All Chapters of The Luna’s last breath : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The light did not fade.It devoured.The explosion tore the courtyard apart before Dax could reach Aria. The explosion hurled him away so hard that it smashed him into the stone wall. His vision blurred. His ears rang.And then—Nothing.No sound. No movement.Just deep silence.Dax pulled himself up with the little strength he had left. His heart hammered painfully against his ribs.“Aria,” he rasped.The courtyard was gone.Where stone had once stood, there was only scorched earth and dust. The air reeked of ash and burned magic. Bodies lay scattered among the ruins. Some moved and others did not.The elders were gone.The Devourers were gone.And so was she.Dax stepped forward with his hand on his side where unbearable pain tore through. He limped through the ruins in search of Aria. “Aria,” he shouted louder this time. But silence answered.Panic flooded his chest—sharp and consuming. He searched the ruined courtyard desperately, kicking aside debris, shoving fallen wolves asid

They called it a peace summit.But Dax Riven knew better. Summits were meant to bring unity and stability. But this one reeked of strategy and blood. The message was delivered at dawn, sealed with the Council’s highest mark: All Alpha leaders are instructed to attend. No exceptions.Dax read it once.Then smiled. “They are baiting someone,” Lior said quietly from the doorway.Dax folded the parchment and slipped it into his coat. “They are baiting me,” he said.Lior entered the room. “Or her.”Dax’s jaw tightened. “She will not come.”“You can’t be so sure about that,” Lior snapped. “I felt a shift last night. Like a storm calming.”Dax turned away from Lior. He didn’t want to trust in hope anymore. It was too painful.“Then we don’t give them what they desire,” Dax said. “We watch, we wait.”Lior shook his head. “Traps do not work like that.”In another realm, the black hall screamed.Aria collapsed to her knees suddenly, pain tore through her, hot and unannounced.She hit the ston

The first pack to join Dax did not come with their banners. They came at night.Dax felt their presence before he saw them. Their shadows walked through the trees beyond the walls of the fortress. Dax stood at the gate, the mark beneath his skin warm and steady.Soon, six wolves stepped into the torch light.Their Alpha bowed his head—not the submissive kind, but the respectful kind.“We are not here to bend the knee,” the Alpha said. “We are here because the Council burnt the place we called our home.”Dax nodded. “Then you are at the right place.”By morning, word began to spread quickly. Faster than the Council could contain. Packs that had lost their homes, packs whose pups had been taken by the Council to be protected, packs who were tired of sending their sons and daughters to die in quiet wars no one knows how it started. They did not refer to it as rebellion.They called it survival.By dawn, the old training yard of the fortress was full. Wolves stood shoulder to shoulder,

Pain broke Aria from the inside.She screamed as the runes beneath her feet erupted, black and crimson light crawled up her legs like wildfire. The second heartbeat thundered wildly now, no longer quiet or watching, but wide awake.The Conclave hall trembled.Stone shattered into nothing, torches exploded into ashes. Wolves screamed out loud as strong ancient magic surged through the air, heavy and choking.Dax pressed his forehead to hers. “Stay with me, Aria,” he shouted in fear. She could not answer. The voice inside her spoke—clearer than it had ever been.They are hunting you.Her vision blurred, tears streamed down her eyes and an invisible force choked her. “They are hunting us,” she whispered in response.The eldest elder stood smiling at the center of the chaos, his staff buried deep into the stone floor where it drained power from the runes like a parasite.“Witness the prophecy,” he called out to the terrified packs. “The abomination shows itself.”The runes flared br

By dawn, they had already left. They raised no banners, sounded no horns and took no army. Only silence and purpose. Aria rode at the center of the small party, cloaked in dark wool, her hood drawn low. The land outside the capital felt wrong—too quiet, too still. Even birds and insects avoided it. Dax rode beside her, his eyes sharp and scanning every inch of the shadows.“You don’t have to do this,” he said again.Aria smiled faintly. “That’s how I know I have to.”He exhaled sharply but didn’t argue anymore.The second heartbeat pulsed once—slow and deliberate.By nightfall, the forest swallowed them, thick and dense. The trees twisted unnaturally, their backs were intentionally scared with symbols Aria had never seen but somehow, understood.Warnings.Lior leading the party got off his horse. “This is as far as the escort goes.”Dax frowned. “You said—”“They won’t let more pass,” Lior snapped. “Too many would trigger the wards.”Aria dismounted smoothly despite feeling weak fr