Moonblood Wastes

Chapter 9 Blood Moon Ritual

The blood moon hung low, a bruised orb leaking crimson light over the Wastes. Lin Che stood in the Bone Palace’s central chamber, Su Zhiyin’s flute notes weaving through the air like spectral threads. "Again," she said, her voice steady. "Focus on the melody, not the rage."

He gritted his teeth, feeling Urgal’s presence surge—hot, wild, hungry. The wolf god’s impatience was a drumbeat in his skull, "Why practice control when we could be hunting?"

"Because we’re not animals," Lin Che hissed, both to Urgal and himself. He raised his hand, summoning a flicker of starlight—not the destructive surge of before, but a controlled flame. It danced on his palm, steady as a heartbeat.

Vorath leaned against a bone pillar, watching. "Impressive. Now try not to incinerate us when the blood moon hits."

Su Zhiyin lowered her flute. "The moon’s influence will amplify both your powers. And your conflicts." She paused, eyeing the star tattoos on Lin Che’s face, now faintly glowing. "You need to find a balance before it rises."

Lin Che nodded, but before he could respond, a scream echoed from outside. A villager stumbled into the palace, clutching a mortal wound—his skin blistered, as if burned by cold. "They’re here," he gasped. "The Court’s… soul hunters."

The hunters materialized like shadows, their forms wreathed in frost. Unlike Reapers, they wielded no physical weapons—only talismans etched with the Empress’s sigil. "Kaelar," their leader croaked, voice like wind through a grave. "Your mother sends her regards."

Lin Che’s totem flared. "What do you want?"

"Your truth," the hunter said, and threw the talisman.

Pain—agonizing, icy, all-consuming—ripped through Lin Che. He fell to his knees, suddenly drowning in memories not his own: the Empress laughing as she drove the spear into Urgal, yes, but also… his own birth.

He saw the Empress’s face, not as a killer, but as a scientist—observing, measuring, disappointed. "Weak," she’d said, tossing him into a crib marked with wards. "But perhaps salvageable."

"Lin Che!" Su Zhiyin’s voice was distant, as if heard through water. "Fight it! Those are lies!"

But the vision deepened. He was in a lab, surrounded by starlight machinery, his father struggling against Celestial guards. "You’ll never control him!" the man shouted. "He’s not a weapon—he’s alive!"

The Empress’s smirk: "Alive, yes. But weapons can be alive, too."

Lin Che surged to his feet, fury and confusion warring in his chest. "She created me," he snarled. "Not just as a hybrid, but as a project. A way to harness Urgal’s power without being consumed by it."

Vorath cursed. "So you’re not just a keybearer. You’re a lab rat."

The soul hunter laughed, a hollow sound. "Clever boy. And now, your mother sends us to retrieve her experiment."

Before Lin Che could react, the hunter’s talismans flared, and shadows coiled around Lin Che’s throat, dragging him into the void of his own mind. There, the Empress awaited, projected as a hologram of starlight.

"Hello, Kaelar," she said. "Did you enjoy the memories? Such a shame your father had to die to keep you hidden. But no matter—I have what I need now."

Lin Che strained against the shadows. "What do you want?"

"Simple," she said, and raised the wolfsbane shard. "I want to unmake you. To separate the god from the man, and see which one bleeds first."

The shard pierced his chest, and Lin Che screamed—this time, not in physical pain, but in spiritual agony. He could feel Urgal’s presence tearing away, the bond between them fraying.

"Lin Che, hold on!" Su Zhiyin’s voice cut through the void. He reached for it, for her, and saw her in the real world, playing her flute with such force that blood trickled from her nose.

The melody anchored him. He focused on it, on the rhythm of her breath, the memory of her hand in his. "You won’t win," he snarled at the Empress. "I’m not just your experiment. I’m the wolf you feared."

The Empress’s hologram flickered. "We’ll see, Kaelar. When the blood moon peaks, the final ritual begins. And you… will be the sacrifice."

With that, the shadows released him, and Lin Che gasped back to reality, collapsing into Su Zhiyin’s arms.

Vorath killed the last soul hunter with a savage growl, then knelt beside them. "What did she do to you?"

"She’s severing my bond with Urgal," Lin Che said, clutching his chest. "At the blood moon… she plans to use me to resurrect a new god. One under her control."

Su Zhiyin paled. "That’s why she needed the wolfsbane. To weaken the bond and replace it with her own magic."

Varyn’s bone map suddenly glowed, revealing a new symbol—the double moon, now bleeding into one. "The ritual’s location," Lin Che said. "It’s… the Empress’s birthplace. The Celestial Nexus."

Vorath stood, claws extending. "Then we go there. We stop her before she finishes the ritual."

Lin Che nodded, but Urgal’s voice was quieter now, distant. "She may succeed, little wolf. And if she does…"

"Then we’ll die fighting," Lin Che said aloud. "But first, we live. And we win."

As the blood moon climbed higher, Lin Che retreated to the skull throne, Su Zhiyin by his side. "Play the song again," he said. "The one that helped me focus."

She nodded, and began to play—a slow, haunting melody that echoed through the palace. Lin Che closed his eyes, reaching for Urgal’s presence, now a faint ember in the darkness.

"I’m here," he thought. "And I’m not letting you go."

For the first time, Urgal listened. The ember flared, and together, they howled—a sound that shook the Wastes, as if the very moon itself shuddered in response.

In the Celestial Nexus, the Empress smiled, her ritual circle complete. "Come, my son," she whispered to the blood moon. "Let mother show you what happens when gods play at being human."

The final battle drew near. And in the silence before the storm, Lin Che knew one thing: whatever happened at the Nexus, nothing would ever be the same.