The Last Moon of Eldervale

Chapter 1 : The Night it begins

Alden’s POV

If there was one thing Greywood villagers agreed on, it was this: “That Alden boy will be the death of us all.”

I heard it nearly every day, and honestly? I wore it like armor.

By late afternoon, the market square was crowded enough to trouble my favorite kind of environment. Stalls lined the cobblestone path, each overflowing with goods: apples stacked in careless pyramids, jars of honey sparkling like golden gems, fresh loaves steaming beneath cloths. The smell alone made my stomach rumble.

I wasn’t planning on stealing. I just liked to make things… interesting.

“ALDEN!” Old Merna shrieked as I darted between her vegetable baskets. “You trip over one more carrot and I’ll feed you to the crows!”

“It slipped!” I yelled back, even though she and the entire market knew it hadn’t. The carrot lay dramatically rolling down the path like a runaway wheel. The children laughed. Merchants scowled. I flashed a grin and kept running.

That grin vanished when I heard my father’s voice slicing through the chaos.

“Alden! Alden, get back here!”

My whole body groaned.

Not now.

Not today.

He’d already worked me half to death at sword training. My arms still trembled from holding the shield too long, and I’d dropped my blade twice each time earning a slap on the wrist and a lecture about how a knight “never lowers his guard.”

Which was ridiculous, since I didn’t even want to be a knight.

I ducked behind a stall of hanging herbs. Father’s broad, armored form stormed through the square, scanning for me like a wolf hunting a rabbit.

“Boy!” he barked. “Where are you?”

For a moment, guilt flickered through me. He meant well he always did but being around him felt like being trapped beneath a heavy shield. No room to breathe. No room to be me.

So I waited until he turned his head…

…and bolted.

I sprinted through the back alley leading to the old barns, dust and heat rising under my feet. With every step away from Father, my chest loosened. By the time I scaled the fence behind the bakery and hit the clearing, I was free.

Free to go where I actually wanted to be.

My heart already beat faster not from running, but from anticipation.

Mara was waiting.

The barn stood at the farthest edge of Greywood, where the grass grew tall and the trees whispered secrets to the wind. I slowed my pace as I approached, brushing hay dust off my shirt and brushing hair from my face. Mara hated when it covered my eyes she said it made me look like I was hiding from life.

The thought of her made me smile.

I pushed open the barn door, and there she was: sitting on a pile of hay, legs swinging, brown hair tumbling around her shoulders like liquid sunset. Her eyes lit up the second she saw me.

“You’re late,” she said, pretending to pout.

“I was causing chaos in the market,” I replied proudly.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you were.”

“But I escaped.” I stepped closer, spreading my arms wide. “Because I’m a hero.”

She snorted. “You’re a menace.”

“Same thing.”

Her laugh wrapped around me like warmth. I swear, her laugh alone could make the world brighter. I crossed the barn in two strides, leaned down, and kissed her. Soft at first. Then deeper. Her hands slid up my chest, fingers curling around my shirt, pulling me closer.

When we finally pulled apart, breathless, she whispered, “You shouldn’t be here, you know.”

“And yet,” I whispered back, brushing my nose against hers, “here I am.”

She smiled, nudged me backward, and we collapsed into the hay. The barn smelled of grass and warmth and Mara’s perfume a hint of lavender she stole from her aunt’s shop. It always drove me mad.

We kissed again. Longer this time and more urgent.

My hands tangled in her hair.

Her breath hitched against my lips.

Her body pressed against mine.

For a moment, it felt like the whole world narrowed to this barn, these hay-strewn floors, and the heartbeat echoing against my chest.

Then we heard a distant scream.

Mara froze. Her lips lingered on mine for a second before she pulled back slightly, frowning.

“…Did you hear that?”

“It’s probably kids,” I muttered, trying to kiss her again.

She didn’t move. Her fingers tightened slightly on my shirt.

“No… it didn’t sound like play.”

I sighed. The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted. “Ignore it,” I said softly, kissing the edge of her jaw. “Just stay with me.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “You’re impossible.”

“And irresistibly charming.”

“Debatable.”

We kissed again. But this time, something in her posture had changed. Her lips were tense. Her shoulders are stiff and she kept pausing, listening. I tried not to let it bother me, pulling her into a deeper kiss

Another scream tore through the night.

Louder and clearer

And this time, unmistakably real.

Mara jerked away from me, eyes wide. “Alden, that wasn’t children at all .”

My heart thudded. “It’s probably nothing. Maybe a drunk”

But then came the crackling sound.

Soft at first.

Like the snapping of dry leaves.

Then sharper and louder

Until the barn walls flickered orange.

“Fire?” Mara whispered.

My blood chilled. “No… it can’t”

A roar thundered across the village.

Mara grabbed my arm. “Alden… what is that?!”

“I….I don’t know.”

Somewhere deep inside me, I knew this night wasn’t like any others.

The barn vibrated as another howl rose longer, louder, echoing off the trees and rooftops. My breath hitched. Mara’s fingernails dug into my skin.

The screams outside multiplied.

More voices.

More terror.

Flesh tearing.

Metal clashing.

Roaring.

Fire exploding against wood.

The night had erupted into chaos.

Mara’s eyes were wild. “Alden we have to get out! We have to get out right now!”

“No,” I said quickly, grabbing her shoulders. “No, no listen to me.”

My voice trembled. I hated that it trembled.

“We don’t know what’s out there. We don’t know what’s killing people.”

“So what?! We just stay here and wait?!”

“Yes!” I said desperately. “We hide. The barn cellar we can stay there until it passes.”

She shook her head fiercely. “Alden, your father’s out there. Your mother. Mine. Everyone!”

Tears pricked her eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly. My heart tore just seeing her like this.

“I’m begging you,” I whispered, gripping her hands. “Please, Mara. Just hide with me. I’ll keep you safe”

But she pulled away.

Not in fear, but in fiery determination.

“No. If something out there is hurting people, I won’t just hide like a coward.”

“Mara!!!”

She ignored me.

She looked around the barn, her eyes sharp and focused.

Then she spotted a glint of metal half-buried beneath a pile of hay.

Before I could even stand, she lunged toward it.

Her fingers curled around the rough hilt of a dagger.

And that was the exact moment the barn door burst open.