Chapter 115: The Balance of Power
708 Words
The temple was falling apart.
Cracks spread across the walls like lightning.
Huge chunks of stone crashed down from the ceiling, smashing against the ancient floor.
The silver power surrounding Aria had grown into a raging storm of moonlight.
It spun around her body like a wild hurricane.
Kael shielded his eyes from the blinding glow.
“Aria!” he shouted.
“You have to control it!”
But the power wasn’t listening.
It kept growing.
The Moon’s energy surged through her veins like fire.
Every heartbeat made the light explode stronger.
Across the chamber, the Blood King watched calmly.
A satisfied smile slowly appeared on his face.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
“This is exactly what I wanted to see.”
Darius ducked as another stone pillar collapsed nearby.
“I hate this place!”
Roran grabbed him and pulled him behind a broken wall for cover.
“If that power keeps increasing,” Roran warned, “none of us are leaving this temple alive.”
At the center of the storm, Aria struggled to breathe.
The silver energy surrounded her completely.
Her feet lifted slightly off the ground as the power lifted her into the air.
Inside her mind, everything felt chaotic.
The temple voice returned once again.
“Moon’s Daughter.”
The ancient voice echoed around her.
“You have been given power.”
Images appeared around her again.
Visions of the future.
Some showed her protecting the world.
Others showed the world burning beneath her power.
“You must choose balance.”
Aria clenched her fists.
“How?”
The voice answered calmly.
“The Moon does not dominate.”
The storm of silver energy slowed slightly.
“It guides.”
Another vision appeared.
This time Aria saw herself standing peacefully beneath a glowing full moon.
Her power flowed gently around her like calm water.
Not violent.
Not destructive.
Controlled.
The temple voice spoke again.
“Power without control brings destruction.”
Aria took a deep breath.
She closed her eyes.
Around her, the violent storm of moonlight continued raging.
But slowly…
She focused on Kael’s voice.
“Trust your power.”
She remembered the people she wanted to protect.
The kingdom.
Her friends.
Kael.
“I won’t destroy them,” she whispered.
The silver storm around her suddenly slowed.
The spinning moonlight became calmer.
Gentler.
The light wrapped around her body like a glowing cloak.
Her feet slowly touched the ground again.
The temple tremors began weakening.
Across the chamber, the Blood King’s smile slowly faded.
“Impossible…”
Aria opened her eyes.
They now glowed with calm silver light.
Not wild power.
But controlled power.
She raised one hand.
The silver energy gathered into a single beam of light above her palm.
The temple stabilized.
The falling stones stopped.
The cracks in the walls stopped spreading.
Kael stared in amazement.
“She did it…”
Darius blinked.
“Well I’ll be damned.”
Roran lowered his sword slightly.
“That kind of control…”
Aria slowly stepped forward.
Her calm silver aura filled the entire chamber.
She looked directly at the Blood King.
“I told you.”
Her voice echoed softly through the temple.
“The Moon protects.”
The Blood King’s crimson eyes darkened.
For the first time—
He looked slightly concerned.
“You’ve mastered the Moon’s balance…”
His aura flared violently again.
“But this battle isn’t finished.”
The temple floor cracked again beneath his feet.
Crimson energy exploded around him like a volcanic eruption.
“You may control the Moon…”
He spread his arms as the dark power filled the chamber.
“But you have not seen the full power of Blood.”
His body began changing.
Dark crimson armor formed around him.
Massive wings of shadow burst from his back.
The temperature in the temple dropped instantly.
Darius sighed.
“Oh great.”
He pointed toward the transforming Blood King.
“He’s entering his final form, isn’t he?”
The Blood King’s glowing crimson eyes locked onto Aria.
“Yes.”
His voice now echoed like thunder.
“And this time…”
The entire temple shook again.
“…I will not hold back.”
The final stage of the battle had begun.
- Writer
