The Moonbound Echo Of Ravenmoor

The village of Ravenmoor slept beneath a restless moon. Every night the sky glowed with a pale silver light that never felt warm and the locals claimed that the moon here breathed. It pulsed faintly like a living heart. Outsiders dismissed the stories, but Aria Lynwood learned on her first night that Ravenmoor did not care whether she believed or not.

Aria came to the village to settle her late aunts estate. She expected dust, old furniture and a stack of legal papers. She did not expect the whisper that slipped through her bedroom window the moment the moon reached its highest point.

Aria

Her blood chilled. The voice was not human. It was soft but layered, like several voices speaking in unison. She sat upright in her bed staring at the open curtains. Her room was flooded with ghostlike silver light. Nothing moved yet the whisper returned.

You came back

Aria clutched the blanket tight. She wanted to call for help but Ravenmoor had no close neighbors. The nearest house was two hills away and she doubted a scream would reach that far. She forced herself to breathe. The village was old. Maybe it was the wind. Maybe it was wildlife.

But the voice came again even softer.

I have waited for you.

Aria froze. She felt watched not with malice but with longing. She slowly approached the window. The fields stretched far beneath her, dark and wet from late autumn rain. A forest surrounded the village like a crescent, the trees tall and black against the glowing moon. Her aunt had once warned her never to go near that forest at night. Avoid the echo she had said. It remembers.

Aria had laughed then. Now she swallowed her fear.

Who is there she whispered.

For a moment there was silence. Then the air thickened. A cold breeze swept her hair back. From the field below a faint shimmer rose like scattered starlight gathering into a shape. A man. Tall. Barefoot. Dressed in old clothes that looked centuries out of place. His hair was nearly white though his face was young. His eyes lifted to her window.

They were not human eyes. They were glowing silver.

Aria stumbled back. The man looked directly at her though she stood in darkness.

Do not fear me his voice said though his lips did not move. I cannot enter unless you call me.

Aria felt her throat tighten. Who are you

A moment passed. His expression softened with a strange warmth.

My name is Lucen.

She shook her head. This cannot be real.

It is more real than the moon he replied. But you have forgotten. You always forget when you return.

Return I have never been here before.

Lucen tilted his head studying her with those strange silver eyes. He looked almost wounded.

Then it has started again.

Aria leaned on the windowsill for support. Started what

Your forgetting. Your return. The cycle you cannot escape. You have lived many lifetimes and every one brings you back to me.

Aria stared. None of this made sense yet something deep inside her stirred as if a distant memory flickered beyond reach. She pressed her hand to her chest.

Why would I return to you

Lucen looked up at the moon as if its glow answered her question. Because you bound me to it. Because you loved me once. And because the echo that haunts this forest claims what it loves.

That made no sense. Aria stepped back and shut the window. Her heart pounded. She paced the room telling herself she was tired and stressed. She sat on the bed trying to steady her breath but sleep refused her.

Hours passed before exhaustion pulled her under.

She dreamed of a silver forest. Of a man with glowing eyes reaching toward her. Of her own voice promising I will return to free you. Then the dream shattered with a scream.

Aria shot awake drenched in sweat. She threw on a coat and rushed outside. The village was dark except for the silver moonlight. She followed the scream down the slope toward the fields. Mist rose in threads around her ankles. The air felt wrong as if pressing against her skin.

Then she saw him.

Lucen appeared out of the mist as if shaped from moonlight itself. His expression was grave.

You should not be outside at night. The echo hunts.

Aria panted. What was that scream

Lucen stepped closer but stopped a few feet away. He seemed bound by invisible chains preventing him from approaching too far.

A soul that wandered too close to the forest. The echo takes what is lost.

Aria shivered. What is this echo

Lucens jaw tightened. A fragment of the moon. A spirit with no name. It consumes memories and binds souls to the night. It tried to take me once. You saved me but the cost was great.

The dream flashed in Arias mind. Her own voice promising to return. She crossed her arms trying to hide the tremble in her hands.

You keep speaking as if we have met before.

We have Lucen said quietly. Many times. You were a seer long ago. You could walk between lives. And you loved me before I was bound to the moon. You tried to free me but the echo erased your memories each time. It fears what we are when we stand together.

Aria blinked slowly. Even if that were true, why would I come back

Lucens gaze softened with an aching tenderness.

Because your soul remembers even when your mind forgets. And because I cannot leave the moon until you complete what you once began.

Aria felt her pulse hammering. The way he looked at her made her chest tighten. It was not desperation. It was not hunger. It was devotion. Pure and aching.

What exactly do you want from me Lucen

Not want he whispered. Need. The echo grows stronger with every cycle you forget. Soon it will break free. It hunts you because you are the only one who can unbind me. And because it desires you.

Aria frowned. A spirit desires me

You shine to it like a star to a void. It feeds on light. On memories. It took everything from me except my bond to you.

Aria hugged her arms around herself. She felt watched by the darkness around the fields. She turned away.

This is insane. I am going back inside.

She began walking but Lucens voice stopped her.

Aria wait. Do not go into the forest. Promise me.

I am not promising anything she snapped.

Lucen stepped forward but the invisible boundary held him back. His voice carried raw pleading.

If you cross the tree line the echo will mark you. And once it marks you I cannot protect you.

Aria paused. Confusion frustration and fear tangled inside her. She turned enough to meet his gaze.

Then tell me the truth. All of it. Stop speaking in riddles.

Lucen nodded once.

Then meet me tomorrow at dusk before the moon rises. At the edge of the forest. I will show you what you once were. And what I once was.

Aria hesitated but finally nodded. Lucens form softened into mist. His silver glow dimmed as he faded.

Goodnight Aria he whispered.

Aria returned to the house but sleep refused her again. She thought of Lucens eyes their strange beauty their sorrow. Something about him felt painfully familiar yet she could not pull the memory close.

The next day dragged. She cleaned the house tried to focus on paperwork and failed. As dusk neared she felt her pulse quicken. She walked to the forest edge where tall black trees leaned over like watching figures.

Lucen materialized slowly as the first sliver of moonlight touched the horizon. His form was clearer than the night before. Almost human.

Thank you for coming he said softly.

Show me the truth Aria said.

Lucen turned toward the forest. The trees parted as if opening a path.

Walk with me.

Aria followed though every instinct screamed at her to run. The deeper they went the colder the air grew. The forest floor glowed faintly silver with strange runes carved into the earth.

Aria knelt. What are these

Lucen touched one of the runes. His hand glowed.

These are bindings. You inscribed them lifetimes ago to keep the echo contained. But each time you died they weakened. And now they are almost gone.

Aria touched one. A shock ran through her arm. A memory flashed. Herself kneeling carving symbols into the earth with a blade of light. Lucen standing behind her very much alive and human. His eyes not silver but warm brown.

Aria gasped. Lucen. You were human.

Once he said quietly. Before the echo claimed me. I tried to protect the village from it. I failed. You came for me and bound me to the moon so my soul would not be consumed. But the binding can be undone only by you.

Aria clenched her fists. Why didnt you tell me sooner

Because you never remembered this early in the cycle. And because telling you too much awakens the echoes hunger.

As if summoned the air darkened. A low moan vibrated the ground. Lucen pulled Aria behind him.

It is awake.

A shape seeped between the trees. Black mist forming a vague outline of a humanoid figure. Its face was an empty hollow. Its presence sucked light from the air.

Aria felt her chest tighten as if invisible hands pressed around her ribs. Lucen stepped forward his glow brightening.

You will not touch her.

The echo hissed a sound that made the trees shiver. Aria felt her mind blur. Memories flickered like dying candles. She felt something being pulled from her.

Lucen turned sharply. Aria focus on my voice.

She tried. The echo loomed closer its hollow face twisting. Lucen stepped between them his glow erupting into silver flame. The echo recoiled screaming.

Lucen grabbed Arias hands.

Listen to me. You must complete the binding. You must remember your name.

I know my name she choked.

Not this one. The name you bore when you were a seer.

He pressed her hands to his chest. A rush of heat shot through her. Memories exploded inside her in a violent flood.

A temple of silver stone.

A circle of moon priestesses.

Herself in a flowing robe holding a blade of light.

Her true name.

Lyria.

Aria gasped as the memory solidified.

Lucen your name was different too.

He nodded. Say it. Call me by the name you once spoke.

Aria looked into his eyes. They flickered from silver to deep warm brown as if awakening a buried past.

Cael.

His true name.

The echo shrieked violently. Lucen Cael glowed blinding white. He pulled Aria Lyria into his arms.

Complete the binding Lyria. Speak the vow.

Aria felt ancient words pour from her mouth though she did not know them until she said them.

By moon and memory by life and return I bind the echo to silence. I reclaim what was lost.

Light burst from her chest. The runes on the forest floor ignited. The echo screamed as chains of silver wrapped around it dragging it toward the earth. Lucen Cael held Aria tight shielding her from the backlash. The forest trembled. The echo fought but the chains tightened until it was sealed beneath the soil.

Silence fell. The moon brightened without its shadow.

Lucen Cael collapsed to his knees breathing hard. Aria knelt beside him holding his face.

Are you free now

He looked at her with human eyes full of warmth and longing.

The moon no longer binds me. I am free because you remembered. You broke the cycle.

Aria felt tears sting her eyes. She pressed her forehead to his.

What happens now

Lucen Cael brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

Now I live again. And if you will allow it I wish to spend this life with you. Not as a spirit. Not as an echo. But as the man you once loved.

Aria felt her heart swell with something ancient and new all at once.

Then stay she whispered. Stay with me.

He smiled with aching tenderness.

For every lifetime you will have me. If you want me.

Aria wrapped her arms around him as the moon glowed full and warm for the first time in centuries. The forest whispered in relief. Ravenmoor slept unaware that its curse had finally lifted.

And at the edge of the trees two souls bound across lifetimes finally found each other again not by destiny but by choice.