✨ Chapter 60 – The Moonborn's First Strike
For a long, impossibly long moment, the battlefield was silent.
Ariana stood at the center of the shattered courtyard, moonfire streaming off her body in slow, graceful arcs. She wasn't just glowing—
she was illuminating the world around her.
The Moonbeast—
a towering ancient colossus—
bowed its skull to the ground, its massive claws digging trenches through the soil. Its breath rattled like shifting sand dunes. Its eyes—silver and ancient—rested entirely on Ariana.
She raised her hand.
The brothers straightened.
The Pillars readied themselves.
Kai stepped slightly in front of her instinctively—
but Ariana gently touched his arm.
"It's okay," she whispered.
"I'm not going to fall."
Kai swallowed hard and moved to her side.
Ariana faced forward.
And finally—
she struck.
✨ Ariana's First Moonborn Attack
Her hand glowed brighter, brighter—
Then she swept her arm outward.
Moonfire erupted like a solar flare.
Not wild.
Not chaotic.
A spiraling ribbon of silver light unfurled from her fingertips, sweeping across the battlefield in a wide arc.
When the light touched corrupted creatures—
they didn't burn—
They dissolved.
Into silver dust that glimmered as it drifted away.
Hundreds vanished in seconds.
The corrupted wave crumbled as though it had never existed.
A breathless hush followed.
Rylan whispered,
"…She wiped out an entire flank."
Calen's frost melted in awe.
"That was just one gesture."
Zane stared, stunned.
"She reshaped the battlefield with a flick of her hand."
Seraphina clutched her chest.
"She's beautiful…"
Morwenna Breaks
Morwenna's knees hit the ground.
Not in reverence.
In rage.
"N-no… NO NO NO—YOU CAN'T—YOU CAN'T—THIS ISN'T WHAT THE PROPHECY SAID!"
Ariana turned toward her, moonfire swirling gently around her shoulders.
"Prophecies aren't commands," Ariana said softly.
"They're warnings."
Morwenna shook violently.
"You were supposed to crumble!
You were supposed to die!
You were supposed to surrender your power to me!"
Ariana's voice deepened as her wolf spoke through her.
"I do not surrender."
The ground trembled beneath her words.
Even the Moonbeast lowered further in acknowledgment.
Morwenna screamed.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!
I WILL NOT BE UNDONE BY A CHILD—"
She spun her staff and slammed it into the earth.
The crystal burst—
showering shards of pulsing red corruption.
Morwenna scrambled backward.
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE EVERYTHING—
I WON'T LET YOU—"
A giant shadow fell over her.
Morwenna froze.
Slowly—
very slowly—
she turned.
The Moonbeast's massive skull loomed behind her, growling a deep warning.
Its silver eyes flashed—
mine.
Morwenna stumbled back so fast she tripped over her own robe.
"No—NO—NOT YOU—STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
The Moonbeast growled louder.
Ariana lifted one hand.
It stopped instantly.
Every creature—every student—every brother and Pillar—
realized the same horrifying truth at the same time:
The Moonbeast didn't obey Morwenna.
It obeyed Ariana.
A ripple of shock went through the battlefield.
Morwenna Tries to Run
Panic finally overtook her.
Morwenna whirled around, sprinting for the forest.
"I won't be taken! I won't be judged!
I'll escape—I'll ESCAPE—"
Ariana flicked her fingers.
Silver runes spread across the ground like a blooming flower.
A barrier of pure moonlight rose in front of Morwenna—
She slammed face-first into it.
Her scream echoed across the battlefield.
"NO—NO NO NO—LET ME OUT!"
Ariana stepped closer.
"Enough, Morwenna."
A wave of moonfire pulsed outward from Ariana's aura—
not destructive, but authoritative.
Morwenna clutched her head.
"STOP THIS—STOP—YOU CAN'T—YOU CAN'T MAKE ME—"
Ariana whispered:
"You forced darkness onto this world.
It's time you face the light."
The Brothers and Pillars Lock Formation
Orion's voice thundered:
"BROTHERS—PILLARS—DEFENSIVE CIRCLE!"
Lucian and Rylan ignited a firewall around Ariana.
Lyr and Calen erected a psychic-ice barrier.
Soren and Zane wove sonic-mental pulses.
Seraphina and Rheon formed a gold-wind lattice overhead.
Kade and Kai shifted fully, standing on either side of Ariana like twin guardians.
Ariana stood at the center, the calmest one among them.
Kai's golden wolf pressed his shoulder against Ariana's leg—protecting, supporting, loving.
Ariana stroked between his ears gently.
Her brothers witnessed the tender gesture and pretended not to notice—
though Soren smirked.
Lyr raised a brow.
Lucian mouthed, "Hmph."
But no one interfered.
Everyone's focus returned to Morwenna.
Morwenna's Final Defiance
Morwenna pounded her fists against Ariana's moon-barrier.
"You think you can imprison me?!
You think you can end me?!
I AM THE DARK MOTHER—
I AM REBIRTH—
I—"
Ariana cut her off.
"You're a corrupted woman who forgot she was human."
Morwenna froze.
And then—
"SHUT UP!"
She released the last of her corrupted power, shrieking as she hurled it directly at Ariana.
A tornado of red-black energy spiraled outward—
its force so intense it cracked the ground
split trees
and shattered stone.
The brothers braced.
The Pillars shouted.
Kai lunged in front of Ariana—
But Ariana only raised her hand.
Moonfire met corruption.
Silver met red.
Light met shadow.
The explosion shot upward in a pillar of blinding brilliance—
But Ariana didn't move an inch.
Her moonfire wrapped around the corrupted tornado, swallowing it, transforming it, purifying it—
Until nothing remained but silver dust floating in the wind.
Morwenna stared in disbelief.
"What ARE you…?"
Ariana stepped forward.
The battlefield hushed.
Even the Moonbeast lowered its head.
Ariana's voice echoed with ancient resonance.
"I am the Moon's chosen."
Morwenna shook her head violently.
"No—no—no—this can't be—this can't—"
Ariana continued:
"I am the daughter of the moon's strength
the heir to the lunar legacy
the commander of the ancient beast
and the one who decides how this ends."
Her moonfire wings unfurled, shimmering behind her.
Morwenna fell to her knees.
"Please… please… I didn't—
I didn't mean for it to become like this—
I only wanted—
I only wanted—"
Ariana softened.
"You wanted power.
And power consumed you."
Morwenna sobbed.
"I didn't want to be forgotten…"
Ariana's heart twisted painfully.
She looked at Kai.
At her brothers.
At the Pillars.
At the Moonbeast.
Then back at Morwenna.
And she whispered:
"No one is forgotten.
But some must be stopped."
Morwenna stared at her in hopeless fear.
"Ariana—"
Ariana raised her hand gently—
not to destroy her,
but to finish this
with dignity
and light.
The battlefield held its breath.