Vireya woke screaming.
At first, it was the crows. Hundreds of them, black as pitch, circling the towers like an omen. Then came the scent—ash and iron—followed by a tremor that split the southern ridge in two.
Kael burst into the council chamber, his blade already unsheathed. "They're here."
Selene stood by the window, her hands resting on her belly. "Ysara?"
Rowan entered a breath later. "With her army."
Lira's wolf had already shifted, stalking the balcony. "She brought everything."
---
The invasion was sudden but surgical.
Ysara didn't strike the city's heart.
She struck its outer pulse—targeting the children's sanctum, the healing gardens, and the oldest Moonwells, where sacred energy still slept.
Selene stormed the gates before the sun fully rose, her cloak trailing behind her like wings of smoke. Magic surged under her skin, called by fury and blood.
"She's trying to sever the ley lines," Naeria said, breathless. "If she unbinds the temple from the moon's current—"
"She wins," Selene finished.
And she wouldn't let that happen.
---
The first clash happened at the Stone Steps, where ancient Lunari warriors had once stood guard over their temple. Now, Selene stood there, blade drawn, Kael and Rowan flanking her, Lira's wolf circling.
Ysara appeared through a swirling rift of smoke, mounted on a monstrous black wolf—a creature far too large to be natural. Her army fanned out behind her, dozens of blood-marked shifters and witches cloaked in shadow.
Selene stepped forward, power pulsing through her voice. "This is not your legacy."
"I was born of it," Ysara said. "While you were coddled in silence, I survived the truth."
"You twisted it."
"I claimed it."
Ysara raised her hand—and the first bolt of dark magic shattered the stones at Selene's feet.
---
The battle began.
Wolves tore into shadow-beasts. Fire met moonlight. The ground split from magic that hadn't touched the surface in centuries.
Selene fought at the front, Moonfang blazing in her hand. Every slash of her blade sang. Every spell she cast wove from instinct and memory—echoes of her lineage. She moved like prophecy. Like storm and sun.
Kael protected her flank, covered in blood, eyes locked on her as though she were the only light in the world.
And still—Ysara advanced.
---
They met in the center of the battlefield, the sounds of war fading into silence around them.
"This is your last chance," Selene said. "Leave."
"I am what the Lunari should've become," Ysara hissed. "Unbound. Unruled. Eternal."
"You're a shadow of power," Selene growled. "I am its heart."
And then the duel began.
---
Blades clashed. Spells cracked the air. The earth shook beneath their feet as two Lunari bloodlines collided.
Selene's magic burned silver.
Ysara's bled black.
Around them, wolves and witches froze, watching with breathless reverence. It was more than a fight—it was inheritance incarnate.
Ysara struck a deep wound across Selene's ribs.
Selene responded with a searing burst of lunar flame, knocking Ysara back.
"You're weakening," Ysara sneered.
"I'm becoming," Selene snapped.
Her eyes glowed brighter, hair lifting in an invisible wind. The mark above her heart pulsed like a second sun.
And then—Selene did something no one had seen in generations.
She lifted both arms.
And shifted.
Not into a wolf.
Not into a woman.
But into something between.
A glowing, radiant creature of fangs, fire, and light—a Lunari Guardian, born from prophecy and pain.
The battlefield held its breath.
Even Ysara stepped back.
"You… you can't…" she whispered.
Selene's voice rang out like thunder wrapped in moonlight. "This ends now."
---
She struck with everything—heart, soul, blood, bond.
And when Ysara's blade shattered beneath the force of Selene's light, the rogue heir collapsed to her knees, screaming as her magic was unraveled thread by thread.
Selene stood over her, chest heaving, Moonfang at the ready.
But she hesitated.
Ysara looked up, defiant even in defeat. "Do it. Be what they fear."
Selene stared into her cousin's eyes, and in that moment, she saw the ruin, the loneliness, the shattered girl behind the monster.
"No," she said softly. "That's your path. Not mine."
She turned away.
Ysara screamed in rage—but Selene's mercy was a blade of its own.
The remaining rogues fled into the mist.
---
That night, the battlefield was silent.
Vireya had survived.
But it had been scarred.
Selene walked among the wounded with Kael at her side, healing where she could, offering her strength to those who'd bled for her. The Lunari no longer bowed out of reverence.
They followed her out of hope.
---
Later, in the healing hall, Selene lay with her head against Kael's chest. His arm rested over her womb, their twins' presence pulsing steady and warm.
"You could've killed her," he said quietly.
"I almost did."
"But you didn't."
"I want to be something different, Kael. Not a weapon. Not a queen. Just… a light."
He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Then you are. You always were."
---
Above them, the moon turned crimson—not with war, but with awakening.
The ley lines glowed once more.
And a new era began.
---