The forest gave way to ruins.
Pale marble arches rose from the earth like ribs of an ancient beast, half-swallowed by moss and silence. The air was cold here — too still, as though the world itself held its breath.
Lyara led the way cautiously, her hand never far from her sword. "No one comes here anymore. The old temples have long since been abandoned."
Arin followed, his eyes drawn to the faint light seeping through the cracks in the stones. It pulsed — slow, rhythmic, almost like a heartbeat.
He felt it call to him.
The pull grew stronger with every step until they reached what had once been a grand hall. At its center stood a statue of a woman draped in flowing robes, her hands raised toward the heavens.
The statue's face was serene — but cracked.
Arin took a step closer, and the bond in his chest shivered. The air around the statue shimmered, bending light.
Then, with a sound like a sigh, the figure moved.
The stone fell away in motes of light, revealing flesh and warmth beneath. A woman stepped forward — her hair silver-white, her skin faintly luminous. Her eyes were like fragments of the moon, vast and ancient, yet filled with a startling fragility.
Lyara's sword was drawn in an instant. "Stay back!"
But Arin couldn't move.
The woman's gaze fixed on him, and in that instant, everything else fell away — the forest, the ruins, even Lyara's voice. He could feel something brushing against his mind: a whisper, soft and cold.
"You carry the scent of the other world…"
Her voice wasn't quite sound — more like thought made silk.
"Who are you?" Arin asked, his own voice barely audible.
The woman tilted her head slightly, her lips curving into the faintest smile. "Once, they called me Seris. Goddess of the Moon and Dream. But the name feels heavy now… empty."
Lyara stepped between them. "A goddess? Impossible. The gods vanished centuries ago."
Seris's gaze lingered on her for a moment, then returned to Arin. "And yet… here I stand, because he stands before me. You've awakened something I thought long dead."
Her hand rose slowly, fingertips hovering near Arin's cheek without quite touching. "I can feel the echo of your bond… so bright, so human. It hums with life. It's been so long since I've felt warmth like that."
The air thickened. Every movement, every breath between them felt magnified — suspended in fragile tension.
Lyara's voice broke it. "Don't touch him."
Seris's eyes flickered toward the knight, calm and faintly amused. "Protective, aren't you?"
Arin could feel Lyara stiffen beside him. "He's not yours to—"
"Neither of you understands what he is," Seris interrupted softly. "He carries the thread that binds this world. A mortal heart bound to the divine. You've already begun to share his soul, haven't you?"
Lyara's lips parted — no denial came. The goddess's gaze softened, almost sorrowful.
"I can help him," Seris murmured. "But it will cost me what little light I have left."
Arin stepped closer, despite Lyara's warning hand. "Why would you help me?"
For a moment, Seris's expression changed — the eternal calm slipping to reveal something heartbreakingly human. "Because once, long ago, I loved a man who carried the same light. And I failed him."
Silence fell. The wind stirred the dust at their feet.
Then Seris smiled faintly, her tone turning almost wistful. "You don't need to fear me, Arin Vale. My time as a goddess has ended. I am only a shadow of what I was… a woman who remembers how to dream."
She reached out again — and this time, when her fingers brushed his, the world blurred. A vision flared behind his eyes: the moon shattering, her tears turning into stars.
When he blinked, the ruins were glowing faintly, the statue whole again — and Seris standing beside it, her light dimmer, her breath unsteady.
A second bond begins to stir.
Lyara looked from Arin to the goddess, tension rippling through her stance. "Another bond?"
Seris met Arin's eyes. "Not yet. But soon… if you let it."
The goddess turned away, her voice soft, almost tender. "Find me when the moons align. Until then, keep your heart guarded. Every bond you form will make you stronger — and more fragile."
Then her body dissolved into silver dust that drifted upward, leaving only silence and the faint echo of her whisper.
Lyara stood still for a long moment. "You attract impossible things," she murmured finally.
Arin gave a faint, uneasy smile. "So I've noticed."
But even as they left the temple behind, he could still feel Seris's touch — not on his skin, but somewhere deeper.
In the quiet corners of his heart, where the moonlight never truly fades.