Umvundla Kingdom, beneath the Ancestral Sky
The wind danced through the tall ilala palms as if it knew a secret it wasn't ready to share. In the village of Emnyameni, where stars kissed the earth and the moon whispered through dreams, a girl knelt by the edge of the river, her fingers tracing ancient symbols in the dirt.
Nandi Mhlophe could hear it again—that voice. Soft and strange. Not quite human. Not quite spirit.
It called her name as though it had always known her.
"Nandi… Naaaaandi…"
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. The scent of river mud, herbs, and ash clung to the cool night air. Her heart beat with a rhythm that matched the rustle of the trees.
Tonight was the Night of the Second Moon—the only time in the year when the full moon rose twice. The elders warned that spirits moved freely on such nights, that the world grew thin, and that the Moon Spirit might choose to speak… or to curse.
But Nandi wasn't afraid. Not of spirits. Not of curses. Not even of the strange pull she felt inside her chest—a warm pressure that had grown stronger with every full moon since her sixteenth birthday.
She opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the dark water. The moon glowed silver above her, but in the river, her eyes shimmered like stars.
Something was changing.
Something had begun.
"You shouldn't be out here alone."
She jumped at the voice behind her.
Turning quickly, she saw Kaelo—the stranger they found barely alive near the Hollow Mountains just two days ago. His wounds had been many, his memories few. He spoke little, but now he stood tall and quiet, the moonlight catching the curve of his jaw and the gleam in his dark eyes.
"You shouldn't be walking," she replied, her voice sharper than intended. "You could barely stand yesterday."
"I heal fast," he said with a hint of a smile. "So… you speak to the moon?"
She froze. "What?"
"I heard you," he said. "Or maybe I felt you."
Nandi's heart beat faster. No one had ever caught her moon rituals before. No one dared come to the river alone on this night.
"What are you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
He looked up at the sky, silent for a long time, before answering.
"I'm someone who was cursed to live when he should have died.
And I think you're someone who can end that curse."
Nandi stepped back.
The wind stilled.
The trees hushed.
And far above, the moon pulsed red.