Serious Night's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Serious Night set his tools down on the workbench and stared at the empty slot in his unfinished necklace. The silver chain waited. The star-shaped setting waited. Without the right moonstone, the protection spell would not hold, and somewhere out there, someone would go unguarded. He had sworn that would never happen again. A knock came at the workshop door. He opened it to find a woman in red, barefoot, with wild dark hair and glowing purple eyes. A small purple dragon perched on her shoulder, yellow eyes watching him without blinking. She held out her palm. On it sat a single raw moonstone, pale and humming with the cold light of the exact mountains he needed. She walked past him without asking. She placed the stone on a flower-shaped pedestal in the center of his shop. Then she set something beside it — a small stack of runed stones, each one glowing a different color. "My price," she said. "Not coin. A memory. The one you keep buried. Speak her name aloud, and the moonstone is yours." Serious Night did not move. His hands curled at his sides. The dragon tilted its head and spoke in a child's voice. "He knows the cost. He also knows the others who wait." The little creature's yellow eyes did not look away. "Choose, jeweler." He thought of the empty settings. He thought of strangers walking through a world that took people when you weren't looking. His throat closed. Then he opened it. He said the name. The runed stones flared bright, then went dark, swallowing the sound forever. He would never be able to say it again. The enchantress placed the moonstone in his palm and left without another word. Serious Night stood alone with the stone burning cold against his skin. The collection could be finished now. But something in him had been taken to pay for it, and he did not yet know what work he would do without it.