✨ Chapter 56 – The Shattering Line
The Sterling War Formation ignited the battlefield like a second sun.
Fire spiraled around Lucian's arms.
Psychic blades spun around Lyr like silver moons.
Soren's spear vibrated, sonic ripples warping the air.
Kade's wolf aura flared violet and wild.
Rheon's wind-forged sword hummed like a living storm.
And Orion—
massive, immovable, unyielding—
stood like an ancient guardian, earth and elemental force pulsing through his veins.
Kai joined the circle, golden aura glowing brightly, standing at Ariana's left as though he had always belonged.
Ariana stood in the center—
moon-fire flickering,
bracelet shaking,
power rising too fast.
Her wolf whispered:
"Not yet.
Soon."
Ariana took a steady breath and extended her hands.
"I'm ready."
Orion's deep voice resonated:
"War Formation—release!"
And the world erupted.
The Brothers Unleashed
Lucian hurled a vortex of fire so hot the corrupted hybrids disintegrated before touching it.
Lyr's psychic blades sliced through shadow-born creatures with surgical precision.
Soren vaulted over a vampire and shattered its skull with a sonic strike.
Kade slammed into a corrupted shifter twice his size and snapped its jaw without breaking stride.
Rheon summoned a cyclone of wind that lifted three creatures into the air and cleaved them apart mid-flight.
Orion stomped the ground—
a shockwave blasted a dozen enemies backward.
Kai leapt forward, fully shifted, golden fur glowing, fangs tearing through corrupted flesh like paper.
The corrupted army faltered.
Ariana felt the energy of the formation feeding into her—support, unity, strength. Her moon-fire stabilized for the first time since dawn.
Her bracelet dimmed.
But it did not break.
Ariana exhaled shakily.
Her brothers closed the circle around her.
"You feeling us, pup?" Soren called out.
Ariana laughed breathlessly.
"I haven't felt this steady since… ever."
Lucian smirked.
"That's the point. We're your family. We keep you anchored."
Kai's voice rumbled beside her.
"We're not letting you burn out."
Ariana's chest tightened.
"Thank you…"
Her wolf pressed against her ribs in agreement.
"Pack."
Morwenna's Fury
Morwenna stepped forward, cloak dragging across the cracked earth.
HER aura surged larger than all the corrupted beasts combined—
a tidal wave of red-black corruption.
She spread her arms wide.
"You think THIS is enough?
Six brothers and a lovesick wolf cannot save you."
Kai growled deep.
Orion stepped forward, sword raised.
But Morwenna pointed.
At Ariana.
And smiled.
"You little moon-child…
do you even know WHAT you are?"
Ariana stiffened.
"What are you talking about?"
Morwenna's eyes glowed like dark stars.
"You're not simply Moonborn."
She stepped closer.
"You are the direct descendant of the FIRST Moonborn.
The last remnant of an ancient bloodline.
A bloodline that once ruled the lunar beasts."
Ariana's heart skipped.
"Ruled… the Moonbeast?"
Morwenna laughed.
"Oh child—
you don't just CALL the Moonbeast."
She leaned her head back as the ground trembled.
"You COMMAND it."
The earth split violently.
Students screamed.
The battlefield cracked down the middle.
Kai stepped closer to Ariana protectively.
"Ariana—"
Ariana whispered:
"I command it…?"
Her wolf answered with a rumble:
"We do."
Ariana swayed.
Her bracelet pulsed.
Morwenna's voice boomed, amplified by magic:
"Yes. That thing rising beneath the forest?
It is not hunting you."
Her grin sharpened like a blade.
"It is ANSWERING you."
Ariana's breath vanished.
Kai whispered, horrified:
"Ariana… she's saying—
the Moonbeast responds to YOUR call."
Ariana shook her head.
"I—I didn't call it—"
Morwenna laughed.
"You did.
When you used moon-fire in fear.
When your heart broke under pressure.
When you wanted help."
Ariana's eyes widened.
"I didn't… no—"
Kai grabbed her hands.
"Ariana. Breathe."
Ariana's knees trembled.
"I didn't mean to—"
Orion stepped closer.
"Ariana. You're moonborn. Every surge you make echoes. The Moonbeast hears it."
Lucian spat fire between his teeth.
"And Morwenna knows that. She's manipulating it."
Lyr added:
"But she isn't wrong. Your power is tied to that monster."
Morwenna smiled.
"And when you break that bracelet—
the bond will snap fully open."
Ariana froze.
Kai did too.
Morwenna took a step forward.
"Break your bracelet now, Moonborn.
Let your wolf rise.
Give me that power."
Ariana shook her head violently.
"No."
Morwenna hissed.
"What?"
Ariana raised her chin.
"No.
I break it when I choose."
Kai's heart surged with pride.
The brothers smirked.
Soren burst out laughing.
"That's our girl!"
Morwenna snarled.
"Then die with your pride!"
She thrust her hands into the air—
And unleashed the second Bloodwake pulse.
Bloodwake Pulse
A beam of red corrupted energy shot straight into the sky—
then crashed down in a circle around the Sterling War Formation.
The ground exploded.
Ariana fell to her knees.
Her bracelet cracked almost all the way down the center.
Kai caught her shoulders.
"Ariana—Ariana stay with me—"
Her moon-fire surged violently.
Hot.
Chaotic.
Uncontrolled.
Her wolf snarled.
"BREAK IT."
Ariana shook her head.
"Not now—NOT NOW—"
Her bracelet vibrated at a painful frequency.
It was going to break by force.
Orion saw it instantly.
"Brothers! Strengthen the circle!"
The six men slammed their powers into the ground—
Fire
Psychic
Sonic
Wind
Wolf
Earth
—rushing into Ariana's center like a stabilizing heartbeat.
Kai held her hands tightly.
"Stay with us, Ariana. You've got this. You're stronger than the pulse."
Ariana's moon-fire smoothed out.
Her markings glowed.
The bracelet stopped cracking—
Barely.
Ariana exhaled sharply.
"I'm okay. I'm holding."
Morwenna's eyes widened in rage.
"You… little… BRAT!"
She slammed her staff into the ground—
The earth split apart—
And the Moonbeast began to rise.
Fully.
Completely.
Up to its chest.
The Moonbeast Emerges
The ground shook like the world was ending.
Trees toppled sideways.
Roots ripped out of the soil.
A crater formed where the forest had been.
Then—
A massive claw emerged.
White bone.
Glowing veins.
Lunar cracks spreading across its surface.
A scream—low, ancient, agonizing—
ripped across the land.
Students covered their ears.
Kai shielded Ariana with his body.
The brothers braced.
Ariana clutched her chest.
Her markings blazed.
Her wolf roared:
"Soon."
Ariana whispered:
"Kai…
I think the perfect moment is coming."
Kai swallowed hard.
"I know."
Orion looked back at her.
"Aria—when the time comes—"
"I'll break it," Ariana whispered.
Her wolf continued:
"But not yet."
Morwenna cackled.
"Yes…
YES!
Let it rise!
Let the Moonborn break—
and let this world burn!"
But Ariana stood tall.
Moon-fire looked like stars under her skin.
She refused to be broken.
She refused to rush.
She waited—
For the perfect moment.