✨ Chapter 61 – After the Storm
The light around Ariana shimmered like a veil of living moonlight.
Her silver aura rippled outward, gentle now, soft as wind over still water.
The entire battlefield had gone quiet—
not even the wind dared to whisper.
Morwenna knelt on the cracked ground, her dark robes tattered and smoking. The corruption that had swarmed her skin had begun to recede, flaking away like ashes under Ariana's light. The once-maddened gleam in her eyes faded, replaced by something fragile, human, terrified.
Ariana stepped closer.
"Morwenna," she said softly, her voice steady but not cruel. "You can still stop fighting."
The older woman's voice came out in a trembling rasp.
"You… you don't understand. You can't just—cleanse what's broken."
Ariana's eyes glowed brighter, silver and kind.
"Then let me share the light that mends what's left."
She extended her hand.
The moonfire danced along her fingers, threads of energy weaving into elegant spirals.
For a heartbeat, Morwenna hesitated—then, trembling, reached out.
The moment their hands touched, light flared.
A pulse swept through the courtyard—
the air rippled, trees bent, the very ground hummed.
Silver light flowed from Ariana's palm into Morwenna's chest, burning through the last traces of corruption like dawn chasing away night.
Morwenna gasped, arching backward.
Her eyes flashed crimson—then faded into a soft gray.
Her body slumped as the last of the corrupted magic broke free in a slow, smoky breath.
Ariana caught her gently.
The darkness that had driven Morwenna's madness was gone.
All that remained was silence and the faint glow of moonfire dissolving into dust.
The Moonbeast Moves
The ground trembled again—not with violence, but with power contained.
The Moonbeast shifted its enormous head closer, lowering its snout beside Ariana. Its silver breath washed over her and Morwenna, like mist rolling across glass. Ariana turned to it, eyes soft.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The ancient creature rumbled a low note that vibrated through the air, a sound so deep it felt like the moon answering her heart. It bent its head further and let out a single exhale of light.
And then, slowly—
it began to fade.
Its massive outline turned translucent, dissolving into glimmering fragments of silver dust until nothing remained but a glowing lunar mark imprinted in the earth.
The Moonbeast had returned to its rest—
peacefully, this time.
Ariana Collapses
As the last echo of moonfire faded, Ariana's knees buckled.
Kai caught her before she hit the ground.
Her body trembled in his arms, her glow dimming but not gone.
"Hey—hey, stay with me," he whispered urgently, lowering her carefully. His hands were shaking; she could feel the heat of his pulse where it pressed against her wrist.
"I'm fine," Ariana murmured weakly. "Just… tired."
Her brothers and the Pillars surrounded them instantly.
Orion crouched beside her, eyes hard with concern.
"You burned through too much energy, Ariana. You shouldn't have gone that far."
Lucian muttered, "You went beyond the limit of what's even possible."
Kade shook his head with a faint smirk. "Typical Sterling."
Lyr sighed. "You'll terrify the council when they hear about this."
Kai looked up sharply at them. "Not now."
The command in his voice—low, alpha-deep—stilled even the brothers.
Then, softer, to Ariana:
"You did it. It's over."
She gave him a faint, sleepy smile.
"Over… for now."
Her hand slipped weakly from his shoulder to the moonmark on the ground.
It pulsed once under her touch, faint but alive.
The Calm That Follows
Zane surveyed the battlefield. "The corruption's gone. Whatever Morwenna summoned… it's dispersing."
Rylan wiped a sleeve across his forehead, his flames finally dimming.
"I can't sense any more dark energy."
Calen nodded. "The barrier's repairing itself—slowly."
Seraphina's golden light rippled faintly over the ruins, sealing cracks in the ground and forming soft halos around the wounded. "We need medics for the students. I'll call the healers."
Soren exhaled heavily, sheathing his blade. "That was… gods, that was something."
"Something?" Rheon said, glancing at him. "That was an apocalypse held together by our sister."
Soren smiled faintly. "Yeah. I suppose it was."
Lucian crouched beside Ariana again, watching her breathing slow into steadier rhythm. "She's stabilizing," he murmured. "She'll need rest. A lot of it."
Kai brushed a strand of hair from Ariana's forehead.
"I'll make sure she gets it."
The Headmaster Arrives
A ripple of spatial energy swept across the air as the Headmaster appeared, his long silver coat trailing through the dust. His face—usually composed and distant—held open astonishment.
He looked from the field of purified ground to the moonmark glowing beneath Ariana.
Then at Ariana herself, unconscious in Kai's arms.
"I felt the lunar surge all the way from the citadel," he said quietly. "She did this?"
Kai looked up, eyes glowing faintly gold.
"She did. All of it."
The Headmaster's gaze softened. "Then the prophecy wasn't a warning after all. It was a promise."
Kai frowned slightly. "A promise?"
"That when the moon cried, its daughter would answer," the Headmaster said, voice reverent. "And now she has."
Ariana's Dream
While the world above settled, Ariana drifted in a quiet dream.
She stood in a white field beneath a moon so close she could touch it. The air shimmered silver, soft and endless.
A familiar voice echoed—a woman's, warm and melodic.
"You did well, my daughter."
Ariana turned. A tall, radiant figure stood a few feet away, her face hidden by light, but her presence filled Ariana's chest with peace.
"Who are you?" Ariana whispered.
The woman smiled.
"You already know."
"Mother?"
The light rippled, almost laughing.
"Part of me lives in you, always has. But I cannot stay. You've done what I could not."
Ariana blinked back sudden tears. "I don't want to lose you again."
"You never will," the voice soothed.
"Every time you raise your eyes to the moon, I'll be there. And every time your power feels too much, remember—"
The voice grew softer.
"It was meant to be shared, not feared."
Ariana reached for her, but the figure dissolved into light—
and she woke.
The Morning After
When Ariana opened her eyes, soft sunlight filtered through the infirmary curtains. Her body ached, her veins still humming faintly with leftover moonfire.
Kai sat beside her, asleep in a chair, his hand still holding hers.
She smiled faintly.
Her brothers were scattered around the room, all asleep in varying states of exhaustion—Orion leaning against the wall, Lucian with his arms crossed, Kade sprawled in a chair upside down, Rheon snoring lightly near the window.
The Pillars were gone for the moment—likely reporting to the Headmaster—but Ariana could sense them nearby, their energies steady, calm.
She turned to Kai.
He stirred instantly, golden eyes blinking open. "You're awake."
"I'm fine," she murmured.
Her voice was hoarse. "How long—"
"Two days," he said softly. "You scared us."
She smiled weakly. "Sorry."
Kai shook his head. "Don't ever apologize for saving everyone."
He hesitated, then added, quieter, "You scared me most of all."
Ariana squeezed his hand. "You were there. You always are."
He smiled, but his gaze softened with something deeper—
something unspoken but undeniably there.
"Always," he whispered.
The Peace Before the Next Storm
Outside, the academy grounds were being repaired by teams of students and instructors. The moonmark on the courtyard still shimmered faintly, a reminder of what had happened.
Peace had returned—
for now.
But the Headmaster's eyes on the horizon were wary.
Morwenna's corruption was gone, yet faint whispers of what she'd said before the end lingered:
You can't cleanse what's broken.
Ariana's awakening had brought balance—
but it had also awakened something else, somewhere far beyond Starfell's borders.
Something watching.
Something waiting.
And as Ariana rested, her hand still in Kai's, the moon outside her window dimmed for just a heartbeat—
as though holding its breath for what would come next.