Chapter 104: Chapter 104 Shadows and Light
Victoria
The Moon Temple loomed before me like a cancer on the landscape. What had once been a sacred place of worship now pulsed with malevolent energy that made my skin crawl. The very air tasted wrong—metallic and bitter, tainted by the dark magic Marcus had been weaving here for months.
My oak guardian set me down at the temple’s entrance, its wooden face creaking as it surveyed the corrupted structure. "The stones scream, young mistress," it rumbled. "They beg for cleansing."
"Soon," I promised, placing my palm against its bark. "Wait for my signal."
The massive doors groaned open before I could even approach them. Marcus’s voice echoed from within, smooth and mocking.
"Punctual as always. I do so appreciate that in my guests."
I stepped across the threshold, every instinct screaming danger. The interior had been transformed into a nightmare parody of the sacred space it once was. Ancient fairy runes carved into the walls had been defaced with crude symbols that hurt to look at directly. Black candles cast dancing shadows that seemed to move independently of their flames.
And there, bound to the central altar with chains that glowed with their own sickly light, was my mother.
"Mom," I breathed, taking an involuntary step forward.
Elisabeth’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of my voice. Despite her obvious weakness, she managed a smile that lit up her pale face. "Victoria. My beautiful girl. You came."
"Of course I came." My voice cracked with emotion. "I’m getting you out of here."
A slow clap echoed through the chamber. Marcus emerged from the shadows behind the altar, and I had to suppress a gasp. The man had been transformed into something monstrous. His missing right eye had been replaced with a crystal that pulsed with dark energy, and his skin bore ritualistic scars that seemed to writhe in the candlelight.
But it was the figure beside him that made my blood freeze.
Aurora stepped into view, her once-beautiful face gaunt and hollow-eyed. She wore robes similar to Marcus’s, dark fabric embroidered with the same painful symbols that covered the walls.
"Hello, Victoria," Aurora said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Now you look so much like your mother."
"Aurora." I kept my voice steady despite the rage boiling in my chest. "Still choosing the wrong side, I see."
Her laugh was bitter. "The wrong side? Child, you have no idea what sides even exist."
"Enough," Marcus interrupted, his artificial eye focusing on me with predatory intensity. "Aurora, restrain our guest. It’s time to begin."
But Aurora didn’t move. She stood frozen, staring at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
"I said restrain her," Marcus snapped, his voice carrying the commanding tone of an Alpha.
Aurora flinched but remained motionless. "I... I can’t."
Marcus’s face contorted with rage. "You worthless——" He backhanded Aurora across the face, sending her sprawling to the stone floor. "Fine. I’ll do it myself."
As he advanced toward me, I felt Ava surge forward in my consciousness, our merged power crackling through my veins like lightning.
"You want to see what Elisabeth’s daughter can do?" I said, my voice carrying harmonics that made the corrupted symbols on the walls flicker and dim. "Let me show you."
I slammed my palm against the nearest wall, sending my power racing through the ancient stones. The temple’s foundation was indeed connected to the old ley lines, and through them, I could feel every living thing for miles around.
The response was immediate and overwhelming. Vines erupted through cracks in the floor, writhing toward Marcus with predatory intent. The corrupted trees outside began to shake as my consciousness battled with whatever dark magic had twisted them.
Marcus snarled and raised his hands, dark energy crackling between his fingers. "Clever little fairy, but you’re not the only one with power here."
He unleashed a bolt of shadow that slammed into my chest, sending me flying backward. The impact drove the breath from my lungs and left a burning sensation where the dark magic had touched me.
"Victoria!" Elisabeth cried out, struggling against her bonds.
I rolled to my feet, tasting blood. Marcus was stronger than I’d anticipated, his stolen power augmented by whatever ritual preparations he’d been making. But I wasn’t finished.
"Sentinel Grove," I called out, both aloud and through the plant network. "I need you now!"
The ancient trees responded with a rumble that shook the entire temple. Through the corrupted walls, I could see massive forms moving in the darkness—trees older than the temple itself, awakening to righteous fury.
One of the temple walls exploded inward as a centuries-old oak, easily forty feet tall, forced its way inside. Its bark-covered face was a mask of wooden fury as it fixed its hollow gaze on Marcus.
"Defiler," it boomed in a voice like splitting timber. "You have poisoned sacred ground for the last time."
Marcus stumbled backward, his confident facade cracking for the first time. "Impossible. I bound the guardian spirits. They can’t—"
"You bound echoes and shadows," the Sentinel oak growled. "We are the true guardians, and we recognize only the bloodline of Elisabeth."
More ancient trees were forcing their way into the temple now, their massive forms filling the chamber. Marcus raised his hands to cast another spell, but Aurora’s voice cut through the chaos.
"Marcus, stop!" She had dragged herself to her feet, blood trickling from her split lip. "This has gone far enough."
"Silence!" Marcus spun toward her, fury radiating from his unnatural eye. "You forget your place, woman. You belong to me!"
"I belong to no one," Aurora said, and for a moment I heard an echo of the strength she must have once possessed. "Especially not to you."
She began to speak in a language I didn’t recognize—old words that seemed to make the air itself vibrate. The chains binding my mother started to glow, their sickly light flickering.
Marcus’s face went white with rage. "You treacherous bitch! Those chains took months to enchant!"
He lunged toward Aurora, dark magic swirling around his hands like living smoke. But I was faster.
I intercepted him mid-leap, my enhanced strength sending us both crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs. My partially shifted claws raked across his chest, leaving deep furrows in his flesh.
"You want my power so badly?" I snarled, pinning him down as Ava’s fury merged with my own. "Let me give you a taste."
I pressed my palm against his forehead and channeled every ounce of natural energy I could summon. But instead of the healing force I usually wielded, I sent him the overwhelming sensation of life itself—every growing thing, every root network, every blade of grass within miles, all pressing against his consciousness at once.
Marcus screamed, his artificial eye sparking and crackling as my power overloaded whatever dark magic sustained it. He thrashed beneath me, foam flecking his lips as his mind struggled to process the sheer volume of living awareness I was forcing into it.
"Victoria," came my mother’s voice, weak but urgent. "Don’t kill him. That’s not who you are."
Her words cut through my rage like a bucket of cold water. I pulled my hand back, gasping as I regained control of myself. Marcus lay unconscious beneath me, his artificial eye dark and smoking.
I turned to see Aurora finishing whatever spell she’d been casting. The chains around my mother dissolved into wisps of shadow, and Elisabeth sat up slowly, rubbing her wrists where the bindings had left angry red marks.
"Mom," I whispered, rushing to the altar.
She slid down from the stone surface and caught me in a fierce embrace that smelled of earth and growing things and home. "My brave girl," she murmured against my hair. "I knew you’d come. I felt you awakening through the root networks. Your power is even stronger than mine was."
"I thought I’d lost you," I said, tears streaming down my face.
"Shh." Elisabeth stroked my hair gently. "I’m here. I’m alive. And thanks to you, I’m free."
A sound from across the chamber made us both turn. Aurora was leaning against one of the Sentinel trees, her face pale with exhaustion. The tree’s massive hand was supporting her gently, as if recognizing something in her that commanded respect.
"Aurora," my mother said softly. "Thank you."
Aurora’s bitter laugh turned into a cough that brought up flecks of blood. "Don’t thank me yet, Elisabeth. The ritual... Marcus wasn’t lying about everything. He did find a way to steal fairy power, but not through the ceremony you witnessed." She gestured weakly toward the unconscious Marcus. "He’s been siphoning it from me for months. Every spell I cast under his control, every enchantment I helped him create—it drained a little more of my life force."
Horror crept through me as understanding dawned. "That’s why you look so sick."
"I’m dying," Aurora said simply. "Have been for some time now. Marcus promised me he’d release me after tonight, but we both knew that was a lie." She met my eyes directly for the first time. "I couldn’t let him do to you what he did to me."
"Aurora, let me help you. My healing abilities—"
"Won’t work," Aurora interrupted. "The damage is too deep, woven into my very essence. But there is something you can do for me."
She coughed violently several times, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. "Help take care of Enzo for me, tell him I was killed by Marcus, let him forever hate me."
"I can do that," I said. "But Aurora, about everything that happened before—"
"Forgiveness is for the living," Aurora said with a sad smile. "I won’t think I did anything wrong, I just chose the wrong person, but I completed my revenge. Now, use your energy for better purposes."
As if responding to her words, the temple began to shake. Not from my magic this time, but from something approaching from outside—the rumble of vehicles and the howls of wolves.
Leo’s voice crackled through the communication device Carson had given me. "Victoria, we’ve got company. Three trucks full of Marcus’s reinforcements just arrived. Whatever you’re doing in there, finish it fast."
I looked at my mother, then at Aurora, then at the unconscious form of Marcus Grimwood. The final battle was just beginning.
But for the first time since this nightmare started, I felt ready for whatever came next.