Luna Eclipse : Forbidden Alchemy

ation of the night's cooler draft. For me, Zalara, there was only the persistent, suffocating darkness behind the blindfold, a mockery of the

f straw as she rose from her own pallet nearby, then the rhythmic thump-thump of her bare feet on the wooden floor. I la

pressed into my hands, already there as Elara's fingers guided mine. Gruel. Bland, lukewarm, utterly devoid of flavor. My stomach, this demanding, insatiable stomach, grumbled in protest even as I

er voice soft, devoid of the previous night's worry. "That

ere... where does one go here?" I asked, testing the waters, trying

of course. We have orders to finish. Master Theron wants his tapestry by the mar

he previous night. My hated walking stick was placed firmly

he loom, then the taut threads of the warp. The sensation was immediate, unsettling. This body knew this. It understood the intricacies of the weave, the subtle tensio

mundane dance of threads. My hands moved, weaving the patterns Lyra knew, while my mind screamed. I probed deeper into Lyra's memor

d overwhelm Lyra's other heightened senses. Fear of the outside world, a deep-seated trepidation that came from years of vulnerability. Emperor Fëanor III was a distant, almost mythical figure in Lyra's world – a powerful ruler, benevolent but remote, wh

ignificance. No hidden powers, no secret lineage, no knowledge of

y shoulders from the monotonous labor. I felt a growing irritation at my powerlessness, a primal urge to shatter this

ding, though still constrained. "Tell me of the wor

painful spasm. "Why, Lyra? You've never asked

ience in my voice barely masked. "The

generations. Our Emperor, Fëanor, he is a just ruler. Keeps the peace, defends us from the wildlings in the north. His father, Fëanor the

ng empire ripe for easy conquest, nor a crumbling ruin I could exploit. This realm was older, more settled than I had hoped. The thought of my own realm, of Aza

earn. To gather power. To understand the currents of this world. And then, I would break free. From this cottage. From this village. From this blindfold. And i