Sienna's POV
Moonrise came like a whisper.
No grand chimes or declarations—just a change in the wind and a pull behind her ribs, soft but certain. Sienna stood outside the house now, wrapped in a deep green cloak her mother had woven herself. The fabric shimmered faintly when it caught the moonlight, threads of gold dancing like starlight.
Her mother opened the final circle in the clearing behind the house.
It wasn't the first portal Sienna had seen. But it was the first one meant for her.
A ring of stones pulsed with ancient energy. Symbols etched into them glowed in a rhythm—heartbeat slow, patient. Waiting. Her mother's hand hovered over the center stone, her voice low as she whispered in a language older than breath.
The portal shimmered into existence, like mist folding in on itself until it became something tangible.
Sienna hesitated.
Her mother looked back. "Still feels fast?"
Sienna nodded once. "But also… right."
"Then step through."
She took a breath, the kind that wasn't just for lungs but for courage. Her bare feet met the grass as she crossed the circle. One step. Another.
And then—
Light swallowed her.
Not blinding, not harsh. Just vast.
She felt it first—power wrapping around her, recognizing her. A pressure in her chest like her name was being spoken not in sound, but in truth. The world spun sideways, weightless and full of color.
When her feet touched ground again, it wasn't earth like she knew it.
It was the Fae realm.
The sky was a deeper kind of blue, the stars closer, almost sentient. Trees breathed. Rivers whispered. Magic was alive here, and it knew her.
Her mother stepped beside her, serene as ever. "Welcome home, Sienna."
And for the first time in her life, she believed it.