Darkness crept in slowly from the edges, swallowing the light little by little. The air around me became heavy, filled with smoke and the sharp scent of blood. My father’s voice rose, rough and urgent, echoing through the trees.
“Run!”
He held me close, his arms trembling as he pulled me against his chest. I could hear the pounding of his heart against my ear. Everything around us was chaos—shadows moving between the trees, growls cutting through the air, and behind us, my mother’s scream. My father pressed something into my hands—a small pendant shaped like a crescent, glowing faintly in the darkness.
“Never forget who you are,” he said, his voice breaking. “Keep this. It will remind you.”
And then everything shattered.
The light broke apart into pieces, sound twisted into silence, a
