Chapter 38 The Ritual Begins
Chapter 38:
Sera's POV
We reached Dante's position at dawn and found hell.
Bodies everywhere. Corrupted and pure mixed together. Dante's forces pinned down, surrounded, dying.
And in the center was Ravenna. A Female, ancient, power radiating like a dark star.
"Took you long enough," she called. "I was getting bored."
I didn't answer, just charged.
Our forces hit hers like a hammer. I was exhausted, wounded, but also desperate. The corrupted reeled.
"Impressive." Ravenna watched with amusement. "But futile."
She moved. Faster than anything should move. Tore through our ranks like paper.
"SCATTER!" I screamed. "Don't let her-"
Too late. She grabbed three warriors. Drained them dry in seconds. Their power absorbed into her.
"Delicious." She smiled. "But I was more."
"Fall back!" Dante's voice. "Defensive positions!"
We retreated and she followed. Killing, Feeding and growing stronger.
"This isn't working," Lyssa gasped beside me. "She's too strong-"
"I know." I watched Ravenna cut down more warriors. "We need to stop her feeding."
"How?"
"Give her a target she can't resist." I stood. "Me."
"Sera, no-"
"Keep everyone else back. No matter what." I walked forward. "RAVENNA! You want royal blood? Come get it!"
She stopped, then turned to me. A smile instantly appeared on her face. "Finally. Someone worth eating."
Then we collided. Power against corruption. She was stronger than Helena. Stronger than Kaine. Stronger than anything I'd faced.
And I was already broken.
She drove me back. Each hit cracking bones. My power flickering. Dying.
"Is this the great Twilight Sovereign?" She laughed. "You are pathetic."
I hit the ground. Couldn't get up.
"Mama!" Asher's scream.
"NO!" I tried to warn him. "Stay back!"
But it was too late. He ran toward me anyway. Ravenna saw this and lunged for him.
Dante intercepted and took the hit meant for our son. He went down hard.
"Dante!" I crawled toward him.
"How sweet." Ravenna stood over us. "The family dies together."
She raised her hand for the killing blow then....she froze.
Asher touched her. His small hand on her leg.
"Please don't hurt them," he whispered. "Please."
Something in his voice. His innocence. His pure, desperate plea.
Ravenna staggered. "What...what are you-"
Her corruption cracked. Not from violence. From purity confronting it.
"I'm sorry you're hurt," Asher continued. "I'm sorry someone made you bad. But please stop. Please."
"Stop?" She tried to pull away. But couldn't. "I can't...I've come too far-"
"You can." Asher's power built. Not attacking, just offering. "I can help. Like Mama helped the others."
"No." But her voice wavered. "I chose this. I wanted this."
"Nobody wants to be alone and angry forever." Tears streamed down Asher's face. "You can stop. I'll help."
The corruption shattered.
Ravenna fell to her knees. Looked at her hands. "What have I done?"
"A lot of bad things," Asher said honestly. "But you can stop now."
She looked at him, them me and Dante who was struggling to stand up.
"I was one of you," she whispered. "Before the purge. Before corruption seemed like the only way to survive. I was-" Her voice broke. "I was just scared."
"We're all scared." I forced myself up. "But we don't have to be monsters."
"I killed so many." She looked at the battlefield. "How do I...how can I-"
"You can't undo it." Harsh but true. "But you can stop adding to it."
She nodded slowly, then stood. "The network. There are more. Hidden strongholds, corrupted wolves, plans within plans."
"Show us." Dante limped over. "Help us end this."
"I will." She closed her eyes. "But first...the ritual."
"What ritual?" Cold horror flooded me.
"The one we've been building to." She opened her eyes. "Everything....the attacks, the generals, all of it...was distraction. The real plan started three days ago."
"What plan?" I grabbed her shoulders. "WHAT PLAN?"
"They are going to kill me for this anyway. It's the dimensional breach." Her voice went dead. "We weren't trying to conquer this reality. We were opening a door to let something else in."
"Let what in?" Dante demanded.
"The Primordials." She pointed to the sky. "They're already coming."
I looked up. The sky was wrong. Cracking. Reality itself splitting.
"How long?" My voice barely worked.
"Hours. Maybe less." Ravenna swayed. "The breach opens at the source point. Where the first corrupted Lycan died and the network began."
"Where?" I shook her. "WHERE?"
"The old Lunar Lycan capital. Where your family was purged." She met my eyes. "Where this all started twenty-five years ago."
The place I'd never been. It was the tomb of my ancestors.
"How do we stop it?" Dante asked.
"You need to close the breach from inside. Someone has to enter it, channel pure Lunar Lycan power to seal it."
"I'll do it," I said immediately.
"It's suicide." Ravenna's expression was pitying. "The person who seals it dies. Burns out completely."
Silence.
"Then I die." Simple. Final. "Better me than everyone."
"Sera, no." Dante grabbed me. "You are not doing this. You are not going to leave me again."
"There's no choice!" I pulled free from his grip. "I'm the only pure Lunar Lycan left-"
"You're not." Ravenna interrupted. "Your son. He has the power too."
Ice flooded my veins. "No. Absolutely not."
"I'm not suggesting-" Ravenna started.
"Good. Because he's a child. MY child. I won't sacrifice him."
"Then you sacrifice yourself?" Dante's voice cracked. "Leave him without a mother?"
"Better alive without me than dead with me!" I turned on him. "We don't have time to argue! The breach-"
The sky split wider. Something moved in the gap. Massive. Ancient. Wrong.
"We need to move," Ravenna said. "Now. Or discussing who dies is pointless because we'll all die anyway."
"How do we reach the capital?" Lyssa asked.
"I know the way." Ravenna started walking. "Follow me."
We had no choice. Gathered what remained of our forces and followed.
Toward the place where everything began.
Toward the breach between worlds.
Toward someone's death.
Maybe mine. Maybe someone else's.
But someone wasn't walking away from this.
The only question was who.