Moonfall, #2
The Ballad of Falling Dragons
by Sarah A. Parker
Contents
Chapter 37
Overview
Exhausted, Kaan shapes an underground bunker network to shelter villagers from impending moonfalls, coordinating supplies and health safeguards. Siharna brings food and counsel, pressing him to rest. Kaan reveals broad preparations across The Burn and quietly relies on Roan’s research. He worries Raeve, off scouting astride a Moonplume, may not return civilized.
Summary
Deep underground, Kaan steadies himself and lights newly shaped chambers, forcing work to drown spiraling thoughts of Raeve and Elluin. He oversees an expanding riverside network of dwellings, bridges, and common spaces intended to keep villagers safe and sane during the moonfalls.
Siharna arrives against orders, heavily pregnant, bringing food and blunt concern. Kaan accepts the meal and carves a moment to rest by the underground river, reflecting on Bulder’s exacting language, the discipline shaping demands, and the dangerous power of the words he once unearthed.
As they eat, Kaan details kingdom-wide preparations: larks dispatched, bunkers shaped under settlements, ration targets, hunters provisioning, and a bloodstone vein to mitigate sun starvation for Burn and Fade folk. He vows to aid hunters after finishing dwellings and reveals a reserve of compounded supplies beneath Dhomm.
Their talk turns somber as Siharna fears losing the village’s legacy to the falls. Kaan admits to darker skeletons—remembering the bloodlust that ended Pah and how Rygun anchored him—while quietly placing hope in Roan’s ongoing work with the Book of Voyd to protect infrastructure.
Finally, Kaan asks after Raeve. Siharna reports sightings beyond sentry lines; Raeve rides a Moonplume, makes no contact, and risks not returning. Kaan insists she will, but privately fears Raeve’s pain and isolation could turn her wild.
Who Appears
- Kaan VaegorKing of The Burn; shapes vast underground bunkers, coordinates supplies, wrestles grief and guilt, and fears Raeve may turn wild.
- SiharnaHeavily pregnant relative; defies orders to bring Kaan food, counsels rest, and reports Raeve’s distant, silent movements.
- BulderStone-shaping power/language; exacting and weighty, responds to Kaan’s skilled dialect as he forms the bunker network.
- IgnosFire aspect bound to torches; eagerly consumes offerings to light the slumbersuites and tunnels.
- RaeveAbsent but pivotal; spotted riding a Moonplume beyond sentries, not communicating, raising fear she may not return civilized.