The crimson moon bled across the sky like a wound refusing to close. Its red glow washed over the forest clearing, staining every surface with dread.
Elara felt the change immediately.
The air thickened. Her pulse quickened. Her magic—usually warm, gentle, and golden—turned sharp, electric, almost burning inside her veins.
Kael still held her, arms steady around her exhausted body. But now… his grip tightened unnaturally.
"Elara," he rasped, voice low and strained. "Don't… move."
She blinked up at him. His pupils were no longer their deep midnight black—they were narrowing, turning into glowing crimson slits. Shadows writhed up his neck like living serpents, coiling beneath his skin.
"Kael?" her voice trembled. "What's happening to you?"
He clenched his jaw, every muscle shaking. "It's the Blood Moon. It… amplifies the curse in my blood. I can't… control it."
Elias raised his sword. "Stay back from him!"
"NO!" Elara snapped. "Put that down!"
Kael shoved Elias back with a growl—one not entirely human.
Tamsin's eyes widened. "His aura is… breaking. If he loses control here—"
The Ghostborn interrupted with an idle shrug. "Then everyone dies, of course. Or worse. The Blood Moon fully unlocks the Nightbound curse. He becomes what the legends called a Moon-Revenant."
Elara's heart hammered. "How do we stop it?"
"You don't." The Ghostborn smiled too softly. "Only he can. Or… only you can."
Before Elara could ask what that meant, the forest went silent—wrongly, unnaturally silent.
And then—
A scream tore across the clearing.
Hollowborn shadows poured from the trees, dozens of them—no, hundreds—their skeletal bodies cracking and twitching as they crawled and sprinted toward the weakened ward.
"They were waiting for the Blood Moon," Marcellus muttered, stepping beside Elias. "This is an invasion."
The first wave slammed into the glowing golden barrier—
The ward flickered dangerously.
Elara staggered upright. "The ward is failing again—"
"It's not the ward," Tamsin said, horror widening her eyes. "It's you. Your magic is changing."
Elara stared at her hands.
Her golden light had turned white-hot—almost bluish—sparking like lightning.
"What… is this?"
Before anyone could answer, Kael dropped to his knees beside her, clutching the ground. His shadow swelled outward like an eruption.
"Elara," he choked, "run."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You don't understand," he growled, voice distorted with darkness. "If I lose control—I will destroy EVERYTHING. Even you."
She grabbed his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Then I will be the thing you hold onto."
His lips parted, as if those words tore through something inside him.
But before he could speak, the ward shattered.
The blast of golden shards rained down like broken glass. The Hollowborn surged through the gap, screeching—an overwhelming swarm of twisted forms sprinting straight toward them.
"Positions!" Marcellus roared.
Elias charged forward with him, blades raised. Tamsin hurled sigils that exploded like starfire. The Ghostborn, annoyingly amused, flicked a finger and vaporized a handful of Hollowborn with casual ease.
But it wasn't enough.
Hollowborn crawled across the trees. Skittered across the ground. Swarmed around the stones.
Elara shoved her fear aside.
Her new magic surged up her arms like a storm.
She raised her hands—
Golden-blue fire erupted outward in a spiraling shockwave, blasting back dozens of Hollowborn at once.
"What… was THAT?" Elias gasped, slashing through a creature's throat.
Tamsin stared in awe. "Elara! That's not Healer magic. That's—"
"The magic of the Firstborn," the Ghostborn finished with interest. "How curious."
Elara's breath caught. "What does that mean?"
But he didn't answer.
Instead, he pointed at Kael.
He was standing now—but not fully Kael.
His hair lifted in the unnatural wind. His eyes glowed hellish crimson. Shadows pooled beneath him like a liquid void.
"Elara…" he breathed, voice layered with something ancient and terrifying. "Stay behind me."
The Hollowborn sensed him—no, they recognized him—and shrank back momentarily.
Then, as if driven by a stronger force, they lunged forward in a massive wave.
Kael unleashed a roar—not human, not earthly—as a tidal wave of shadow burst from his body. The ground split open beneath the force. Dozens of Hollowborn disintegrated instantly.
But—
When the shadows receded, Kael staggered.
"Elara…" His voice shook. "I can't… hold it. I'm losing—"
She didn't let him finish.
She grabbed his hand.
The moment their skin touched—
A violent blast of power surged between them, light and shadow crashing into each other like colliding storms.
Kael's knees buckled.
Elara screamed as new magic ripped through her—ancient, wild, uncontrollable.
Her vision flooded with images:
A woman with her same eyes, glowing with divine power…
A circle of ancient warriors bowing to her…
A curse cast in moonlight…
A newborn child marked with a sigil of light and shadow…
She tore away from the vision with a gasp.
"Elara?" Kael rasped.
Her voice trembled. "I… I saw something. My mother—she wasn't just a healer. She was—"
The Ghostborn clapped delightedly. "Finally! The little one peeks behind the curtain."
Elara rounded on him. "WHAT AM I?"
The Ghostborn smirked.
"A Firstborn Descendant. A fusion of light and shadow. A being powerful enough to break the Nightbound curse… or awaken it fully."
Her heart thudded painfully.
Her magic. Kael's curse. The Blood Moon.
It all connected.
Before she could speak again, the Hollowborn roared—hundreds of them pouring into the clearing now that the ward was gone.
Kael doubled over, shadows writhing violently.
"Elara… stay away," he growled, losing himself second by second.
She stepped forward anyway, pressing her hands to his chest.
"KAEL. LOOK AT ME."
His eyes flickered.
"Don't you dare let the curse take you," she whispered, voice shaking. "Not now. Not when I finally understand why we're connected."
A pulse of magic burst from her palms and into his heart—golden and blue, warm and fierce.
His shadows recoiled like living things.
Kael gasped as if dragged from drowning. "Elara—what are you doing—"
"Anchoring you," she whispered. "The same way you anchored me."
A Hollowborn leaped toward her.
Kael snapped it in half with raw shadow without even turning.
But more were coming.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
"Elara," Elias yelled, "we can't hold them back!"
"We won't survive this wave," Marcellus added grimly. "Not without something stronger."
Elara swallowed.
Her magic burned so brightly it felt like her skin might split.
She turned back to Kael.
"Take my power."
His eyes widened. "NO. Your body can't handle—"
"Kael, trust me."
She pressed her forehead to his.
Their magic collided again—light and shadow spiraling in a breathtaking storm.
Kael shuddered, absorbing the energy, trying to control it—but it was too much.
"Elara—STOP—I can't—"
"Yes, you can." Her voice cracked. "Because you are stronger than your curse."
His breath trembled.
And then—
The magic stabilized.
Light threaded into his shadows, calming them, shaping them, purifying them.
Kael stood tall, eyes glowing—crimson fading into a deep luminous silver.
His curse… was weakening.
For the first time in centuries.
He exhaled a breath that sounded almost like release.
Then he turned toward the oncoming army of Hollowborn.
And the world trembled.
Kael unleashed a wave of shadow-light—a devastating explosion of power that tore through the forest, obliterating hundreds of Hollowborn in a single strike.
The ground cracked. Trees uprooted. The sky itself pulsed with the impact.
When it was over… silence fell.
Kael collapsed to his knees, panting.
Elara caught him, trembling. "Kael—are you with me?"
He looked up at her—eyes human again, soft, filled with something she had never seen before.
"Always," he whispered.
She sobbed in relief.
But the Ghostborn's smile widened.
"Well done, little healer. You've awakened more than your power today."
Elara looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
He tilted his head toward the sky.
The Blood Moon was no longer just red.
A sigil—a massive glowing symbol—had appeared across its surface.
Kael paled. Marcellus cursed. Tamsin dropped her spellbook.
Elias whispered, "What is that?"
The Ghostborn clasped his hands behind his back.
"Oh… just the mark of the Second Seal."
Elara's blood ran cold.
"You have awakened it," the Ghostborn said softly.
"And now… the true hunt begins."