Chapter 14 - The Lunarians
1918 Words
For the first time in generations, Lunaris slept beneath a peaceful moon.
The fires of celebration had finally faded.
The streets were quiet.
The werewolves who had once fought one another now rested beneath the same sky.
Princess Luna stood alone on the highest balcony of the ancient castle.
She looked over the kingdom.
It was still broken.
Stone towers remained in ruins. Ancient walls were cracked. Forest had swallowed entire districts.
But tonight, Lunaris felt alive.
Luna touched the silver crescent on her forehead.
The Unification Mark had appeared after she rejected the First Throne.
She still didn't understand what it meant.
“You're thinking too much.”
Luna smiled before turning.
Kael stood behind her.
“You always know when I'm thinking.”
“I've been watching you for eighteen years.”
Luna raised an eyebrow.
“That's slightly terrifying.”
Kael smiled.
“I meant protecting you.”
“Of course.”
He walked toward the balcony.
For a while, they stood together in silence.
Then Luna asked:
“Do you regret finding me?”
Kael looked at her.
“Never.”
“Even after everything that happened?”
“Especially after everything that happened.”
Luna looked down.
“I don't know what happens next.”
Kael stepped closer.
“Neither do I.”
“That doesn't sound like you.”
“I usually pretend I know.”
Luna laughed.
Then her smile faded.
“Kael.”
“Yes?”
“What happens if I'm not strong enough?”
He looked into her eyes.
“Then we'll become stronger.”
“We?”
“Always.”
Luna's heart skipped.
She slowly reached for his hand.
Kael took it.
Neither of them spoke.
The distance between them became smaller.
Luna could hear his heartbeat.
Kael leaned toward her.
Then—
BOOOOM!
A tremendous explosion shook the kingdom.
They immediately separated.
Kael drew his sword.
“What was that?”
Another explosion echoed from the western forest.
Then screams.
Luna's eyes widened.
“Attack.”
Kael looked toward the horizon.
Dark clouds were spreading across the sky.
But they weren't clouds.
They were shadows.
“Wake the warriors,” Luna ordered.
Kael nodded.
“I'm going.”
He turned.
Luna grabbed his arm.
“Come back.”
Kael looked at her.
“I will.”
---
The western wall was already burning.
Werewolves rushed through the streets.
Children were carried into underground shelters.
Warriors gathered at the gates.
Luna arrived with Selene.
“What are we fighting?” Luna asked.
Elder Rowan was gone.
The Bloodfang had retreated.
The Lucians had disappeared.
Yet the enemy approaching Lunaris was unlike anything they had faced before.
A massive black fog moved through the forest.
Inside it were dozens of glowing violet eyes.
Kael stared.
“Moon Eater descendants.”
Selene's face became pale.
“I thought they were extinct.”
“So did I.”
The fog reached the edge of the city.
A figure emerged.
A young woman.
She had long black hair and pale skin.
Two small black horns curved backward from her temples.
Her eyes were violet.
Black markings covered her arms.
She smiled.
“Princess Luna.”
Luna stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The woman bowed mockingly.
“My name is Lyra.”
Kael's sword rose.
“What do you want?”
Lyra looked at Luna.
“Your blood.”
Luna's expression hardened.
“You'll have to take it.”
Lyra smiled.
“That's exactly what I intend to do.”
She raised one hand.
The black fog exploded across the battlefield.
Hundreds of creatures emerged.
Werewolves twisted by dark magic.
Shadow beasts.
And creatures that looked almost human.
The defenders charged.
The battle began.
---
Luna raised both hands.
Silver energy spread across the battlefield.
A protective barrier surrounded the city.
The shadow creatures slammed against it.
The barrier held.
For now.
Kael fought at the western gate.
His silver sword moved like lightning.
A creature lunged.
He dodged.
Another attacked.
He struck it down.
But there were too many.
“Kael!”
He turned.
A massive shadow beast had appeared behind him.
Luna raised her hand.
Silver chains erupted from the ground.
They wrapped around the creature.
Kael finished it with one strike.
He looked at Luna.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
Lyra watched them from across the battlefield.
She smiled.
“So that's your weakness.”
Her violet eyes focused on Kael.
“Interesting.”
---
Lyra suddenly vanished.
Luna looked around.
“Where did she go?”
Kael shouted:
“Luna!”
Too late.
Lyra appeared behind her.
A black blade pressed against Luna's throat.
The entire battlefield stopped.
Lyra whispered:
“You're powerful.”
Luna remained calm.
“But not powerful enough.”
Luna's silver eyes flashed.
A shockwave erupted.
Lyra was thrown backward.
She landed gracefully.
Luna turned.
“Don't touch him.”
Lyra smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Your attachment.”
Luna's expression hardened.
Lyra laughed.
“The ancient Moon Eaters always warned us.”
“About what?”
“That the Moonfang heir would eventually fall in love with a guardian.”
Kael froze.
Luna stared at Lyra.
“What did you say?”
Lyra's smile widened.
“Your bloodline has always been predictable.”
Kael stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Lyra looked at him.
“You are the guardian.”
“Yes.”
“You carry the blood of the ancient Night Guardians.”
Kael's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know that?”
Lyra laughed.
“Because the Moon Eaters created your order.”
Luna looked at Kael.
“Is that true?”
Kael didn't answer.
Lyra continued.
“Your guardian was never meant to protect the Moonfang.”
She pointed at Kael.
“He was created to kill her.”
Silence.
Luna stared at Kael.
“Kael?”
His expression was unreadable.
“I didn't know.”
Lyra laughed.
“You didn't?”
Kael looked furious.
“I said I didn't know.”
Lyra suddenly stopped smiling.
Then she looked at Luna.
“You still don't understand what we are.”
Luna frowned.
“What are you?”
Lyra's violet eyes began glowing.
“We are not werewolves.”
The battlefield fell silent.
“We are Lunarians.”
Selene's face went pale.
“Impossible.”
Lyra smiled.
“Your history calls us the descendants of the Moon Eaters.”
She spread her arms.
“But the truth is older than your kingdom.”
Dark energy rose around her.
“The Moon Eaters were the first of our kind.”
Luna stared.
“What happened to them?”
“They became corrupted by the power they consumed.”
Lyra's voice became colder.
“But their blood survived.”
She pointed toward the creatures behind her.
“We are their descendants.”
Kael looked toward Selene.
“You knew about them?”
Selene shook her head.
“I thought the Lunarians were extinct.”
Lyra laughed.
“You were taught the wrong history.”
She looked at Luna.
“Before Lunaris was built, before the Moonfang dynasty ruled these lands, the Lunarians lived beneath the Blood Moon.”
Luna's eyes widened.
“So you existed before the werewolf kingdoms?”
“Yes.”
Lyra's expression became proud.
“We are an ancient race born from lunar power.”
She touched the black markings on her arm.
“Our ancestors could manipulate darkness, consume magical energy, and travel between the physical world and the realm of shadows.”
Luna looked at the black fog surrounding them.
“That is what this is.”
“Lunarian shadow magic.”
Selene stepped forward.
“Then why attack us?”
Lyra's expression hardened.
“Because the Moonfangs took our lands.”
“The Moonfangs?”
“You built Lunaris on the ruins of our civilization.”
Luna shook her head.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
Lyra's eyes softened for a moment.
“That's why I don't blame you.”
She raised her hand.
“But I need your power.”
“Why?”
“Because the Unification Mark has awakened.”
Lyra pointed toward Luna's forehead.
“And that mark can open the Lunar Gate.”
Luna felt a chill.
“What is the Lunar Gate?”
Lyra smiled.
“The doorway to the original realm of the Lunarians.”
Kael stepped forward.
“And what happens if she opens it?”
Lyra looked at him.
“Our ancient kingdom returns.”
The black fog grew thicker.
“And every sleeping Lunarian will awaken.”
Luna realized what that meant.
“You want to bring your entire race back.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
Lyra smiled.
“Millions.”
Silence fell across the battlefield.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
“That's impossible.”
Lyra looked at him.
“You should know better than anyone.”
She pointed toward the ancient mountains.
“The Lunarians have been sleeping beneath this world for thousands of years.”
Luna stared at the ground.
Something beneath Lunaris suddenly answered.
A deep pulse.
BOOM.
Then another.
BOOM.
The earth trembled.
Lyra smiled.
“They heard me.”
---
Later that night, the surviving warriors gathered inside the castle.
Luna stood before the ancient map of Lunaris.
Selene studied it carefully.
“The Lunarians weren't simply another race.”
“What were they?”
Selene pointed to an ancient symbol.
“They were the original lunar civilization.”
Kael frowned.
“And the Moon Eaters?”
“Their royal bloodline.”
Luna stared at the map.
“So the Moon Eaters weren't monsters originally.”
“No.”
Selene's voice was quiet.
“They were Lunarians who became corrupted by their own power.”
Luna looked toward the western forest.
“And Lyra?”
Selene sighed.
“She may be the heir of the surviving Lunarian bloodline.”
Kael's expression darkened.
“Then she's more dangerous than we thought.”
Luna touched the Unification Mark.
“She said I can open the Lunar Gate.”
Selene nodded.
“Which means she may need you alive.”
Luna looked at Kael.
“And if she gets what she wants?”
Kael answered quietly.
“Then the Lunarians return.”
“And what happens to the werewolves?”
“No one knows.”
Luna looked out toward the moon.
For the first time, she understood that the war wasn't simply between werewolf clans anymore.
It was between two ancient civilizations.
The Moonfangs and the Lunarians.
And somehow, she stood between them.
---
Far beyond Lunaris, Lyra stood inside a hidden temple.
Elder Rowan stood beside her.
“You failed to control the princess.”
Rowan looked toward the enormous stone doors.
“She has become stronger.”
Lyra smiled.
“She has also become predictable.”
“What do you mean?”
Lyra touched an ancient Lunarian symbol.
“She loves the Night Guardian.”
Rowan's eyes narrowed.
“And?”
Lyra looked toward the distant kingdom.
“Every ancient prophecy has a weakness.”
She smiled.
“If Luna won't open the Lunar Gate willingly…”
The temple began to shake.
“…we will give her a reason.”
Behind them, millions of ancient symbols slowly illuminated beneath the earth.
And beneath the ruins of the forgotten Lunarian civilization, something enormous opened its eyes.
The descendants of the Moon Eaters had awakened.
The Lunarians were coming home.
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