Chapter 150: The Gateborn Strike

Before Dawn – Whispering Pines Camp

The wind was wrong.

It carried no scent. No sound. No signal. Just stillness.

Serena felt it before anyone else.

She sat cross-legged at the edge of camp, eyes closed, her senses stretching through the air like spider silk.

The earth shivered.

The birds hadn’t sung that morning.

The wolves in the woods had gone silent.

And beneath her skin, the eclipse seal pulsed.

They're here.

She opened her eyes, and the light in them wasn’t just silver now—it was threaded with black.

Elsewhere – Darian’s Lead

Darian stood beneath the twisted shadow of a collapsed tree, his hands coated in black ash. The Gateborn surrounded him like silent ghosts. No breathing. No blinking.

Only purpose.

“She feels us,” he whispered, tasting the air. “Good. Let her.”

He turned to the largest of his new soldiers—a creature taller than Kael, its body wrapped in chains pulsing with runes.

“You take the left flank. Break their formation.”

To another, lean and spectral: “Disrupt their bond. Aim for the heart.”

And to the final three, wolf-shaped and faster than light: “Bring her to me. Do not kill her. Not yet.”

The trees groaned. The earth cracked.

And then—

They ran.

Back at Camp – The First Blow

Kael had just drawn his blade when the tree behind him exploded.

He hit the ground rolling as a monstrous Gateborn lunged through the wreckage, claws like obsidian, eyes silver-white.

Theron tackled it midair, his daggers flashing violet, slashing deep across its armored throat. The creature shrieked—but didn’t fall. It kept moving.

“They don’t die easy!” Theron shouted.

Another crashed from the opposite side, knocking Mira backward into the warding stones. Her runes flared but cracked instantly.

Serena raised her hand—and the air bent.

A wave of eclipse magic surged from her fingers, throwing the creature ten feet across the clearing. It slammed into a tree with a howl—but still, it rose.

“They’re not alive,” Serena murmured. “They’re forged.”

Lyra dashed past her, twin blades out, carving a spiral through a third attacker. “Then let’s break them anyway!”

The Heart of the Battle

Elias roared into his wolf form—dark fur, silver eyes, faster than lightning. He and Kael fought back to back, slicing through the enemy with fire and claws.

Theron’s shadows danced—he vanished, reappeared, struck, vanished again.

Mira’s hands bled from overcasting wards, but she didn’t stop.

Lyra’s blade shattered. She switched to magic—light, brutal and wild.

And Serena—

Serena moved like a force of nature.

Her hands were alight with silver flame. She didn’t need weapons. She was one.

One wave of her hand brought the stars crashing down in an arc.

Another tore the ground open beneath three Gateborn, sending them to ash.

But her heart pounded painfully.

Every time she used her magic, something pulled back.

A whisper.

A presence.

A voice inside her saying:

Let me help.

Let me out.

Let me in.

She gritted her teeth and pushed harder.

“I am not yours,” she hissed to the magic.

The seal burned across her chest.

Across the Field – A Dangerous Choice

Mira suddenly screamed as one of the Gateborn grabbed her by the throat and hurled her into a burning tree.

Kael was there in a second, pulling her free, but she didn’t move.

“She’s unconscious!” he barked.

Theron cursed under his breath. “We’re losing ground!”

A shriek echoed.

One of the wolf-shaped Gateborn broke through the wards—heading straight for Serena.

Elias shifted back mid-run and tackled the beast, slamming it into a rock. “RUN!” he shouted.

But Serena didn’t run.

She stood her ground, heart pounding.

“I won’t run anymore.”

The creature lunged—and her magic surged.

She threw up her hand.

And something else answered.

The Inner Gate – A Split Second Eternity

Time slowed.

Serena’s body froze.

And suddenly, she was standing inside her own soul again—in front of the Mirror Gate.

It pulsed softly. Waiting.

And in the center stood Darian.

Not his body. Just his essence. A thread of him inside her. Planted like a curse.

“You called me,” he said.

“No,” Serena whispered. “I held you back.”

He stepped forward, his eyes glowing. “Then let me help. Let me defend us. Together, we could destroy them.”

Serena shook her head. “You want the Gate to open.”

“I want you to survive.”

She looked down at her hands—burned from casting, shaking from exhaustion.

“You’d give me power,” she said. “But you’d take everything else.”

He smiled. “So choose.”

She clenched her fists.

And then… she turned away.

“No.”

Back in Reality – The Turning Point

The wolf-Gateborn slammed into her shield—and her magic finally exploded outward, no longer powered by rage or fear, but by choice.

The blast lit up the entire sky—silver with hints of eclipse blue.

The creature disintegrated mid-air.

All across the battlefield, the other Gateborn screamed and fell back.

Darian, from afar, felt it.

And his smirk vanished.

“She’s closing me out,” he growled.

Behind him, his remaining soldiers trembled.

He raised both hands, pulling power from the runes beneath his skin.

“Then I’ll tear the world apart until she lets me in again.”

Aftermath – Broken and Breathing

The battlefield was quiet again.

Smoke rose from the trees. Ash fell like snow. Bodies—Gateborn and otherwise—lay scattered.

Mira was healing in Theron’s arms.

Kael limped but alive.

Elias bled from a deep slash but wouldn’t stop pacing around Serena.

And Serena…

She knelt beside the burned sigil stone, eyes wide, hands still trembling.

“I shut him out,” she whispered.

Elias knelt beside her. “You did.”

Her voice cracked. “But I felt how easy it would’ve been… to say yes.”

He touched her cheek. “But you didn’t.”

She met his eyes. “I don’t know how many more times I can refuse him.”

And in the distance, thunder rolled.

Final Scene – Darian's Wrath

In the ruins of an ancient temple, Darian knelt in a circle of glowing runes, surrounded by six surviving Gateborn.

“She grows stronger,” one said.

“But weaker too,” said another. “Emotion still chains her.”

Darian opened his eyes.

“Then we break the chains.”

He pointed to the largest of the Gateborn.

“Find someone she loves.”

A pause.

“Bring them to me.”