✨ Chapter 46 – The Light That Heals
Smoke hung over the academy like a veil.
Students limped across the courtyard, some supported by friends, others helped by professors.
A few lay unconscious on stretchers, their uniforms ripped and stained with ash.
Ariana stood in the center of it all, arms limp at her sides.
Her moon-fire had gone quiet.
Her body felt hollow.
Kai stayed close, as if afraid she'd vanish if he stepped away.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
Ariana nodded, but she wasn't sure she meant it.
They had survived.
Barely.
For the first time, she felt what war truly meant.
Blood.
Fear.
Loss.
"You did everything you could," Kai murmured.
Ariana swallowed.
"But it wasn't enough."
Kai stepped closer.
"Ariana… if you hadn't been here, we'd have lost ten times as many. Don't do that to yourself."
Her eyes stung.
But before she could respond, a weak voice called out:
"H-help… please…"
Ariana turned.
A first-year hybrid boy lay on the ground, clutching his side.
A nasty, blackened gash spilled red and corrupted residue.
Ariana rushed over.
"Someone get the healers!"
"No!" the boy whimpered. "I—It burns… please…"
Ariana touched his forehead.
Her wolf whispered sharply:
"Your light can mend."
Ariana blinked.
"What… what do you mean?"
The boy coughed violently.
Kai knelt beside her, eyes wide.
"What is it?"
"My wolf says… moon-fire can heal."
Kai's jaw dropped.
"I thought moon-fire only purifies."
Ariana shook her head.
"Maybe healing is a type of purification…"
She hovered her hand over the boy's wound.
Her moon-fire flickered.
Kai grabbed her wrist quickly.
"Ariana. If you're wrong—"
"I'm not."
Kai hesitated.
Then released her slowly.
"Be careful."
Ariana nodded.
She pressed her palm gently over the boy's wound.
Silver light blossomed.
Warm.
Soft.
Nothing like the sharp, weapon-like power she used in battle.
The corruption hissed and recoiled—
—and disappeared.
The boy's ragged breathing slowed.
Ariana watched in awe as the wound knitted closed.
Completely.
Kai stared at her like she'd sprouted wings.
"Ariana… that's—"
"I healed him," she whispered.
Kai shook his head in stunned disbelief.
"You didn't just heal him. You reversed corruption. Ariana… that's impossible."
Ariana bit her lip.
"Not anymore."
Her wolf hummed.
"Light heals. Light fights. Light leads."
Ariana helped the boy sit up.
When he realized he wasn't dying, tears streamed down his face.
"Th-thank you, Coordinator…"
Ariana smiled shakily.
"You're safe."
The Infirmary – Lira Speaks Again
Aster met them at the infirmary door.
"Ariana," she whispered urgently, "Lira woke up again. She's asking for you."
Ariana nodded and hurried in.
Lira lay pale under the white sheets, but her eyes were clearer than before.
Some of the red was gone—
purified by Ariana's earlier touch.
As Ariana approached, Lira grabbed her hand.
"Ariana… they were angry."
Ariana's blood chilled.
"Who?"
Lira's voice trembled.
"The shadows. The corruption. The… the one who speaks."
Ariana sat on the edge of the bed.
"What did they say?"
Lira swallowed hard.
"They said you were dangerous."
Kai stiffened beside Ariana.
"Good," he growled.
Lira shook her head violently.
"No… not dangerous to them. Dangerous to the seal."
Ariana blinked.
"What?"
Lira clutched her hand tighter.
"If you go near the Moonbeast, you'll wake it.
You'll break the last binds.
You'll call it."
Ariana's heart dropped.
"That's impossible. My magic is opposite of corruption—"
"No," Lira whispered.
"It's matching magic that calls a creature, not opposite.
You and the Moonbeast share the same root.
Pure lunar magic."
Ariana felt the ground sway beneath her.
Kai grabbed her shoulders.
"Hey—hey, breathe—"
Ariana inhaled sharply.
"So if I go near it—
even to fight—
I could make everything worse?"
Lira nodded slowly.
"The Moonbeast listens for you.
It recognized your moon-fire.
It wants to find you."
Ariana's stomach twisted.
"It wants… me."
Kai's grip tightened.
"No. It wants your magic. That's not the same."
But Ariana wasn't sure.
Seraphina's Loyalty
Seraphina slipped into the room quietly.
Her voice was soft but strong.
"Lira… tell her the rest."
Lira swallowed.
"The corruption believes… if they break the seal with their power, the Moonbeast will rampage."
Seraphina nodded.
"But if you break the seal—"
Her eyes met Ariana's.
"—the Moonbeast will obey."
Ariana's heart stopped.
"Obey… me?"
Seraphina nodded.
"It was once a guardian," she said softly.
"You have guardian blood.
Pure lunar power.
Your mother carried it.
So do you."
Ariana's breath caught.
"My mother…?"
Seraphina nodded.
"She was the last registered Moonborn before you."
Ariana sat down hard.
Kai blinked.
"Ariana… I didn't know—"
Ariana covered her mouth.
Her mother…
the mother she barely remembered…
She had been Moonborn too.
Seraphina placed a gentle hand on Ariana's back.
"You have power the corruption wants.
Power the Moonbeast responds to.
And power the school desperately needs."
Ariana shook.
"This is too much…"
Seraphina tightened her grip.
"Ariana. I'm with you. We all are."
Kai slid down beside her, touching her hand.
"You're not alone. Not ever."
Ariana closed her eyes.
For the first time, she allowed herself to lean into both of them.
The Moonbeast Sends Its First Message
That night, the sky turned blood-red for a moment—
so quick most didn't see it.
But Ariana did.
She sat alone on the rooftop garden, hugging her knees, trying to think—
when her wolf suddenly howled inside her.
A low rumble vibrated through the ground.
Not loud.
Not violent.
Like a giant exhaling.
Ariana gasped.
"Kai!"
Kai appeared instantly—
he must have been waiting nearby.
"What happened? Ariana—what's wrong?"
Ariana clutched the railing.
"I felt the Moonbeast."
Kai's face drained of color.
"What?"
Ariana nodded, shaking.
"It reached out.
Not with a voice.
With… a feeling."
Kai approached slowly.
"What did it feel like?"
Ariana struggled to find the right words.
"Lonely.
Hungry.
Confused.
And angry.
So, so angry."
Kai touched her cheeks gently.
"You felt its emotions."
Ariana nodded hard.
"Yes. And—Kai—"
Her voice cracked.
"It felt alive.
Fully.
Awake."
Kai pulled her into his arms.
Ariana buried her face in his chest.
"It's coming tomorrow," she whispered.
"I can feel it."
Kai held her tighter.
"Then we'll be ready."
Ariana shook her head.
"Kai… I'm afraid."
"I know," he whispered into her hair.
"I'm terrified. Because I can't lose you."
Ariana's breath caught.
Kai realized what he said—
and froze.
"Ariana, I—"
Her wolf whispered:
"He speaks truth."
Ariana lifted her head slowly.
"Kai…"
Their faces were inches apart.
Their breaths mingled.
Something powerful and fragile sparked between them.
Kai swallowed.
"Ariana… tomorrow, whatever happens… I need you to know—"
Before he could finish—
a red boom thundered from the forest.
The final warning.
Ariana grabbed his hand.
"Kai—
it begins tomorrow."
Kai stared at her.
"Then stay with me," he whispered.
"For all of it."
Ariana squeezed his hand back.
"I will."
Her wolf howled to the night sky.
"Full moon rises.
Final battle draws near.
Light must break."
And Ariana felt it:
Tomorrow would choose everything.