Darkness shattered into fire.
The Whisperer lunged at Aria, claws of shadow aiming for her throat. She spun, ducked, and drove the flaming blade upward into his chest. He screeched—not in pain, but in fury—and recoiled as light flared from the wound.
Kael roared in wolf form, black fur stained crimson, eyes burning with Alpha rage. He slammed into the Whisperer, forcing the vampire lord back across the stone dais.
Aria's blood ran like liquid fire down her arms. The curse chains burned hotter now, sensing their master's rage.
"Kael!" she cried.
He turned to her, panting, battered. "I thought I lost you."
"You almost did."
Their eyes met—raw, filled with everything they couldn't say.
But then Celene appeared behind him.
Still bleeding. Still smiling.
She lifted a cursed dagger and aimed for his heart.
Aria moved first.
With a scream, she flung the severing blade. It sailed through the air and struck Celene's wrist, slicing deep. The dagger dropped. Celene wailed, falling backward.
Kael turned, stunned.
"You saved me," he said.
"You didn't believe me," she replied, voice cold.
Kael flinched. "I know."
The moment fractured.
Behind them, the Whisperer rose again.
But something had changed.
The light of the severing blade lingered in the air, slicing through his aura. The prison was no longer his sanctuary—it was unraveling.
Raekon, Nyla, and Lyra burst in, bloodied but alive. Raekon unleashed a wave of fire, Lyra's arrows rained down, and Nyla drove her dagger into the Whisperer's leg.
"Now, Aria!" Raekon shouted.
She grabbed the severing blade, felt its weight. It wasn't just steel. It was memory, legacy, vengeance.
The Whisperer snarled. "You cannot kill me, girl. I am eternal."
"No," she said. "You're just very old and very wrong."
She drove the blade into the final moonlight chain still binding her.
The explosion of magic shattered the air. The Whisperer screamed as a ring of searing light engulfed him. The chain broke. Her soul was hers again.
And the curse—
—it fractured.
The shadow in her chest shrieked and writhed. She dropped to her knees. Kael rushed forward.
"It's killing her!" Raekon yelled.
"No," Kael said, holding her. "She's killing it."
Aria screamed one last time as the curse tore free.
A shockwave of black light surged from her body, blasting the Whisperer across the room and into the far wall. His form flickered. Shriveled. Cracked.
"No…" he whispered. "No… you were mine…"
Aria stood, red hair flowing like flame.
"Not anymore."
She drove the blade into his heart.
This time, he didn't scream.
He simply faded—into dust, into mist, into nothing.
---
Silence reigned.
Nyla helped Lyra to her feet. Raekon collapsed with exhaustion. Celene was gone, vanished into shadow, likely barely alive.
Kael still held Aria, arms wrapped around her like she might disappear again.
"I should've trusted you," he whispered.
"You didn't," she said softly.
"I let jealousy poison my mind. I listened to lies. I pushed you away when I should have fought for you."
Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't cry.
"Why should I believe you now?"
"Because I know I don't deserve it. But I'll fight every day to earn it back."
She stared at him, then slowly nodded.
"Then start by helping rebuild what we lost."
He smiled for the first time in what felt like years.
"Anything."
---
That night, the survivors lit a fire outside the ruins. Aria sat beside it, holding the severing blade across her lap.
Raekon joined her.
"That blade was meant to break soul bonds," he said.
"I know."
"But it didn't break yours with Kael."
She looked across the fire where Kael sat, quietly mending his armor.
"It wasn't forged to break true bonds. Just the ones forged by darkness."
Raekon nodded. "So… what happens now?"
"I heal. We fight. And we prepare for the Blood Moon."
"You think this wasn't it?"
"No. That was just his attempt to awaken the curse. The real war hasn't started yet."
Raekon frowned. "Then who's coming?"
She looked up at the sky. The moon was still rising.
"Something worse than the Whisperer."
To be continued