Page 217 of Moonlit Fate

We moved as one entity, her lightning to my shadow, her water to my earth. When she summoned a gust of wind, I shaped the shadows into blades that rode the current, slicing through any darkness Caius tried to conjure.

“Atticus,” she shouted over the din, “To your left?—”

I turned, a pulse of dark energy ready. Valora, dagger in hand, teeth bared, met my shadow blade and crumpled. There was no remorse or sadness from me. She’d made her choice. Valora was an opportunist. She could have taken advantage of the clamor to escape. By coming after me, she’d sealed her own fate. Around us, the air hummed with energy, the colors of our combined magic painting the ceiling in a masterpiece woven from our defiance.

“Keep pushing,” I told her. The tide was turning in our favor. “They’re almost done.”

“Right beside you,” Aria said.

We were unstoppable, not just because of the power we wielded, but because we wielded it together.

Caius stood before us, his hands weaving a tapestry of shadows that twisted into a storm of dark magic. He hurled it toward us with a scream that echoed off the ancient walls.

“Atticus!” Aria yelled over the din. “Now!”

We clasped hands and called forth our power. My whole being thrummed with love for this woman, with trust in our bond, and an unyielding desire for the freedom we were so close to grasping. We became conduits for something greater than ourselves, pooling our magical abilities in a desperate attempt to counter the destructive surge of darkness Caius sent careening toward us.

Aria’s vibrant energy mingled with mine, and together our magic surged forward. The air shimmered where light met dark in an epic collision.

As our powers clashed with his, the building itself seemed to freeze. There was a beat, a fragile pause in time, where the world seemed to hold its breath. It snapped back into focus, accelerating at an alarming pace until it reached a crescendo that echoed like the shattering of the universe.

Caius’s spell dissolved into fragments of nothingness against the wall of our united will. He fell backwards, his broken body collapsing to the floor. His unseeing eyes remained open as he lay motionless. The stench of his malevolence and decay met my nostrils. His recklessness and cruelty had brought him to a mocking downfall. The magic’s power, trapped in a vacuum, rebounded with vengeance, surrounding him in a searing inferno that served as a small semblance of retribution for the chaos he had unleashed. When the flames died down, there was nothing left but a pile of ashes.

Aria stepped forward, her hands raised. With a fierce cry, she summoned a gust that swept through the room, gathering the dust that had once been my father and whisking them away as if they were no more than dead leaves on the wind.

“Goodbye, Caius.” The finality in her tone told me it was over. Truly over. We had won.

54

ARIA

The faint moonlight filtering through the window traced the contours of Atticus’s face. He lay beside me, his chest rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm that I’d never seen before. Since we met, our lives had been turbulent and filled with danger.

The scars that once marred his features had faded, just as those engraved into our past. Even the silver streak in his hair seemed less like a bolt of lightning and more like a gentle glow.

As I lay my hand on his chest, our connected magic thrummed. It resonated within me, a river of light that didn’t just bind us but fed the very essence of our realm. This power that surged through us was more than energy; it was a promise, a vow to uphold the balance we had fought for.

“Feels different, doesn’t it?” I murmured, though he slept on, unaware of my contemplation. “Like we’re finally at the center of it all.”

His presence, this bond, was the anchor that steadied me, that turned the torrent of my own magic into something beautiful, something that sang of life rather than destruction. The power within us pooled, a reservoir waiting to spill forthand nourish the world we were sworn to protect. We were the caretakers of renewal, the custodians of a harmony that eluded us for so long.

“Balance.” I sighed into the darkness. It wasn’t a mere concept anymore. We had become it.

As I nestled closer to him, I let myself be carried away by the river of light we created, content in the knowledge that when dawn broke, we would stand, guardians of a world reborn.

A while later, I slid out of bed, careful not to wake Atticus, and padded to the window. The view overwhelmed me, like it always did. The sun spilled over the horizon, a radiant flood that painted everything gold. It promised a fresh start.

The forest seemed to dance in the light, alive and vibrant. Birds chirped their morning songs, and somewhere, a brook babbled its eternal story. The peace we had fought for pulsed through every leaf and twig. It was our victory made real, tangible in the thriving green and the clear blue sky.

Even with this serenity wrapping around me, my mind raced forward. There was still one thing left undone—the elders. That impeding conversation hung over me, a dark cloud on a perfect day.

I turned from the window, worry gnawing at me. They wouldn’t give in without a fight. They’d demand explanations, assurances. My stomach tightened at the thought.

We couldn’t put it off any longer.

I glanced back at Atticus. Even now, he was my rock. His strength, his defiance of tradition bolstered me. Whatever came our way, we’d face it together.

“Hey,” I said softly, brushing a kiss over his forehead to wake him. “It’s time.”

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