Blood moon covenant

The Blood Moon rose without mercy.

It flooded the Valen valley in crimson light, turning snow to rust and shadows into monsters. Mara Valen stood at the edge of the sacred clearing, her breath fogging the air, dread crawling beneath her skin. The elders had warned them-when the moon bleeds, the covenant stirs. But no one had expected this.

Screams tore through the night.

Mara spun just in time to see fire erupt through the longhouse roof. Her clan-warriors, healers, children-scattered in chaos as dark figures poured from the forest. They moved wrong. Too fast. Too silent. Their eyes burned like dying embers.

"Run!" her father roared, shifting mid-stride, fur ripping through flesh as he charged.

He never reached them.

A pale hand caught him by the throat. There was a sickening crack. His body hit the ground, lifeless, before Mara could even scream.

Her mother shifted beside her, claws out, eyes blazing with fury. "Don't look back," she shouted.

Mara couldn't move.

She watched her mother fight-watched her fall-silver flashing, blood spilling into the snow. She watched her younger cousins dragged away, their cries snapping off one by one. The sacred stones were soaked red. The air reeked of smoke, iron, and death.

This wasn't a raid.

This was an execution.

Strong arms seized Mara from behind. She fought, screamed, bit-but something sharp pierced her neck, fire racing through her veins. Her strength vanished. The world tilted.

As she was dragged through the carnage, her eyes locked onto the symbol burned into the ground: a crescent carved through by a blade.

The Covenant.

A voice murmured near her ear-cold, amused.

"The last Valen. Alive."

Chains snapped around her wrists. She was thrown onto cold stone, the Blood Moon looming above like a witness to her ruin.

Mara's vision blurred, but one truth carved itself into her soul:

Her family was dead.

Her clan was gone.

And whatever awaited her... was worse than death.

A door slammed shut.

From the darkness, footsteps approached.

And someone whispered her name.