Chapter 6: Blood and Smoke

“Kael!”

His name tore from my throat as he collapsed, the silver dart embedded in his shoulder. I sprinted forward, the pain in my ankle forgotten, the burn in my chest replaced by sheer panic.

I dropped beside him, hands already working to pull the dart free. The second it slid from his flesh, he groaned, eyes fluttering open with a pained growl.

“Poisoned,” he rasped.

I looked at the dart. Silver and wolfsbane. My stomach turned.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered, pressing my hand to the wound. My magic flickered, struggling to heal through the poison. It slowed my pulse, dulled my vision—but I didn’t care. I pushed everything I had into him.

His skin was burning up, sweat beading along his temple. I could feel the poison eating at him from the inside. And yet, Kael didn’t whimper. He gritted his teeth, every muscle locked tight like he was trying to fight the venom off with sheer will.

Behind us, footsteps thundered down the corridor.

“Damn it,” I hissed. “We have to move.”

Kael shook his head. “Elara… go.”

“Not without you,” I snapped. “Don’t even think about pulling that sacrificial Alpha crap.”

A snarl rose from deeper in the hallway. Damon.

I turned toward the sound, body taut, blood thrumming.

Kael struggled to sit up. “They’ll have more darts.”

“I have teeth.”

I stood, body pulsing with the remnants of the lunar burst from earlier. My fingers sparked with white fire. Damon had taught me pain. Kael had reminded me of love. But this new version of me—this Luna? She was born from the ashes of both.

And she wasn’t afraid anymore.

Damon emerged from the shadows, flanked by two enforcers. His lip was split, blood staining his jaw, but he was smiling.

“Touching,” he said, his voice a low mockery of concern. “But futile.”

I stood my ground, arms raised. “Leave him out of this. This is between you and me.”

“It was always about you and me.” He took a step forward. “He’s just in the way.”

I launched the first strike. A searing pulse of light exploded from my palm, slamming into the nearest enforcer and sending him sprawling. The second one lunged for me, claws extended—but Kael, weakened and barely standing, managed to trip him.

Damon caught my arm mid-spell, twisting it until I cried out, then slammed me against the wall. “You still don’t get it, Elara. I’m not the villain in your story—I’m the one who made you strong.”

I spat blood in his face. “You made me a monster. But I’ve learned to live with her.”

I let the fire ignite fully. A wild surge of lunar magic burst from my chest again, white-hot and pulsing. Damon screamed as it threw him back. The corridor crumbled. Stone rained from the ceiling.

Soot and dust stung my eyes, but I didn’t stop. I grabbed Kael, slinging his arm around my shoulder. We moved fast, through the smoke and falling debris, hearts pounding as the mountain threatened to bury us alive.

The walls groaned. The air thickened with ash. Every breath tasted like scorched earth and shattered memories.

We found the rear tunnel and burst into the forest just as the mountain behind us roared and collapsed in on itself.

We didn’t stop running until the sounds faded and the light behind us was swallowed by the dark trees.

Kael collapsed again beneath an ancient yew tree. I fell beside him, both of us panting, bloodied, but alive.

“I should be saving you,” he murmured, voice cracked and hoarse.

I took his face in my hands. “You already did.”

He stared at me like I was something sacred. Like the very fact that I existed gave him breath. “You’re not the same girl from the temple.”

“No,” I whispered. “I’m not. And I don’t think I want to be.”

Kael’s hand, calloused and warm, brushed my cheek. He looked at me like he was memorizing every line of my face. “Whatever you are now, Elara… it’s glorious.”

My throat tightened. “We’re not safe yet. Damon’s not dead.”

Kael grimaced. “He’s never going to stop.”

“Then we make him.”

⸻

That night, we took refuge in the ruins of an old outpost, hidden beneath the mossy ridge of Hollowmere’s eastern cliffs. It was mostly crumbling stone and forgotten memories, but it kept the wind off and gave us shadows to hide in.

I watched over Kael as he rested, my hand never leaving his.

His breathing was slow but steady. The poison was still in him, but fading. My magic had worked—barely. We had survived the first wave.

But I couldn’t shake the dread that coiled tighter in my chest with every passing hour.

The connection between us hummed—stronger, deeper. It pulsed under my skin like a second heartbeat, threading through my ribs and into my bones.

I didn’t sleep. Not really. My eyes shut for moments, my mind slipping in and out of consciousness.

My dreams were filled with visions.

Fire.

Shadows.

A silver crown dripping blood.

And a voice. Whispering.

“Your destiny is not survival. It’s war.”

I woke with a gasp, sweat slick on my skin.

Kael stirred beside me. “What is it?”

I didn’t answer. My eyes had caught something outside—glowing faintly at the edge of the forest.

Someone was there. Watching.

I slipped from Kael’s side, my steps silent on the stone. I stepped outside.

The forest was still. Too still.

Then I saw the figure beneath the moonlight. Cloaked. Still.

“Elara of the White Flame,” the stranger said, their voice echoing like it came from beneath the earth. “You have been claimed.”

My stomach clenched. “By who?”

The figure lifted their hood.

Their eyes glowed with ancient magic—older than the packs, older than the moon.

“The Primordials are stirring. And they know what Damon has done. What you carry now is not just power—it is prophecy.”

I took a step back. “What are you saying?”

The stranger smiled, and it was both terrifying and reverent.

“You are the Luna of the Last Eclipse.”

And then—

They vanished.

Just like smoke.