Shadow of the Moon [A Dragon Prince Fanfic]

Chapter 1 | Echoes of Thunder

It was one of those nights when the world seemed at peace, despite the torrential rain pounding on the castle's roof. Few wanted to be awake at this time, let alone outside as thunder and lightning struck the earth below, making a strange sort of music that few enjoyed listening to.

And yet, though most of the castle was quiet, save for the soft patter of rain on the windows and the odd bolt of lightning, one young woman was making her way through the halls of the castle, her nose buried in a large leather tome. Her fingers gently traced the six symbols on the front cover, lingering longer on the symbol for the moon. It was an ancient book of ancient magic, stolen from the lands of Xadia. Though she had no idea how High Mage Viren had managed to get his hands on such a wonderful artefact, she was happy to be given a chance to read it.

A clap of thunder echoed in the halls and she glanced up from the pages, smiling at the wild sky just beyond the stone walls. She paused and approached the nearest window, raising her hand to trail along the edges. Though it would be dangerous to go outside, there was a part of her that wished that she was dancing in the rain as she used to as a child.

"Y/N!"

The young woman turned and smiled when she saw one of her friends approaching her. Soren. The son of High Mage Viren and one of the guards who... well, guarded the castle. Not that there was ever much guarding to do. Besides the odd assassination or robbery attempts, the castle was fairly quiet. Not much crime to thwart in the kingdom of Katolis unless you counted the times that people stole jelly tarts from the baker, but then again, who wanted to throw the youngest prince in the dungeon?

"Good evening, Soren," Y/N said with a nod of her head. She shut the book, making sure to keep her place with the ivory-coloured bookmark attached to the spine, and held it against her chest. It wasn't odd for her to bump into Soren during her late-night walks around the castle. As one of the tutors for the two Princes, the latest hours of night were when Y/N got some time to herself, away from the eyes of guards, servants, or nobility that happened to be visiting the castle.

"Out for another walk," Soren asked.

Y/N nodded. "Of course." She sighed and turned to the window again. "It's a beautiful night."

Soren frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Not sure what's so beautiful about a storm."

Y/N laughed softly. "They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Silence fell between the two and while Y/N found it to be a comfortable silence, Soren still had more questions to ask.

"So what do you find so beautiful about it?"

Y/N shrugged. "I think there's something beautiful about the chaos in a storm. The random bursts of lightning, the music of the storm, and I always feel happiest in the rain." She hugged her book tighter and smiled. "It's..." she smirked, turning the slightest bit to smile at her friend, "Mysteriously beautiful."

Soren followed her gaze out the window and frowned, not really seeing what was so beautiful about the storm. But he knew that Y/N often saw beauty where others didn't.

He shrugged and changed topics. "Are you on your way to give Callum his astronomy lesson?"

Y/N nodded and reached into her bag, pulling out a scroll bound in a midnight cord. "I found this in the library and thought that we could use it instead of the night sky tonight. We won't be able to see anything in this." She gestured to the dark onyx clouds outside.

Soren pushed the scroll back to her. "Thanks for the offer of... knowledge, but I prefer to think with my muscles rather than..." he trailed off, unsure of where he was going with his sentence.