me Kai."
The name struck like lightning through her skull — a memory of running through ruins under a red moon, of hands clasped in fear and devotion.
"You're mistaken," she said. "I don't remember you."
Kai tilted his head. "Your body does."
He walked toward her, the mist parting beneath his feet. His shadow stretched behind him — not human, elongated, clawed.
Alisa wanted to flee, but something inside her refused. Her pulse synced with his steps, her breath matching his rhythm until the air between them throbbed like a shared heartbeat.
When he stopped an arm's length away, the scent of him filled her head — wild earth, cold wind, and something faintly metallic.
"You shouldn't be here," she said.
"Neither should you." His hand lifted, hesitated, then touched her cheek. The warmth of his palm seared through her skin. "This world forgets too quickly. I remember what you were."
"What… I was?"
He leaned closer, voice a whisper that brushed her ear. "Our queen."
Her knees weakened. "No. I'm just—"
"Alive," he murmured. "Barely."
For a moment, the fog around them pulsed. Shapes stirred within it — eyes glinting, bodies half-formed from smoke and moonlight. Beastmen. Watching. Waiting.
Kai's hand dropped. "They'll come for you soon. They think you betrayed them."
"Betrayed?" Alisa's voice broke. "I don't even know them!"
"You will," he said, stepping back into the mist. "And when you do, you'll have to choose whose world deserves to exist."
She reached for him. "Wait—!"
But the mist swallowed him, leaving only a faint echo:
"Find me before the next eclipse."
Then the crater fell silent once more.
Later that night, back in her apartment, Alisa found something on her windowsill — a feather made of silver glass, still warm to the touch. When she held it, her pulse steadied, and she heard a distant howl rising through the city's bones.
For the first time since the eclipse, she smiled — not because she was safe, but because she finally knew she wasn't alone.
— End of Chapter 1 —
Chapter 2 — Whispers of the Beastmen
The silver feather burned in her palm.
Alisa stared at it as if it were a key to a door she didn't know existed, yet instinct screamed that the door had already been opened — the lock turned long ago, while she slept beneath hospital lights.
She couldn't shake the memory of Kai: his eyes, wild and soft at the same time, reflecting a world she no longer knew, a city she had lost, and a promise that had been etched in moonlight and shadow.
"Find me before the next eclipse," the whisper had said.
It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command written in blood and fear.
1. The Call of the Crater
By dawn, she was back at the crater's edge. Military lines flanked her — tall, rigid men with rifles pointed like silent accusations. Their eyes were careful, calculating.
Alisa ignored them. The silver feather hummed against her chest, vibrating as though it were alive.
The mist waited for her.
It wasn't fog. It was a veil between worlds, breathing, pulsing, and almost sentient. When she stepped onto it, it welcomed her like a tide of cold fingers brushing her ankles, trailing up her legs. The world outside disappeared. Only the crater, the mist, and the echo of something ancient remained.
"Alisa."
She froze. His voice — low, feral, and impossibly close — threaded through the mist. Her name felt like a memory.
"Kai?"
He emerged from the silver haze. Taller, more defined, the moonlight tracing the angles of his face like a knife. But there was something different — something she couldn't place. His pupils glinted, elongated slightly, catching light like molten silver. The beast within him had awakened.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
"And you?" Her voice trembled, but she stood firm. "Are you human?"
He shook his head, the movement slow, deliberate. A low growl rumbled from his chest, almost sorrowful. "I am what the city made me. And what I've chosen to be since it fell."
Her chest tightened. She couldn't tell if she was afraid or longing. Maybe both.
"Why me?" she asked, stepping closer, ignoring the icy touch of the mist. "Why did you come to me?"
Kai's eyes softened — just for a heartbeat. "Because you remembered me, even when you forgot. Because you survived when no one else did. Because… I need you."
The confession struck like thunder. Her heart, fragile and brittle, skipped several beats. The air around them vibrated. She felt him before she saw him, the pulse of his presence stronger than any living being she had ever known.
"You don't even know me," she whispered, her voice breaking.
He reached for her. Just a touch. His fingers brushed hers — light, tentative, but electric. And for the first time since the city vanished, the world around her tilted, and she felt a spark of something dangerous: desire, fear, and something that could kill her if she let it.
"I know enough," he said. His voice was almost a growl now, the beast's edge curling around his words. "I know enough to need you."
2. The Mist Speaks
The silver mist thickened. Shapes moved within it — shadows of the fallen city, echoes of screams, the distorted remnants of those lost in the eclipse.
Alisa's fingers tightened around the feather. The shapes recoiled when she held it up, as if afraid. But then they froze, curious, drawn to the light it gave off.
Kai watched silently. "They're the Beastmen," he said. His voice carried weight, the kind of truth that claws at your soul. "Born from the city's destruction. They hunger for those who remember what we were… or who we were meant to be."
"Beastmen?" Her eyes widened. "Like… monsters?"
He shook his head. "Not monsters. Not exactly. They're memories, twisted into flesh. They remember the city. They remember its blood, and they will not forgive its loss."
A shriek tore through the mist. A figure emerged, grotesque yet human — long limbs, eyes like molten silver, and teeth that gleamed like glass shards. It lunged.
Kai moved with impossible speed, catching it midair. His claws extended, but he didn't kill. He crushed the thing with precision, then whispered, almost tenderly, "You will not touch her."
Alisa's heart raced. "You're… protecting me?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he took her hand and led her deeper into the crater.
"You shouldn't come alone next time," he muttered. "The Beastmen are stronger now. And they smell fear… your fear."
Her chest ached. Not with fear — with something darker, something unspoken. Love? Or obsession? Perhaps both.
3. Memories in the Moonlight
They reached a building that had survived the collapse — a skyscraper, its upper floors twisted like a ribbon caught in a storm. Inside, Kai's movements were sure, fluid. He led her to a room bathed in moonlight, where dust danced in silver beams, and broken glass scattered across the floor.
He stopped. "This is where it began."
Alisa's eyes traced the shattered floor. Symbols were etched into the walls — signs she didn't understand, but her bones remembered.
"You were the queen," Kai whispered. "Not of people… of the city itself. Of the creatures that lived beneath its streets, that walked its alleys at night, that roared in its factories. You were their heart. And when the eclipse came, they lost it… and I lost you."
Tears blurred her vision. "I don't remember any of this."
"No," he said, moving closer. His hand brushed her hair. "You couldn't. The city wiped it from you. But it's still here — in your blood. In the pulse beneath your skin. That's why they come for you. That's why I came."
Alisa's chest tightened. The ache in her heart wasn't just grief. It was love. It was need. It was fear.
Kai leaned down. Their foreheads touched. The mist around them curled closer, protective. And for a moment, she believed the world outside had ceased to exist.
"I can't lose you again," he whispered, his breath cold against her lips.
"You won't," she said. Her voice cracked, but the words were steady. "I'll find you… before the next eclipse."
He smiled, faint and dangerous. "Good. Because the next eclipse… will decide if we live… or if we are erased forever."
And as the city slept beneath the silver moon, the Beastmen stirred, waiting for the heartbeat of the girl who had returned alone.
— End of Chapter 2 —
Chapter 3 — Blood in the Eclipse
The city no longer existed. Its streets were cracked canyons of glass and steel, skeletal reminders of what had been. Yet in the ruins, Alisa felt something alive — something that both called to her and terrified her.
She clutched the silver feather, now warm, pulsing with a heartbeat that mirrored her own.
Kai was silent beside her, moving like a shadow — part man, part predator. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight, molten silver tracing the edges of his iris, and yet his gaze never left her.
"You shouldn't have come," he murmured, low and dangerous, though the concern in his voice betrayed him. "They sense you. They will know you are alive."
"I can't stay hidden," Alisa whispered, voice trembling but defiant. "Not anymore. Not after what I saw in the crater."
Kai's fingers brushed hers — light, almost hesitant, but the warmth seared through the cold night. "Then I'll be with you… even if it kills us both."
1. The Whispering Shadows
They moved through the ruins, the silver mist clinging to their ankles. Shapes flickered in the shadows — faces, hands, mouths that whispered their memories in distorted tones.
Alisa shivered. "What are they saying?"
"They're calling your name," Kai said. His voice was tense, clipped, warning her not to listen. "But not all voices are yours… some belong to the city itself."
She wanted to look away, to ignore the whispers, but something compelled her forward. Memories, long buried, clawed through her mind — flashes of laughter, screams, and hands reaching out through darkness.
And then she saw him: a shadowy figure, crouched in the remains of a collapsed building. It wasn't Kai… but it moved like him. The Beastmen.
Kai growled low, almost a vibration in his chest. "Stay behind me."
The creature leaped, faster than thought. Alisa stumbled, and time slowed — she felt the cold wind of death brush past her cheek. Kai caught it mid-air, pinning it to the ground. His claws extended, but he didn't strike.
"You will not touch her," he whispered, almost lovingly, his silver eyes glinting in the darkness.
Alisa's heart thudded painfully. She had never seen him like this — human, beast, protector, lover — all at once.
2. Secrets of the Eclipse
They found shelter in the remnants of a skyscraper's top floor. Broken windows framed the red, ominous eclipse still lingering in the sky. Alisa sank to the floor, exhausted, the silver feather glowing faintly in her lap.
Kai sat beside her, shoulders tense. "The eclipse… it didn't just destroy the city. It awakened them — the Beastmen, the city's memory, and us."
"Us?" Alisa looked up, confusion and fear swirling in her chest.
He hesitated, his hand hovering over hers. "We… were always bound. Not by choice. By fate. By blood. You survived because the city chose you. And I survived because I… couldn't let go."
Her chest tightened. "I don't understand… why me? Why us?"
"Because even in death, in destruction, even in the eclipse's shadow… I found you," he said. His voice was low, intimate, a confession wrapped in steel. "And I won't lose you again."
Alisa felt tears prick her eyes, not of sorrow, but of longing. She reached for him, and their hands entwined. The mist around them seemed to pulse in response, wrapping them in a cocoon of silver and shadow.
And yet, somewhere deep beneath, she felt the city's heartbeat — hungry, angry, and waiting.
3. The First Blood
The Beastmen returned, but not alone. Their numbers had grown, drawn by the girl who survived. Alisa and Kai fought side by side. Each strike Kai made was precise, brutal, yet protective, keeping her untouched.
She felt a dark thrill in the chaos, her heart racing at the sight of him — this creature who was both her protector and something untamed, something forbidden.
"You're bleeding," she said, noticing a shallow cut along his arm.
"I'll heal," he murmured, leaning closer, the scent of rain and earth surrounding him. "But you… you must promise me, no more reckless bravery."
"I can't promise that," she whispered, her lips almost touching his. "Not when I can feel you… when you're here."
Kai's breath hitched. His hand brushed her cheek, cold but electrifying. "Then… we'll face it together," he said. And for a moment, the world outside ceased to exist — only them, their bond forged in tragedy and shadow.
Yet the Beastmen pressed on, and the city's ruins seemed to lean closer, as if whispering a cruel truth: love and survival were fleeting. Pain was inevitable. Death was patient.
4. A Kiss in the Darkness
As the night deepened, the eclipse painted the city in red and silver. Alisa and Kai stood on the edge of a collapsed tower, holding each other close, the mist swirling around them like a lover's embrace.
"You can't hide your heart from me," Kai said, voice rough, almost broken. "Even if the city dies, even if the world crumbles… I feel it."
Alisa pressed her lips to his, hesitant, trembling, but the kiss deepened. It was desperate, tragic, yet full of longing — a promise and a warning all at once.
"I don't know if we can survive this," she whispered, breath mingling with his.
"We won't survive… unless we are together," he replied, his forehead resting against hers. "Alone, you'd be lost. But together… maybe we can defy fate."
The Beastmen circled below, their cries echoing through the empty city, and yet, in that moment, Alisa felt a spark of hope. A dangerous, fleeting hope, but hope nonetheless.
— End of Chapter 3 —
Chapter 4 — The Heart of Shadows
The red eclipse lingered, casting a bloody glow over the ruined city. The air itself seemed alive, humming with whispers only Alisa could faintly hear. Every step she took left faint silver sparks on the cracked asphalt, evidence of the power stirring inside her — a power she didn't fully understand, yet instinctively felt she could not ignore.
Kai's hand was always on her back, steady, protective, yet tense. He moved like a shadow through the mist, his eyes constantly scanning, glowing faintly with an unnatural light.
"You're changing," he said quietly, almost to himself, "and so is the city… but you're not just surviving, Alisa. You're becoming something else."
Alisa's heart clenched. "Something else… like you?"
He turned toward her, his expression unreadable, half-human, half-beast. "I don't know… but whatever you are, whatever power is awakening inside you, the world will want it. And it will destroy everything we love to take it."
1. Awakening in the Ruins
As they climbed through the skeletal remains of what had once been a skyscraper, Alisa felt her senses sharpening unnaturally. Sounds, smells, even the faintest vibrations under the ground became terrifyingly clear. She stumbled, gripping the silver feather, and the world tilted.
Then she saw it — a memory, not her own, playing in front of her eyes like a phantom: the city alive, people laughing, a festival in the streets, and shadows twisting behind the crowd.
Kai noticed her freeze. "It's your gift," he said softly. "Or your curse. You can feel the city… the pain it's trapped, the lives it has taken. But be careful. The more you see, the less control you have."
Alisa nodded, gripping his arm. "I can't let it control me… not when you're here."
Kai's hand covered hers, thumb brushing the back of her palm. "Then trust me. Trust us."
2. The Beastmen's Hunt
Suddenly, a scream pierced the silence — not human, not entirely, but chilling nonetheless. Shadows shifted below, coalescing into forms both familiar and monstrous. The Beastmen were hunting them, drawn by Alisa's awakening power.
Kai's claws extended, silver light tracing the edges, his voice low and guttural. "They know you're here. And they won't stop until they claim what belongs to them… or you."
Alisa felt fear rising, but also something darker — a thrill, a longing to fight beside him, to be closer to him even in the chaos. "Then let them come," she whispered. "We face them together."
The first Beastman leapt from the shadows, its eyes glowing red. Kai intercepted it mid-air, striking it down in a single brutal movement. Alisa felt her heartbeat sync with his — a dangerous rhythm, intoxicating in its closeness.
"You're too reckless," Kai murmured after the fight, his lips brushing her hair. "But I can't stop you. And I don't want to."
Her cheeks warmed, but the thrill of battle coursed through her veins. "Then we're the same… aren't we?"
Kai's silver eyes softened, but the tension never left his muscles. "Yes… and that is the problem."
3. A Tragic Confession
As the night deepened, they found a temporary refuge atop a crumbling tower. The city below seemed endless, broken and mournful, yet the red eclipse bathed everything in a surreal glow.
Alisa leaned against Kai, trembling, both from exhaustion and fear. "I don't know how long we can survive like this," she whispered.
Kai tilted his head, brushing his lips against her forehead. "Survival is meaningless if we lose each other," he said, voice breaking slightly. "I… I have to tell you something."
Alisa's heart stuttered. "What is it?"
"I… remember the day before the city fell," he admitted, his silver eyes distant. "I saw you… and I wanted to protect you. But I failed. I couldn't reach you before the eclipse hit. I… I lost everyone else, and I… I was ready to lose you too."
Tears pooled in Alisa's eyes. "Kai…"
He cupped her face, his thumbs brushing away the tears she didn't even realize she was crying. "I can't promise you tomorrow," he said, voice low, "but I can promise that tonight… I will never let you go. Even if it kills me, even if the world burns."
Alisa pressed herself against him, shivering, but in the warmth of his arms, she felt a flicker of hope. And yet, the shadows in the distance whispered that hope was dangerous, fleeting, and fragile.
4. The Silver Feather's Secret
Alisa held the feather tightly. Its glow brightened as she concentrated, and suddenly visions filled her mind — the city before the eclipse, the Beastmen's creation, and her own role in it. She realized she was not merely a survivor; she was the city's heart, its last hope, and its final weapon.
Kai noticed her sudden stillness. "Alisa… what is it?"
She looked at him, fear and determination shining in her eyes. "I… I think… I am the city. Or at least, I carry its soul. And if I lose control… everyone… everything…" Her voice faltered.
Kai's hands gripped hers. "Then we control it together. You and me. No one else. No one will take you from me."
They shared a long, trembling kiss, bitter and sweet, tragic and intimate. In that moment, Alisa realized that no matter the darkness surrounding them, no matter the tragedy waiting, this love — fragile and dangerous — was worth fighting for.
And the city… the city watched, silent and hungry, waiting for the moment it would demand its price.
— End of Chapter 4 —
Chapter 5 — Blood in the Eclipse
The red sky pressed down on the ruins like a living thing. The city, or what was left of it, seemed to moan in agony under the lunar eclipse. Every shattered building, every scorched street, pulsed with a memory of life lost, of screams frozen in time.
Alisa's grip on the silver feather tightened. It wasn't just a talisman anymore — it pulsed with the city's sorrow, a heartbeat she could feel in her chest.
Kai's shadow fell across her, his figure both terrifying and beautiful under the red light. "We're running out of time," he said. His voice was low, sharp, urgent. "The Beastmen aren't just hunting. They're calling something… worse."
Alisa shivered, not from cold, but from the sense of inevitability. The city was alive — wounded, vengeful, and hungry.
1. The Call of the Ruins
From the distance came a sound like metal scraping against bone, echoing through the skeletal streets. Alisa's body reacted before her mind could. Her silver eyes flickered with a strange light, reflecting the pain of the city.
Kai noticed it. "You're feeling it too," he said. "The city… it's alive inside you. And it's calling them."
Alisa's lips trembled. "Who? The ones who did this? Or something worse?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he drew her closer, shielding her as a figure emerged from the mist — tall, shrouded in black, its face hidden under a mask that gleamed like obsidian. Its presence alone made the air heavy.
"You've awakened," the figure hissed, voice like broken glass. "The city mourns, and you… you bleed with it."
Alisa's heart raced. "Who… are you?"
The figure bent closer, and Alisa could see the faint glint of a blade in its hand. "I am what this city has created… and I've come to claim what it desires most."
Kai stepped forward, his claws flashing silver. "Then you'll have to go through me."
The masked figure laughed, a sound that sent shivers down Alisa's spine. "Fool. You cannot protect her from herself."
2. The Dance of Blood
The battle began, but it was unlike anything Alisa had seen. Shadows twisted and slashed at Kai, and he moved with a fluid, deadly grace, each strike cutting through the mist like silver lightning.
Alisa felt something inside her awaken — a dark, primal energy that seemed to feed on the city's sorrow. Shadows coiled around her, responding to her fear, anger, and determination.
"Kai!" she shouted, and he caught her hand. "We fight together!"
"Yes," he replied, eyes blazing. "Always together."
The masked figure lunged at them both. Alisa released a pulse of silver energy that tore through the mist, throwing the figure back. But the effort left her trembling, drained. Kai held her, brushing her hair from her face.
"You're extraordinary," he murmured, voice low and almost pained. "But don't push yourself too far… I can't bear to lose you again."
Her lips met his in a desperate, trembling kiss — a kiss that was both a promise and a warning. The city screamed around them, but in that fleeting moment, nothing else existed.
3. Secrets in the Shadows
After the fight, they found refuge in a crumbling cathedral, its stained-glass windows shattered, letting the red light of the eclipse pour in. Alisa sank to the ground, exhausted, her mind swirling with visions.
Kai knelt beside her. "Talk to me," he urged. "What did you see?"
Alisa held the silver feather, feeling its warmth and the weight of the city's memories. "It's… it's like the city is alive. It remembers everything… every death, every betrayal. And it's… it's calling me to something. Something terrible."
Kai's eyes darkened. "Then we face it together. Whatever it wants, whatever it is… we will endure. Together."
Her chest tightened. "Kai… what if I lose myself in it? What if I become… like them?"
He cupped her face gently, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Then I'll fight to bring you back. I won't let you vanish into the darkness alone. No matter what it costs me, no matter what it takes."
4. A Tragic Oath
The cathedral was silent except for their breathing, the red light bathing them in an unearthly glow. Alisa rested her head on Kai's shoulder, feeling his warmth, his heartbeat, a fragile anchor in a collapsing world.
"I… love you," she whispered, voice breaking.
Kai's hands trembled slightly as he brushed her hair from her face. "And I you," he replied, lips brushing her temple. "If we fall… we fall together. But until then… we fight. Always together."
Outside, the city writhed under the lunar eclipse, shadows twisting into forms of nightmares. Inside, Alisa and Kai shared a fleeting moment of solace, knowing that tragedy and darkness awaited them — yet choosing to cling to each other anyway.
And in the heart of the ruins, something stirred, watching, waiting… ready to decide whether love could survive the eclipse's blood-red judgment.
— End of Chapter 5 —
Chapter 6 — The Veil Between Hearts
The eclipse had passed, but the sky refused to heal.
A faint crimson halo lingered over Elyndor's ruins, staining the mist like dried blood.
The wind carried whispers — fragments of voices that were not entirely human.
And in the hollow cathedral where the world had held its breath, Alisa woke in Kai's arms.
His warmth was the only thing real.
Everything else — the trembling air, the flickering moonlight, the shadows shifting behind the broken altar — felt like a dream that had forgotten how to end.
For a moment, she simply breathed him in.
The scent of him — rain, earth, steel — grounded her more than any prayer could.
His heart beat against her cheek, steady and deep, and she thought: this is what it means to be alive in the ruins.
Kai stirred, his voice low, roughened by sleep and battle.
"You should rest."
She smiled faintly. "You say that as if you ever do."
He brushed his thumb across her lips, a silent confession in the gesture.
"When I close my eyes, I see the city burning again. And you, vanishing into the light."
Her hand found his, fingers interlacing. "Then keep them open. Watch me now."
The way he looked at her — as if she were both salvation and sin — made her breath falter. His eyes gleamed faintly, more silver than human, but it wasn't the beast that frightened her. It was the tenderness behind it.
"You shouldn't love me," he murmured, as though the words themselves might shatter the fragile peace around them. "I am what the city made me — and it made me from its hate."
"Then let me be the reason you forget what hate feels like," she whispered back.
He leaned closer. His lips brushed the corner of her mouth, slow, deliberate, not quite a kiss — a promise trembling on the edge of surrender. The air thickened, silver mist swirling tighter around them, drawn by the heat of something forbidden.
"Alisa," he breathed, her name tasting like reverence and regret. "You don't know what you're binding yourself to."
"Then show me," she said softly. "I'm tired of being afraid of what I already am."
He hesitated, jaw tightening as though fighting a war inside himself. Then he drew her closer, their foreheads touching. The silver feather between them pulsed, bright enough to paint their faces in ghostlight.
And suddenly, she saw.
The vision struck like lightning — a world before the eclipse, a moon that sang instead of bled, and herself standing beside Kai not as a girl, but as something vast and wild, crowned in light. Around them, the Beastmen bowed, and the city breathed in worship.
She gasped, pulling back. "That was—"
"Us," Kai said quietly. His eyes glowed faintly, sorrow hidden beneath their beauty. "Before we fell. Before the city demanded our blood in return for its birth."
Her heart pounded. "Then this… all of this… it's repeating?"
"Yes." His voice broke. "And this time, if you remember who you are, you'll awaken the moon again. But if you love me…"
He looked away.
"The world will end."
Silence fell — heavy, fragile, alive.
Alisa reached up and turned his face back toward hers.
"Then let it," she said. "If loving you means the world ends, maybe it's a world that was never meant to last."
For a moment, even the wind stopped moving.
Then he kissed her — not gently, not safely, but like a man who had spent centuries waiting for something he could never truly have.
Her body trembled under the weight of it — the darkness, the heat, the aching tenderness that felt too much like destiny.
When they finally broke apart, the mist around them shimmered.
The city seemed to sigh.
And far above, the crimson halo pulsed once — as if the moon itself had felt their touch.
Kai pressed his forehead to hers again, whispering, "Every time we find each other, the world ends a little more."
Alisa smiled through the tears she hadn't realized were falling.
"Then let's make this ending beautiful."
Outside, unseen, the shadows stirred — jealous, ancient, and patient.
The Beastmen howled from the ruins below, their cries echoing through the hollow bones of the city.
And somewhere deep beneath the earth, something vast began to awaken — drawn by love, by blood, and by the promise of another eclipse.
The veil between worlds had thinned.
And so had the one between hearts.
— End of Chapter 6 —
Chapter 7 — The Moon's Hunger
The veil had thinned.
The night breathed differently now — too close, too alive.
Every whisper of wind through the ruins carried a pulse that wasn't the city's anymore. It was hers.
Alisa stood at the broken window of the cathedral, watching the red halo fade into bruised twilight. Her reflection flickered in the cracked glass, split into fragments — half girl, half ghost, half something more.
Behind her, Kai stirred.
The low sound of him — a breath, a heartbeat, a presence — filled the silence.
"You feel it, don't you?" he murmured.
She nodded. "It's inside me. The city, the moon… everything. It's waking up."
Kai came closer. His shadow stretched across hers, merging until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. His hand found her waist, light as the tremor before a storm.
"It's not just the city that's waking," he said. "It's you."
Alisa turned, meeting his gaze. His eyes glowed faintly, silver catching in the dying light, and she saw the truth hiding behind his restraint — hunger, fear, and a tenderness too fierce to name.
"What happens if I let it?" she whispered.
He hesitated, his breath ghosting against her ear. "Then the moon will rise again. But it won't stop at light this time. It will want blood… mine, yours, everyone's."
She closed her eyes. "And if I resist?"
"You'll die before it does."
The honesty in his voice hurt more than any threat.
For a moment neither spoke. The world outside trembled — a deep vibration that felt like a heartbeat shared between heaven and earth.
Then Kai's hand slid to her jaw, lifting her face to his. "I don't want to lose you to it," he said softly. "But I don't know if I can fight you when it happens."
Her lips curved, not in defiance, but in something like grief. "Then don't fight me."
His breath caught — a sound almost human, almost animal. "Alisa—"
She silenced him with a kiss.
It wasn't gentle this time. It was a collision of souls, a desperate tangle of want and fear, as if both of them knew the world would shatter before dawn. His hands tangled in her hair; her fingers traced the scars along his neck — the places where the beast and the man had warred for dominance.
When they broke apart, her pulse was no longer her own. The silver feather glowed faintly between them, trembling like a living thing. The light seeped from it, winding around their bodies in thin, luminous threads that pulsed in time with their hearts.
The air rippled.
The city screamed.
Windows shattered. The ground outside split open, spilling silver mist like veins bursting beneath skin. The moon rose again — not red this time, but white-hot, burning, alive.
Kai staggered, clutching his chest. "It's starting."
Alisa's breath came in short, trembling gasps. The light pouring from her skin matched the moon's rhythm. "I can feel it calling me. Pulling me somewhere."
"Where?" Kai's voice was hoarse, strained.
She turned toward the glowing fissure outside the cathedral — a line of light cutting through the ruins, leading deep underground. "The heart," she whispered. "The city's heart. It wants me back."
He grabbed her wrist. "You can't go alone."
"I wasn't planning to."
The smile she gave him then — fragile, defiant, and impossibly beautiful — was the kind that could break fate itself.
Kai's grip tightened. "If we go there, we may not come back."
"Then let's make it worth dying for."
He stared at her for a long moment, the weight of centuries in his eyes, and then nodded. "Together, then."
"Always."
They stepped into the fissure.
The light swallowed them whole.
2. The Descent
The tunnels beneath Elyndor breathed like lungs.
Silver veins pulsed along the walls, lighting the path ahead in a ghostly rhythm. The air was thick — too thick — tasting of metal and memory. With every step, Alisa felt something ancient press against her chest, whispering her name not as it was, but as it had been.
Queen. Goddess. Betrayer.
Kai walked beside her, silent but alert. The closer they came to the heart, the more his human shape flickered — brief flashes of fur, claws, fangs catching the dim light. He didn't hide it anymore.
Alisa reached out, brushing her fingers against his arm. "Don't fight it," she said quietly. "You don't have to pretend to be human with me."
He looked at her, the faintest trace of a smile touching his lips. "You never saw me as human anyway."
"No," she admitted. "I saw you as mine."
For a moment, the air between them burned.
The tunnel opened into a vast chamber — a cathedral of stone and pulse. At its center floated a sphere of light, huge and trembling, suspended in midair. The city's heart. Every building, every street, every memory of Elyndor seemed to hum in time with it.
Alisa's knees weakened. "It's beautiful," she whispered.
Kai's expression was unreadable. "It's dying."
The sphere flickered. From within, voices cried out — thousands of them — overlapping, pleading, screaming for release.
"They're trapped," Alisa realized. "The people… the city kept them."
"Because of you," Kai said softly. "Because it couldn't let its queen go."
Tears filled her eyes. "Then I'll set them free."
She stepped forward, the light wrapping around her like an embrace. It was warm, familiar, and heartbreakingly gentle.
But the closer she got, the louder the voices became.
Don't leave us. Don't abandon us again.
Kai reached for her. "Alisa—"
She turned, her eyes glowing gold now, bright enough to blind. "If this is what I was born for, I can't turn away."
He hesitated. Then he smiled — small, tragic, unguarded.
"Then let me burn with you."
The light consumed them both.
And far above, the moon — hungry and alive — opened its eye.
— End of Chapter 7 —
Chapter 8 — The Blood Covenant
"When the moon bleeds, hearts remember what the world tried to forget."
Scene 1 — The Awakening Below
The light burned. Then it became breath.
Alisa's eyes fluttered open to a sky that shouldn't exist — a ceiling of silver light, pulsing like a living heart. She was lying on stone that shimmered faintly, her fingers dusted with ash and luminescence.
Alisa (thinking):This isn't the surface… this is beneath Elyndor.
Beside her, Kai knelt, one knee on the glowing floor. His white hair clung damply to his face, his eyes half-human, half-beast, the silver burning brighter than ever.
Kai: "You called the heart. Now it listens only to you."
Alisa: "It feels alive. Like it's… waiting."
Kai: "It's waiting for your choice."
When she stood, the air moved with her — a swirl of mist and memory. The silver feather, still hanging from her neck, pulsed in rhythm with the giant sphere of light before them.
Alisa (softly): "All those voices… they're the people who vanished."
Kai: "Trapped between worlds. The city used them as anchors. To keep itself alive."
She looked at him, fear and determination tangled in her voice.
Alisa: "Then I'll free them."
Kai (grimly): "To free them, you'll have to break the bond that keeps the city breathing. That bond… is you."
Silence.
The realization fell heavy — she was both savior and cage.
Alisa: "If I die, the city dies?"
Kai: "No. If you die, the city sleeps. But if you live as you are now… it will awaken into something else."
Alisa: "Something worse."
Kai: "…Something divine."
Scene 2 — The Mark of Binding
A soft hum filled the chamber. The light pulsed, and the walls began to shift, forming a circle of sigils that spiraled outward like a halo.
Kai: "It's calling for the Covenant."
Alisa: "What is that?"
Kai: "A bond between the heart and its vessel. Between the moon and its shadow."
He approached her slowly, claws retracting, eyes lowering in reverence.
Kai (quietly): "If you complete the ritual, you'll never be human again. You'll become what you were — the Queen of the Wild Sky. And I…"
Alisa: "You'll what?"
Kai: "I'll belong to you. Body and soul. But I'll never be free."
Her breath caught. The way he said it — without fear, only longing — made her chest ache.
Alisa (whispering): "Then let's be bound. If that's the price of this world, I'll pay it."
He looked up sharply, silver eyes flashing.
Kai: "Do you even know what you're saying? Alisa, this bond isn't love. It's eternity."
Alisa: "Then let it be both."
She stepped closer until their breaths mingled. His claws trembled as he reached for her wrist, tracing the faint glow under her skin.
Kai: "Once I mark you, the city will claim us both."
Alisa: "Then mark me."
Her words cracked the silence. The chamber answered — the light around them rising, spiraling like wind through an unseen storm.
Kai leaned in, his lips brushing her wrist. When his fangs pierced her skin, the pain was brief — a spark, a flash of silver fire that spread through her veins like molten moonlight.
Alisa (thinking):It hurts… but it feels right.
Her blood glowed where it touched him. The mark formed on her skin — a circle intersected by two crescent lines, the symbol of the lost moon.
Kai's voice was barely a whisper:
Kai: "It's done. We're bound."
Scene 3 — The City's Reaction
The entire chamber trembled. The sphere at the center pulsed once, twice — then cracked.
From within, a wave of energy burst outward, washing over them both.
Alisa: "What's happening?"
Kai: "The city felt the bond. It's remembering you. And it's angry."
The ground split beneath them, revealing veins of light stretching deeper underground — a map of the city's soul.
Kai (gritting his teeth): "They're coming."
Alisa: "The Beastmen?"
Kai: "No. What's left of them. The ones that refused to die."
Shapes rose from the fissures — forms half shadow, half memory. Their eyes glowed white, hollow with worship and hatred.
Voices (echoing): "Our queen returns… the betrayer returns…"
Alisa stepped forward, the silver mark on her wrist burning bright.
Alisa: "If I betrayed you once… let me atone now."
She raised her hand. The light answered her call — a surge of silver fire spreading from her fingertips, lashing through the mist. The creatures recoiled, hissing, disintegrating into dust.
Kai watched her, awe and fear mingling in his expression.
Kai (softly): "You're changing."
Alisa: "No. I'm remembering."
She turned to him, her golden eyes now rimmed with silver. "This power… it's not just the city's. It's ours."
Scene 4 — A Kiss of Blood
The battle's echoes faded. The chamber went still again, save for their breathing. Alisa's pulse still raced, her veins glowing faintly beneath her skin.
Kai approached, his expression unreadable.
Kai: "You shouldn't have done that. The more you awaken, the more it will hunger for you."
Alisa: "Then let it. I've been running from myself for too long."
He caught her wrist, holding it gently but firmly. The mark shimmered between their hands.
Kai: "This isn't freedom, Alisa. This is a curse."
Alisa: "If it's a curse, then bear it with me."
Her words silenced him. For a moment, they stood surrounded by the city's faint heartbeat — two shadows against an endless light.
Then she leaned in, closing the distance between them. Her lips found his — slow, trembling, hungry.
The taste of blood and light mingled on their tongues. His claws grazed her skin but didn't break it. She felt the bond ignite between them, not pain this time, but fire — the kind that could burn through heaven itself.
When they finally broke apart, their foreheads rested together, breaths uneven.
Kai (hoarse): "If we continue like this… there will be no world left to save."
Alisa: "Then let's save each other instead."
And beneath the earth, the heart of the city began to beat again — louder, faster, alive.
Its pulse matched theirs.
To be continued…
Chapter 9 — The Queen of Shadows
"To love the darkness is to become its light."
Scene 1 — The Rising Pulse
The tunnels were no longer still.
The walls shimmered with threads of silver and black, pulsing like veins under translucent skin. The city's heart had awoken — and with it, the buried past of gods and monsters.
Alisa stood at the center of the chamber, her breath uneven, her skin faintly glowing from the bond's mark. The light around her flickered in rhythm with her heartbeat.
Alisa (thinking):The city hears me now… it moves when I breathe.
Kai stood beside her, his expression torn between devotion and dread. The silver in his eyes had deepened, swirling like mercury caught in flame.
Kai: "The covenant changed you."
Alisa: "And you."
Kai (quietly): "I can feel your heart inside mine. Every beat… every thought."
His voice trembled with awe and something darker — hunger.
Alisa (softly): "Then stop fighting it."
Kai: "If I stop, I'll lose myself."
Alisa: "Then let me find you."
She reached for him. Her fingers brushed his jaw, tracing the faint line where fur threatened to break through his skin. His breath caught. For a moment, the world seemed to tilt toward them — gravity bending around the pull between two souls bound by something older than fate.
Scene 2 — The City's Whisper
The ground shifted beneath their feet. The air rippled with whispers — countless voices overlapping.
Voices:Our Queen… awaken… rule again…
A circle of black mist gathered around Alisa's feet, rising in elegant tendrils that wound around her legs, her arms, her throat. They didn't harm her. They adorned her.
Her white dress darkened, threads of shadow weaving into the fabric until it shimmered like a starless sky. The mark on her wrist spread — curling up her arm in silver vines that pulsed softly.
Kai (whispering): "You're becoming her again."
Alisa: "Her?"
Kai: "The Queen of Shadows. The one who once ruled both light and night. The city's first and last sovereign."
She turned to him, her eyes glowing faint gold.
Alisa: "And you?"
Kai: "The blade at her side."
He lowered his head, kneeling, one knee on the glowing floor. The gesture was both reverence and resignation.
Alisa (gently): "Kai… don't kneel."
Kai: "This is what I was made for. To serve you. To protect you. To love you, even if it destroys me."
Her chest tightened. His words struck deeper than any blade could.
Alisa: "Then rise. Love me not as a servant… but as a man."
He looked up — and in that moment, the beast and the man inside him became one.
Scene 3 — The Heart's Trial
The city trembled again. The giant sphere of light in the chamber's core cracked wider, spilling out a storm of silver mist. From it emerged figures — not flesh, but memory — the ghosts of Elyndor's guardians, shaped from the city's longing.
Kai (grim): "They're testing you."
Alisa: "Why?"
Kai: "To see if you are still worthy of the throne you once abandoned."
The first shade lunged — a silhouette of armor and flame. Alisa raised her hand, instinct guiding her. Silver energy burst forth, slicing through the air like moonfire. The creature dissolved with a scream.
Another came, then another — dozens, hundreds.
Her power danced through the chamber, elegant, unstoppable. The city itself seemed to bow beneath her will.
Kai watched in silence, caught between pride and sorrow.
Kai (thinking):She doesn't need me anymore.
But when one of the shades turned on him — its blade aiming for his heart — Alisa moved faster than thought. She threw herself between them, her hand striking the shade's chest. It shattered like glass, vanishing in a burst of light.
She looked back at him, smiling faintly through her exhaustion.
Alisa: "Don't ever think I don't need you."
His eyes widened. And for the first time, Kai smiled — small, rare, genuine.
Scene 4 — The Throne of Night
The battle ended as suddenly as it began. The city's heart quieted, its light now calm and steady. A staircase formed from its glow, leading upward — toward a massive obsidian throne suspended in midair.
Kai: "The city accepts you."
Alisa: "And what if I accept it?"
Kai: "Then there's no turning back."
She ascended the steps. Each one shimmered beneath her bare feet, humming in recognition. When she reached the throne, the air thickened, the light bending around her like a halo.
Voices:Our Queen returns. Let the night reign again.
She turned her gaze downward. Kai stood below, silver eyes gleaming, torn between devotion and desire.
Alisa: "If I rule again… will you stay?"
Kai: "Even if the world burns."
She extended her hand. He took it. The bond between them flared — their marks glowing so brightly the entire chamber pulsed in response.
The throne itself split open, forming twin circles of light that wrapped around them. For an instant, they weren't two beings — they were one: moon and shadow, beast and queen, love and ruin.
The city howled its approval.
Above, the moon flared to life, its white fire illuminating the ruins of Elyndor.
Scene 5 — The Queen's Kiss
When the light finally faded, Alisa sat upon the throne, her hair shimmering with streaks of silver. The mark on her wrist now formed a complete sigil across her collarbone — the sign of absolute bond.
Kai knelt at her side, head bowed, one hand over his heart.
Kai (softly): "It's over."
Alisa: "No. It's only beginning."
She reached for him, her fingers tilting his chin upward. Their eyes met — hers, radiant and divine; his, fierce and utterly human.
Alisa: "The Queen of Shadows needs a king."
Kai: "Then let the world tremble."
She leaned in, their lips meeting — slow, deep, inevitable. The bond between them blazed like fire, spilling waves of energy that rippled across the ruined city above.
For a moment, there was no world, no gods, no curses — only them.
"When the heart of a city and the soul of a man beat as one, the moon itself will bow."
To be continued…
Chapter 10 — The Second Eclipse
"Every time they touched, the world forgot its own name."
Scene 1 — The Night Without a Sky
The moon was wrong again.
Too bright. Too close.
It hung over Elyndor like an open wound, flooding the ruins with a light so pure it burned.
Alisa sat upon the throne of shadow, her crown flickering between silver and black flame. The city obeyed her heartbeat now — streets shifting, towers rising and crumbling like waves.
Kai stood beside her, one hand on the hilt of his blade, the other resting over the mark on his chest that bound him to her.
Kai (softly): "It's beginning. The eclipse."
Alisa: "I know. I can feel it inside me."
Kai: "Your power's breaking the sky."
Alisa: "Then let it."
She rose from the throne. Her eyes gleamed like molten gold, her hair drifting in an invisible wind. Every step she took left traces of silver behind — footprints that shimmered and vanished.
Alisa (quietly): "All I ever wanted was to save this place."
Kai: "And you have. But now it wants you."
He looked up at the moon. Its light pulsed in rhythm with her breath.
Kai: "It's hungry, Alisa. It's not satisfied with your heart anymore. It wants your soul."
Alisa: "Then let it take what's left of me."
Kai: "And me?"
Alisa (turning to him): "You're already part of me."
Scene 2 — The City Trembles
The city began to shake. Buildings split open as beams of light erupted skyward, reaching for the moon like desperate hands. The ground beneath them glowed, alive with veins of silver fire.
Voices:Queen… Complete the Circle… Bring the Light Home…
Alisa pressed her palm to her chest. The mark flared. The city answered.
A column of light shot upward from her body, connecting her to the moon above.
Kai (reaching for her): "Alisa!"
She gasped — the energy flooding her was too much. It wasn't power; it was memory.
Flashes burned behind her eyes — the first city, the first moon, the first fall.
Her laughter under silver rain.
His promise beneath the eclipse.
Their deaths, over and over again.
Alisa (thinking):We've done this before… every lifetime… every world… and still, we find each other.
She fell to her knees. The light tore at her body, at her soul.
Kai caught her before she hit the ground.
Kai: "Enough! You'll die if this keeps going!"
Alisa (smiling weakly): "Then I'll die for something real."
He pulled her close, shaking his head. "I won't let you."
Alisa: "You can't stop fate."
Kai: "Then I'll break it."
He pressed his hand over the mark on her chest. The glow flared, merging with his own. The bond reacted violently — their energies colliding in waves of silver flame that set the air ablaze.
Scene 3 — The Eclipse Devours
The moon began to bleed.
Rivers of white fire rained from the sky, turning the ruins to glass. The people — or what remained of them — screamed from the walls, their echoes dissolving into the storm.
Alisa's voice cut through the chaos.
Alisa: "If I let go, the city dies. If I stay, the world ends."
Kai: "Then we choose neither."
He pulled her closer. Their marks pulsed together, then fused.
The bond was no longer two threads — it was one, blazing through both hearts.
Kai: "We end the cycle. Together."
Alisa (whispering): "Together."
He kissed her — fierce, desperate, infinite.
The world roared in answer. The moon cracked. The city screamed.
Light exploded outward, swallowing everything.
Scene 4 — Between Light and Shadow
Silence.
No city.
No throne.
Just endless silver mist.
Alisa opened her eyes. She was floating — weightless — in a world without form.
Across from her, Kai drifted in the light, his body fading at the edges.
Alisa: "Where are we?"
Kai: "Between worlds. The space where gods go to be forgotten."
Alisa (softly): "We did it."
Kai: "The city sleeps again. The moon, too."
She reached for him, but her fingers passed through his chest like smoke.
Alisa: "No… Kai, no…"
Kai (smiling faintly): "The bond needed a soul to anchor it. Yours was too full of light."
Alisa: "Then I'll give you mine."
She pressed her palm to his heart. Her light flowed into him — silver, wild, unstoppable. His eyes widened as the fading stopped, his form solidifying once more.
Kai: "Alisa, what are you doing?"
Alisa (smiling through tears): "Finishing the story."
The light around them flared — brilliant, endless.
Scene 5 — The Dawn
Morning returned to the ruins of Elyndor.
The moon was whole again — pale, distant, serene.
The city was quiet.
In the center of what had once been the throne chamber, two figures stood carved in stone: a queen and her knight, hand in hand, faces turned toward the light.
Legends say that when the moon bleeds again, they will awaken — not as gods, not as monsters, but as two souls who refused to let love die.
"The world ended a thousand times, but love always found a way to begin again."
To be continued…
Chapter 11 — Epilogue: When the Moon Remembered Its Light
"The world was silent again, but silence was never empty — it remembered every heartbeat that dared to love."
Scene 1 — The Sleep of the City
The city of Elyndor was quiet.
No mist. No screams.
Only wind moving through hollow streets that glimmered faintly in the morning light.
It had been thirty nights since the eclipse ended. The soldiers called it The Silver Dawn. The priests said it was a miracle. But the survivors — few, pale, trembling — whispered another name.
"The Queen's Rest."
They said if you stood at the center of the ruins when the moon rose, you could hear a woman's voice — soft, distant, singing something no one could understand.
And if you listened long enough, you'd hear another voice — deep, low, answering her song like a promise that time refused to break.
Scene 2 — The Girl by the River
Somewhere far from the crater, a girl awoke beside a river of silver water.
Her hair shimmered faintly gold under the sun, her eyes reflecting a light that was not the sky's.
She didn't remember her name.
Only that she had once loved someone so deeply that the world had stopped turning.
A small silver feather lay beside her, half-buried in the grass. When she picked it up, warmth spread through her fingers — not heat, but something softer, like the memory of being held.
Girl (whispering): "Kai…"
The wind stirred.
A ripple moved across the water.
She looked up.
Across the river stood a figure — tall, white-haired, dressed in black. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes… his eyes were the color of a dying star.
Girl: "Do I… know you?"
Figure (softly): "You used to."
Her breath caught.
Girl: "Then tell me who I was."
Figure (smiling faintly): "You were the one who called the moon back."
Scene 3 — The Reunion
They stood on opposite sides of the river — two souls divided by fate and memory.
The world was no longer burning. The sky was blue again. But the moon still bore a faint scar, a reminder of what had been lost.
Girl: "If I called it back… did I save it?"
Figure: "You saved everything. Even me."
Girl: "Then why does it feel like something's missing?"
Figure: "Because you left a piece of yourself behind… in me."
He stepped into the river. The water glowed silver around his legs, rippling with light that mirrored the sky.
Girl: "Wait… if I cross, what happens?"
Figure: "You'll remember."
Girl: "And if I don't?"
Figure: "You'll live. Peacefully. Free."
The wind paused. The river stilled. Time itself seemed to wait.
She looked down at the feather in her hand. It pulsed once — like a heartbeat.
Then she smiled.
Girl: "Then I suppose I'll take the risk."
She stepped into the river.
The moment her hand touched his, the light returned — soft, endless, beautiful. Memories flooded back like music: the eclipse, the fire, the promise, the love that defied gods.
Alisa: "Kai…"
Kai (smiling): "Welcome back, my queen."
He pulled her close. Their foreheads touched. The river turned to silver mist around them, rising, swirling, and vanishing into the morning light.
Scene 4 — The Legend Lives
That night, under a quiet moon, two new stars appeared beside it — one gold, one silver.
The priests said they were omens.
The survivors said they were guardians.
The wind, however, whispered the truth:
They were hearts that had refused to die.
And sometimes, when the moon grows too bright and the world holds its breath, a faint voice can be heard from the ruins of Elyndor — a laugh, soft and distant, followed by a single promise:
"We remember. We return. Always."
"When the moon remembered its light, it did not shine alone — it shone for those who loved, and refused to be forgotten."
— End of Volume One —
Alisa and the Beastmen: When the Moon Forgot Its Light
........
Bonus Epilogue — "The Promise Beneath the Silver Sky"
"Even in peace, the heart remembers how to ache."
A small cottage stood at the edge of a silver forest.
No one knew who lived there. The travelers who passed by only said the air felt different — calm, warm, heavy with the scent of rain.
Inside, a candle burned low.
Alisa sat by the window, her golden eyes reflecting the moon.
Alisa (softly): "It feels smaller now… doesn't it?"
The door creaked open. Kai stepped in, brushing the mist from his white hair. His smile was faint, but it still carried that same warmth — the kind that could make even the moon jealous.
Kai: "The moon?"
Alisa: "No. The world."
He crossed the room and stopped behind her, his hand finding her shoulder.
Kai: "It's quieter, that's all. Maybe it finally learned to rest."
Alisa: "Or maybe it's just waiting for us to destroy it again."
He chuckled. The sound was low, fond, and terribly human.
Kai: "If it does, we'll rebuild it. Together."
She turned to face him. "Together…" she repeated, tasting the word like something holy.
The candlelight flickered. The shadows on the wall leaned closer, as though listening.
Kai knelt before her, taking her hand. "Do you regret it?" he asked quietly.
"The eclipse. The power. The memories."
Alisa shook her head.
Alisa: "No. Every life, every death… it led me here. To you."
He smiled — the same smile that once made the city tremble.
Kai: "Then maybe this time, we'll stay."
Alisa (grinning faintly): "Until the moon forgets again."
He leaned closer. Their foreheads touched, their breaths mingling.
Outside, the moon rose high — calm, silver, and whole.
And for the first time in eternity, it did not bleed.
"Some loves end worlds. Others rebuild them."
— Kai, final words of the Queen's Knight.
End of "Alisa and the Beastmen: When the Moon Forgot Its Light"