When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker
- alwayswandering
- Apr 13
- 17 min read
Here is a summary with the ending and spoilers for When The Moon Hatched
Prologue
In the Creation tales, five divine beings, known as the Creators, shaped the world. Caelis, the God of Aether, began it all by offering an empty canvas, a vast void that the others could fill. Bulder, the God of Ground, sculpted the terrain into mountains, valleys, and plains. Rayne, the Goddess of Water, filled the land’s gorges with rivers and lakes and crowned the mountain peaks with snow. Clode, the Goddess of Air, swept wind across the world, while Ignos, the God of Fire, scorched jungles and erupted volcanoes, his fiery displays often attempts to impress Clode, with whom he was enamored. Caelis, however, was left in mournful solitude, watching with envy as the others created tangible wonders. Unlike them, he could not be seen, touched, or heard—forever bound to the empty spaces between form and substance.
Together, they created life, including the dragons, and granted the Folk, or fae, access to divine power through song. Some Folk could hear the elemental songs of the gods, each song bestowing a unique magic. Others, however, found power in a different form, runes, discovered within a mysterious silver book rumored to have been written by Caelis himself in a desperate plea to be heard. Though many creatures now roam the world, none are as revered as the dragons. Among them are the fearsome Sabersythes of The Burn, who dwell where the sun’s rays burn hot; the vibrant and sharp-clawed Moltenmaws of The Fade; and the cunning, luminous Moonplumes of The Shade, which thrive in the bitter cold farthest from the sun.
As time passed, humans and Folk began slaying dragons. Upon death, these mighty creatures did not decay—instead, they ascended into the sky and solidified into moons. However, these moons were not eternal; eventually, they began to fall, crashing to earth and causing cataclysmic destruction. After seven such devastating moonfalls, the other gods turned on Caelis, believing him to be the cause. To save the world, they devised a plan to imprison him. Caelis’s essence was torn apart and sealed in a diadem called the Aether Stone, a tiny prison of ebony crystal inscribed with runes powerful enough to hold him—so long as the runes had a living guardian to feed upon. A mighty fae warrior was chosen, blessed by the gods to wear the diadem and serve as Caelis’s eternal warden. This duty was passed down through generations.
With Caelis trapped, the moons ceased their descent. For five million aurora cycles, peace endured and the moons remained in the sky. But now, as a new aurora rises, a moon begins to fall once more—hinting that the balance may be breaking, and Caelis’s prison may not be eternal after all.
When The Moon Hatched
Raeve, a cunning assassin working under the guise of a bard, infiltrates a prestigious club to target a predator named Tarik Relaken. Disguised as a powerless "null"—those unable to hear the elemental songs of the gods—she hides her true identity as a powerful air-wielder tied to Clode, the Goddess of Air. She eventually lures him into following her, and once alone, she reveals her abilities, suffocating him with air and revealing her true identity as an Elding Blade—an elite assassin from the rebel group Fíur du Ath. Her mission: to execute Tarik and recover his severed hand, which would grant her allies access to his establishment, where he imprisons and exploits null children. After killing him, Raeve carves his body up, and then leaves. On her way out, a mysterious man stops her and asks if she knows anything about a body not too far away. The two have a interesting conversation, before they part ways.
Despite the harshness of her work, Raeve finds purpose in the rebellion's efforts to protect the vulnerable, as she was once in their place. She receives a letter from Essi, a girl she once rescued and sees her as a best firend, and goes to collect supplies for her before being summoned by her handler, Sereme. Sereme’s use of her blood to control her; making their relationship tense. Sereme even blames Raeve’s sucsess with Tarik, saying it was too costly to recover all of the children. Raeve learns of a new threat—Rekk Zharos, a deadly bounty hunter employed by the Crown to crush the rebellion—but is told to stay out of it. Raeve doesn’t think she will be able to, because she hates men like Rekk.
Meanwhile, diary entries from a young princess, Elluin Neván, and her fears for her brother's dangerous quest, reveal unsettling hints about the royal family and a strange crown that torments her mother.
Raeve returns home to Essi, who is crafting a diamond-capped tooth that will shield Raeve’s head and chest, but the final ingredient, spangle poop, is missing due to a bloodstain on Essi’s parchment. Despite Raeve's warnings, Essi goes alone into the Undercity and is fatally stabbed. As Essi dies in Raeve’s arms, she makes Raeve promise to burn her body, a request Raeve honors by setting their apartment ablaze after admitting her love for Essi too late. Fueled by grief and rage, Raeve unleashes the entity within her, The Other, and slaughters her way through soldiers using air and earth magic before being captured by Rekk Zharos, the bounty hunter who orchestrated Essi’s death. Rekk carves up her back in retaliation for her biting his finger off.
As Raeve recovers in a cell, she meets Wrook, a clever woetoe digging an escape tunnel, and learns she’ll soon face trial by the Guild of Nobles, a deadly sentence. Meanwhile, a mysterious kingly figure—the man who questioned her about the body of Tarik—visits the prison and recognizes Raeve, shocked by her face and a scar she can’t recall. Raeve rebuffs and banters with him, but his cryptic words imply she’s more important, espcially to him, than she realizes.
While Raeve awaits judgment, the story shifts back to the young princess Elluin, who stows away with her brother Haedeon on a journey to steal Moonplume eggs. Haedeon becomes injured and paralyzed, but Elluin bonds with a Moonplume after a deadly encounter with doomquill beasts. Though she returns home with her new companion, her triumph is clouded by Haedeon’s condition. Fast foward to another journal entry: King Ostern Vaegor of the Burn visits Elluin, now eighteen, to propose an arranged marriage between her and his cruel son, Tyroth—an offer her father firmly rejects. Meanwhile, Elluin tries to coax Haedeon, now silent and broken after Netheryn, to help strengthen his Moonplume’s wing, hoping it might bring a flicker of joy back to him. She continues to work to help heal the dragons wings.
Back in the Fade, Raeve is taken to trial where she is found guilty of impersonating a null and assassinating nobles, amonst other things. Among the spectators is Kaan, they mysterious king, who sways the vote, condemning Raeve to death by dragon in the coliseum. Raeve is returned back to her cell, coming to terms that she will die the next day. That is until the king comes to her with a healer, which Raeve doesn’t understand, as she is going to die the next day. But the king insits, and she is fully healed.
The next morning, Raeve is marched to the coliseum, drenched in animal blood to lure the monstrous Moltenmaws circling above. The Queen arrives to watch and is horrified to see Raeve, she starts sining, and Raeve realizes she is singing to Clode to use his wind magic to drive the dragons back, thus helping Raeve. But something unexpected happens—a rare Sabersythe dragon descends into the arena. Raeve fears she’ll be taken to the burning hatching grounds of Gondragh as food for its young, but when the dragon faces her, an unfamiliar song rises from her throat. The Sabersythe, seemingly understanding her, scoops her into its mouth and takes flight.
Rather than meeting a fiery death, Raeve is delivered safely to the King of The Burn, Kaan Vaegor, who reveals the dragon’s name, Rygun, and plans to bring Raeve to his capital, Dhomm. Despite her suspicions about his intentions, Raeve is awed by the dragon ride and even more surprised when Kaan leads her to healing waters and offers her soap and privacy to bathe. She notes the ink and scars on his body, particularly the constellation of moons and stars, and a carving of a Sabersythe and Moonplume around his neck. he brings her to a secluded home once belonging to his mother, and begins to earn her cautious trust.
Though Kaan removes most of her restraints, he keeps one cuff to suppress her powers. Which also makes the chance of Raeve running away impossible. Even though she keeps wanting to get away from (despite the strange pull she has towards him), Kaan keeps trying to help Raeve. During dinner, a moment of laughter and spilled soup unexpectedly softens the tension between them. That night, she attempts escape, sawing through her restraints with the stolen scale and preparing to kill Kaan if needed. But when she straddles him with the weapon to his throat, she’s overcome by unfamiliar emotions—desire, confusion, and a strange sense of connection. Their encounter grows heated until Raeve dismisses it as meaningless, prompting Kaan to stop and send her back to her room, leaving them both rattled and unresolved. Raeve goes back to her room, frusturated, but decides to sneak out the window. As she is running away, she is along a cliff, slips, hits her head, and blacks out.
Back in the journal entries, Elluin had fallen asleep nestled in the curve of her dragon Slátra’s tail, dreaming peacefully. But she awakens to find her parents and Haedeon dead, poisoned and strangled. In the chaos, her mother’s Aether Stone diadem slips from her head, and as it falls, Elluin begins to hear the screeching, unearthly songs of the Creators. The royal aides urge her to take up the diadem and carry on her family's legacy. Reluctantly, Elluin dons the Aether Stone, which muffles the Creators’ voices but drains her, making her feel as though her very soul is being siphoned away. Her parents' bodies are consumed by their dragons' fire, while Allume carries Haedeon’s body into the sky, the two becoming a single, new moon. The aides inform Elluin that to be recognized as a true ruler by the people of Arithia, she must bind herself to someone capable of wielding more than two elemental songs. Her fate now lies in the hands of the Tri-Council of Bothaim, the neutral city where her future will be decided.
Raeve wakes up drifting down a rapid river on a log. When the log snags on some debris, two warriors appear, speaking an unfamiliar language and sporting tattoos like Kaan’s. She’s ready to float farther downriver until a mythical beast called the Fate Herder, a creature said to nudge people toward new destinies, appears and blocks her path, forcing her to follow the warriors instead.
They take her to a village of tents where the locals drop to their knees, calling her “Kholu.” She’s brought before clan leaders seated on twin bloodstone thrones, where a ritual paints two massive warriors in the blood of a sacrificed creature. A woman named Saiza explains: according to prophecy, Raeve is Kholu—the dark-haired woman delivered by the Fate Herder to birth children who will tether the moons to the sky and prevent another moonfall. Raeve is bathed, dressed in finery, and taken to witness a brutal trial—two warriors, Hock and Zaran, fighting to the death for her hand. Hock wins and throws Zaran’s severed head at Raeve’s feet. Disgusted, Raeve demands the right to fight for herself, and the clan leaders agree. Painted in blood, Raeve enters the arena. She must behead Hock to win, while he only has to make her submit. After some solid hits, Hock cheats by throwing a venomous serpent at her. As the poison weakens her and she collapses, Hock prepares a final blow, but is interrupted by the thunderous arrival of Kaan on his dragon, Rygun. Furious, Kaan declares the trial invalid and challenges Hock to a duel, revealing that though once the clan’s leader, he stepped aside after his father’s death. The clan’s spiritual leader insists Raeve can’t leave unclaimed without dooming them to another moonfall. To protect her, Kaan offers Raeve his málmr necklace and elevates her to his réidi—his chosen heir—meaning if he dies, her choice stands and she can leave freely. Raeve accepts, marking his back with her blood over the moon tattoo. As the duel begins, Rygun unleashes a fiery roar. Raeve narrowly avoids the flames, but the light reveals ancient, layered runes etched into her skin, evidence of a lifetime of pain that only Saiza notices. Raeve watches anxiously as Kaan fights Hock and ultimately beheads him, laying the head at her feet as Hock had done. She places Kaan’s málmr around her neck, accepting his gesture. She also doesn’t see him as much of a threat as she had previously, but more as a savior. As they fly away together on Rygun, Kaan pleads with her never to scare him like that again. Raeve is quietly touched, but brushes it off, telling him to save sweet words for someone who truly matters to him, then passes out due to the poison.
The book than changes to a Kaan POV. After three days of flight, Kaan finally arrives in Dhomm, carrying Raeve in his arms. The moment they land in the Imperial Stronghold, they're greeted by his younger sister, Veya, who immediately freezes at the sight of Raeve. She’s stunned, Raeve looks exactly like Elluin, a woman they all once knew well. Her shock only deepens when she sees Raeve dressed in ceremonial Tookah Trial garb and wearing Kaan’s málmr. Noting Raeve's severe injuries and fading consciousness, Veya quickly rushes them to Agni, the clan’s Runi healer, with assistance from Pyrok, a member of Kaan’s Imperial Court. As Raeve is treated, the truth unravels, she is Elluin, though she has no memory of anything before the last 23 years. Veya clings to the hope that some part of Elluin lingers, especially since “Raeve” is her middle name. Veya questions Raeve’s connection to the Creators, and Kaan confirms she hears Clode and Bulder, but he isn’t sure about the others. When Veya presses further—afraid Raeve might see Tyroth and remember the past, might leave again—Kaan replies that someone out there needs Raeve far more than they do. Before leaving Raeve in Agni’s care, Veya warns Kaan: no one survives what Raeve has endured without carrying a dangerous well of dragonflame within.
Raeve wakes in a strange room with a flash of memory about a hidden book behind the mirror. Before she can investigate, Kaan’s sister, Veya, enters, clearly hostile and warning Raeve not to hurt Kaan again. When Raeve inexplicably calls her by name, Veya is shocked and vows to uncover what happened to her.
Raeve sneaks into town, joined by Pyrok. She’s struck by the peacefulness of The Burn; no forced conscriptions, no dragon-led executions, and freedom for nulls. At The Curly Quill, they meet Vruhn, a blind Mindweft who knows Raeve’s intentions and senses her buried pain. He hints that the answers she seeks lie deep within herself, and that she’s blocking out the god Rayne.
At a bar, Raeve tries to break her cuffs alone until Kaan appears and frees her. She lashes out at him for the cruelty of his brothers, but he explains he can’t fight them without endangering innocents. Raeve returns the málmr necklace, saying it carries meaning she can’t give him. Outside, a storm breaks and Raeve is overwhelmed by Rayne’s sorrowful song. Kaan comforts her with a melody only she should know, then takes her to a secret chamber beneath the stronghold. There, he reveals Slátra, the Moonplume dragon who sheltered Raeve for a century. Kaan insists she is Elluin, but Raeve refuses to accept it. Before leaving The Burn, Raeve explores Loff forest and finds a hidden lovers’ retreat. Overcome by memories of her and Kaan together, she realizes the place is a remnant of their shared past—and their love. She decides that she needs to leave (mostly deterimined to get revenge on Rekk), she tells Raeve. In return, he gives her coin and tells her if she wants to, she can. Kaan leaves for a month, and during that whole time, Raeve can’t see it in herself to leave. So she stays.
In a different POV, Veya prepares for a secret journey to Arithia. At the burrows, she runs into Kaan and learns he’s leaving for a month-long mission to hunt down a rabid dragon that burned a neighboring village after being infected by a tick. She voices her frustration—she saw him leading Elluin to his suite the night before and accuses him of revealing Raeve’s true identity too soon. Veya is furious that he plans to disappear when he should be helping Raeve recover and keeping her existence hidden from their dangerous brothers. Though Kaan disapproves of Veya’s reckless plan, he doesn’t try to stop her.
Back in a journal entry, Elluin lives in seclusion with Slátra in the hutch beneath the Imperial Stronghold when Kaan first arrives. They’re immediately drawn to each other—Elluin finds him beautiful, and he’s struck by her. When he returns without his dragon, Kaan gently questions her about Slátra’s injuries and whether she’s eating or living down there, but Elluin, drained and weary from loss, says nothing. All she wants is to reclaim her strength, bring Slátra home, and retake her throne.
Concerned, Kaan enlists Veya to help. Veya tries to bring Elluin food, but she refuses. One night, Kaan carries the sleeping Elluin into the stronghold and delivers her to a bath, where Veya washes her and apologizes for Kaan’s actions. Though Elluin still doesn’t know Kaan’s name, she accepts Veya’s offer to teach her to fight. After their first combat lesson, Elluin returns to find Slátra’s hutch locked. Kaan is waiting nearby with food, music, and the key. He asks her to eat before unlocking the door. Though the spicy food makes her sick, he still leaves the door open. The next day, he brings something milder. This routine repeats, and Elluin slowly begins to anticipate their time together. One day, Kaan plays a song her parents used to sing when she was ill. The memory overwhelms her, and as she weeps for all she’s lost, Kaan stops playing and simply holds her.
The month passes, Raeve hasn’t left, and Kaan is back, and happy to see that Raeve has stayed. One night, Raeve awakens from an intimate dream of Kaan to the sound of dragons and distant music. She overhears talk of The Great Flurtt, a dragon mating event believed to lead to a surge in fertilized eggs. Though tempted to join the city festivities, she initially turns back, until she discovers a black basket hanging from a tree. Inside is a gown, slippers, mask, sun poultice, and Kaan’s málmr, wrapped in a parchment inviting her to dance. Deciding to pretend for one night, to let her heart open before erasing Kaan from her memory, Raeve dresses and is escorted by Pyrok to the celebration. At a three-way fork representing dragon nesting grounds, Pyrok indicates Kaan went right, but Raeve chooses the left path, Netheryn.
Inside the icy Netheryn dome, Raeve is drawn to a high-stakes gambling table guarded by an octimar, a magical creature that binds players to their word. She wagers favors in place of currency and wins multiple hands, taking all the arrogant men's gold. Kaan arrives, forcing the men to leave, but Raeve notices Pyrok has vanished. She confronts Kaan about her returning memories. He claims she was once bound to another and left him willingly. Raeve doubts this, but Kaan confesses he still loves her, even if she would destroy him. Raeve proposes a wager: if she wins, they pretend for the night that they’re still in love, and by morning he’ll owe her a wish, her plan being to use a Mindweft to erase him from her memory. If he wins, she must answer three of his questions. The octimar seals the wager. Raeve wins. Though Kaan misinterprets her idea of “pretending” as physical only, Raeve genuinely intends to embrace the love they once shared just for one night. She reaches for his hand and asks him to dance. The dancing leads to more, and the two share a night together.
Back in more journal entries, Over the course of a week, Elluin doesn’t see Kaan, though he continues to leave her meals and small dragon carvings by Slátra’s hutch. Frustrated by the feelings she harbors for him, she pours her energy into sparring with Veya. When Kaan finally returns, he bears a new scar and a necklace with a Moonplume and Sabersythe pendant. After playing her parents’ song, Elluin sings for him, and the two share a passionate kiss—nearly caught in the act. Despite being promised to Kaan’s brother, Elluin feels empowered by his love. Elluin, now 19, writes in her diary about her admiration for Kaan’s justice and kindness, particularly during a Tithe he oversees. She sees her own parents reflected in him and resolves to live the life she chooses, not the one dictated to her. When she goes to meet him that evening, she instead finds a parchment lark and a key. The lark guides her to a jungle dwelling carved into a cliff, where Kaan waits with stew and a gift, he offers the dwelling as their place, and Elluin accepts with joy.
Raeve wakes in Kaan’s arms, recalling that she drunkenly wasted her card-game wish on asking him to hold her all night. Though she initially plans to erase her memories of him, Kaan persuades her to stay, and they become intimate again. He warns her that her fear of connection could harm others, reminding Raeve of how she once discarded Nee. Despite wanting to delay serious conversation, Raeve stays in the bubble of “pretend,” though she senses it can’t last.
A haunting dream of the Scavenger King burning her and calling her the “Fire Lark” unsettles Raeve. When Kaan questions her about the title, she brushes it off; but Kaan won’t let her, that is until they are i interrupted by a wounded Moonplume’s arrival at the Stronghold, carrying Rekk Zharos—now an emissary for The Shade. Though Raeve longs to kill him, Kaan fears starting a war. Kaan promises not to kill him, realizing she wants that kill for herself. Later, Raeve reveals that Rekk killed someone she loved and tortured her. Kaan, in turn, tells her that Rekk will soon pass through the neutral city of Bothaim, giving Raeve the perfect opportunity for revenge.
Now 20, Elluin falls in love with the dwelling Kaan gave her and the quiet life they build together. As a symbol of their bond, Kaan gifts her his málmr, crafted from a rare Great Silver Sabersythe scale fused with a Moonplume half, to prove his worth. Elluin clings to the necklace, pouring her love into it, and realizes just how terrifying the thought of losing Kaan has become. During the Great Flurrt celebration, King Ostern, Cadok, and Tyroth arrive at the Imperial Stronghold. When they berate Veya, now Elluin’s friend, Elluin defends her and draws their ire. King Ostern announces Elluin’s marriage to Tyroth in 30 days, forcing her and Kaan to ignore the looming heartbreak. The morning after the celebration, Ostern confronts Elluin, revealing he knows she’s pregnant with Kaan’s child. He threatens the lives of Slátra, Kaan, and Veya unless she obeys and pretends the baby is Tyroth’s during the binding ceremony the next morning. In order to protect all those she loves, she leaves a note behind, filled with lies, for Kaan to find.
There is then a POV from Rekk, who has just left Kaan. As he is traveling, he finds a place to spend the night, and finds a girl who will stay with him, that is until she starts singing a song and turns her head, it is Raeve. The chapter than turns to an ‘other’ POV, it almost seems like a dragon is controling her. Raeve and this being that is in her consciousness torture Rekk, ending with burning his face.
Veya arrives in Arithia disguised as a servant named Ayda using her shapeshifting bangle. She briefly encounters Tyroth, who believes Ayda is carrying his bastard child. Though tempted to kill him, Veya holds back for Kaan’s sake. Searching Tyroth’s room, Veya finds Elluin’s journal hidden behind the bed. Impatient, she reads the final entries, learning that Elluin was blackmailed by their father and that her child, Kyzari, is Kaan’s. The journal also reveals a Bloodlace came to test the baby’s lineage, and though Elluin hadn’t yet given birth, she knew Tyroth would discover the truth. Her final entry suggests she knew her death was imminent.
In an epilogue, The Scavenger King, Arkyn, fixates on Kyzari, a young fae who reminds him of his lost Fire Lark. Unlike the quiet Fire Lark, Kyzari is prone to nonsensical rambling. Arkyn offers her a blank parchment to sign under the guise of granting her freedom, but secretly despises the privileged life she’s led compared to his own brutal past in the Botanic Plains. He plans to reclaim the bronze throne of The Burn, believing it rightfully his. After Kyzari signs, Arkyn folds the parchment into a lark and sends it to Kaan, whom he believes to be her uncle. Along its flight, the lark passes another, damaged and bloodied, before that second one, named Nee, lands in Kyzari’s lap, returned faithfully to its sender.
