1

Delena's tiny hand tugged on Sera's, pulling her out of their warm cottage into the cool night air.

"I'm telling you, mother," she insisted, her voice breathless with excitement. "You have to see it."

Sera sighed, the warmth of their hearth already slipping away. "It's far too late for games, Delena. It's already dark."

"That's exactly what I want to show you," the little girl insisted, her eyes shining with a strange intensity that made Sera hesitate.

"But what exactly is it?" she asked, a hint of curiosity piqued.

Delena didn't answer. Instead, she pulled Sera along, her small legs moving with a purposefulness that belied her age. Soon, they were out in the open courtyard, the vastness of the night sky stretched above them like a dark canvas.

Delena stopped abruptly; her eyes fixed on something high above. She began jumping, her tiny finger outstretched towards the heavens. "Look up, mother!" she cried.

Raising Delena had taught Sera one important lesson: arguing with a child, especially one as headstrong as her daughter, was a futile exercise. As Delena's excited words washed over her, Sera lifted her gaze towards the inky blackness above.

A strange sensation prickled at her skin, a feeling of disquiet that she couldn't quite explain. The night sky, usually a tapestry of twinkling stars, was oddly blank. And then, her eyes caught it: a blazing orb hanging low in the heavens, its crimson glow casting an eerie light on the world below.

"What in the name of heaven is that?" Sera whispered, her voice barely a breath. The moon, usually a gentle beacon in the night, was no longer its familiar silvery self. Instead, it shone a blood-red, its colour so deep and unnatural that it seemed to stain the very fabric of the sky.

Sera stared transfixed, a mixture of awe and fear tingling through her. The red moon, a celestial anomaly she had only heard whispered about in hushed tones around the village fire, was now hanging ominously above them. The silence was deafening, broken only by Delena's soft gasps of wonder. Sera felt a cold dread creep into the pit of her stomach. This was no ordinary night, and the red moon, a harbinger of unknown events, cast a long and ominous shadow over their small village.