His Rejected Luna

Agony rips through me, sharp and all-consuming.

The Enforcer's hand is inside me—not through flesh and bone, but through something deeper, something unseen. My body convulses, my breath coming in ragged gasps as an unbearable pressure grips my chest.

I try to scream, but no sound escapes.

It feels as if he is reaching into my soul, fingers curling around something vital, something I can't live without. My vision swims, blurring at the edges. The world tilts.

Somewhere far away, I hear Kieran's furious roar. I hear Caelum curse.

But none of it matters.

Because I am breaking.

Not physically. Not the way a body does under an attack.

This is worse.

This is being unmade.

The Enforcer leans in, his voice barely more than a whisper. "You were never meant to be."

His words coil around me like a curse.

Something inside me snaps.

Then—

The darkness devours me.

---

A Descent into the Void

I am floating.

Weightless.

Suspended in a place where time does not exist.

The pain is gone, replaced by a vast emptiness that stretches endlessly around me. There is no sky, no ground—just a void of shadows swirling like smoke, shifting and restless.

I try to move, but my body feels distant, unresponsive.

I am not me anymore.

I don't know how long I drift—seconds? Hours? Years? But then, from the depths of the darkness, a voice calls out.

Soft. Familiar. Ancient.

"You are not lost."

A flicker of light pulses in the void, warm and golden. It takes shape—a silhouette, tall and graceful, cloaked in silver light.

I try to speak, but no words form.

The figure moves closer, its presence wrapping around me like a forgotten memory.

"They tried to erase you," the voice continues. "But you cannot be erased."

Something deep in my chest stirs, awakening beneath the weight of those words.

I am still here.

The figure extends a hand, its fingers shimmering like stardust. "Come back, child of the moon."

The void trembles.

Then—

I fall.

---

Ripped Back to Reality

A gasp tears from my throat as I am wrenched back into my body.

The pain slams into me like a tidal wave, but I shove it aside. I am alive. I am whole.

And I am furious.

The Enforcer's grip is still inside me, his expression unchanging, as if he expected me to stay gone. But he made one mistake.

He underestimated me.

A sharp, white-hot pulse erupts from my core, surging outward in a violent shockwave.

The Enforcer staggers.

The Council flinches.

Kieran snarls, lunging forward. "Get your hands off her!"

The Enforcer recovers instantly, but it's too late.

Because something inside me has snapped open, something that can't be locked away again.

I grab his wrist, meeting his hollow, void-like gaze head-on. "You should have finished the job centuries ago."

Then I release the energy inside me.

---

The Power That Was Never Meant to Be

Silver light explodes from my skin, a blinding storm of raw, untamed energy.

The ground beneath us shatters, cracks splitting through the earth as a force unlike anything I've ever known erupts from my core.

The Enforcer is hurled backward, his body slamming into the trees with a deafening crack. The impact sends a shockwave rippling through the clearing, snapping branches and sending loose debris flying.

I collapse to one knee, my breath ragged, my body shaking with the aftermath. The power inside me still hums, restless, alive.

For the first time since they arrived, the Council is silent.

Then—

"She is awakened."

The leader's voice is quiet, but it carries through the clearing like a death sentence.

Another figure steps forward, their hooded gaze fixed on me. "We cannot allow this."

The leader inclines their head. "Then we end it here."

---

The Final Stand

The Council moves as one.

I barely have time to react before shadows lash toward me, tendrils of dark energy slicing through the air with lethal precision.

Kieran moves first, intercepting the nearest attack with a snarl. His claws flash as he tears through one of the Council members, their body flickering like smoke before reforming.

Caelum sighs, rolling his shoulders. "Well, this just got annoying."

Then he vanishes, reappearing behind one of the robed figures, driving a blade into their side.

I push to my feet, my body still trembling, but there is no time to recover.

Because the Enforcer is already back on his feet.

His void-like gaze locks onto mine, unreadable. "You cannot fight fate."

My lips curl into a snarl. "Watch me."

I move.

Faster than I ever have before.

The moment our bodies collide, the world around us erupts.

---

The Breaking Point

The Enforcer is strong—stronger than anything I've ever fought. But he isn't invincible.

I drive my knee into his stomach, twisting away just as his fist slams toward my ribs. The force of his attack splinters the ground where I had been standing seconds before.

I roll to the side, dodging another strike, my mind racing.

I can't win this by strength alone.

I need to outthink him.

My eyes flicker to the silver runes carved into his armor—containment markings.

They aren't just for power.

They're for control.

A slow, wicked smile spreads across my lips.

I dart forward, dodging another attack, my fingers closing around the fabric near his throat.

Then, using the last of my strength, I rip downward.

The runes shatter.

The Enforcer stills.

A flicker of something—shock? Recognition?—flashes in his empty gaze.

Then—

His body convulses.

A guttural, inhuman sound tears from his throat as the power that held him together fractures. His hands clutch at his chest, as if trying to hold himself together.

The Council reacts instantly.

"Fall back," the leader orders.

The Enforcer screams—a sound that is not his own.

And then—

He vanishes.

Not fades.

Not steps into the shadows.

Just… gone.

As if he was never there at all.

I stagger back, my breathing ragged.

The Council watches me, their silence heavy. Then, one by one—

They disappear.

Leaving only three of us standing.

Me.

Kieran.

Caelum.

The battle is over.

But the war?

It's only just beginning.

---

Aria has shattered the Enforcer's control, but what did she release? And why did the Council leave without finishing her?