Chapter-HundredThirty Seven, Plan B

Chapter-HundredThirty Seven, Plan B
Zoe’s Pov

The Blood Moon Pack was dying around us.

Everywhere I looked wolves were fighting for their lives while dark creatures ripped through the pack lands like monsters unleashed straight from Hell itself. Cabins burned beneath the crimson moon while screams echoed across the forest.

Teenagers barely old enough to shift fought beside warriors twice their size.

Mothers shielded children.

Fathers died protecting borders already lost.

And through all of it…

Luicen stood untouched.

The storm wrapped around him violently, black magic exploding from his body in endless waves while demons crawled from the ground around his feet.

Every creature we killed came back stronger.

Every wolf we lost rose corrupted.

This wasn’t a battle anymore.

It was slaughter.

Rain mixed with blood as another explosion tore through the eastern borders. I watched a warrior collapse to his knees while one of Luicen’s creatures tore straight through his chest.

My stomach twisted violently.

Enough.

This ended now.

I turned sharply toward Lara and the kings standing near the destroyed pack house, all of them covered in blood and ash.

“Plan B,” I said loudly.

Lara froze instantly.

King Barry looked toward me with narrowed eyes while Alpha Jayden ripped his claws through another demon nearby.

“No,” Lara breathed.

“We’re out of time.”

“Zoe—”

“The second I seal Luicen,” I interrupted sharply, “you and the kings put Gemma under the sleep curse.”

Silence hit instantly.

Even the storm itself seemed to pause.

Because everyone knew exactly what that spell meant.

The Sleep Curse wasn’t ordinary magic.

It was ancient underworld magic.

Forbidden magic.

A curse designed to force a corrupted soul into magical death until the darkness poisoning them weakened enough to be removed.

And if cast wrong…

It could trap Gemma forever.

I looked toward Gemma standing beside Luicen.

Her crimson eyes glowed unnaturally bright beneath the storm while dark veins spread across her pale skin. Black smoke curled around her body as Hell magic consumed more and more of her soul.

But I could still feel her.

Still hear her.

Buried beneath the darkness.

Fighting.

Waiting.

Lara stepped closer to me. “If we force the curse before the demon weakens, it could shatter her soul completely.”

“And if we don’t,” I whispered painfully, “she kills everyone here.”

Nobody argued after that.

Because deep down…

We all knew it was true.

Lightning exploded overhead violently.

The ground beneath us trembled again as another portal opened near the western cabins. Demons poured free while terrified pack members screamed.

Luicen laughed.

The sound echoed across the battlefield like death itself.

“You are losing, little witch!”

I slowly turned toward him.

“No,” I answered coldly.

My magic snapped violently through the air.

Silver flames erupted around my feet while ancient symbols burned into the mud beneath me. Wind screamed across the battlefield as darkness and light collided inside my veins.

The underworld answered instantly.

Cold power surged through my body so violently my knees almost buckled.

Then the earth cracked open.

Massive black chains wrapped in glowing silver runes slowly rose from beneath the battlefield.

Underworld shackles.

Every demon nearby froze.

Even Luicen stopped smiling.

Good.

The chains rattled violently as they floated around me like living creatures. Ancient symbols burned brighter across the iron while whispers echoed through the storm.

The shackles were alive.

And they recognised Hell.

Luicen took one slow step backward.

“You dare summon those?”

“I bury you in the darkness you created.”

The storm exploded around us.

I raised both hands toward the sky as silver light erupted violently from my body.

“I summon the ancient chains forged beneath the underworld Kane. ” I chanted loudly. “I call upon the kings who walked before me and the guardians standing between life and death!”

Magic screamed through the battlefield.

The shackles ignited.

Then the spell came.

Ancient words poured from my mouth naturally like the magic itself was speaking through me.

“Per sanguinem regum antiquorum… Per ignem inferni… Per portas aeternas clausas… Invoco vincula mortis…”

The chains spun violently around me.

Luicen’s expression darkened instantly.

“How..”

“I bind the darkness standing before me!” I screamed.

The shackles shot forward instantly.

One wrapped around his throat.

Another slammed around his chest.

The remaining chains locked around his arms and legs before dragging him violently onto his knees.

Luicen roared.

Pure darkness exploded outward from his body in a violent shockwave that sent wolves flying backward through the mud.

Still the chains held.

The symbols burned brighter.

Smoke rose from his skin as the underworld magic started sealing directly into his flesh.

I could feel the strain tearing through my body already.

Blood poured heavily from my nose.

Still I forced more magic forward.

“I lock you up as I shackle your mind!” I screamed.

The runes ignited brighter.

“Mentem tuam claudo… Animam tuam alligo… Potestatem tuam frango… Sub lege inferni… Sub sanguine lunae… Non fugies… Non resurges… Non imperabis!”

Luicen screamed in agony.

The chains tightened violently around him while black cracks spread across his skin.

His power was weakening.

I could feel it.

And the second his control weakened—

A horrifying scream ripped from Gemma's throat as darkness exploded around her body uncontrollably. Crimson light flickered violently through her eyes while shadow magic burst from her skin like fire.

The connection between them was either breaking or it's getting stronger and I knew it's now or never.

“NOW!” I screamed.

The kings and Lara moved instantly.

The moment Luicen’s magic weakened, Lara rushed toward Gemma with King Barry and King Larry beside her.

Gemma fought violently.Her powers showing. 

Dark smoke exploded around her body as Jayden and Logan grabbed her arms trying desperately to hold her still.

“She’s losing control!” Logan shouted.

“No,” Lara snapped. “The darkness is losing control!”

Gemma’s body arched painfully as black veins spread higher across her throat. Her eyes shifted rapidly between silver and crimson while screams tore from her chest.

For one tiny second—

I saw the real Gemma.

Terrified.

Broken.

Then the demon surged again.

Shadow wings exploded from her back made entirely from black smoke.

The ground beneath her cracked apart.

Lara lifted both hands instantly.

Silver symbols ignited around Gemma’s body forming an ancient circle beneath the mud.

The kings joined hands beside Lara.

And together…

They began the Sleep Curse.

“Per lunam sanguinis… Per somnum aeternum… Per animam fractam… Vocamus silentium…”

The battlefield trembled violently.

Gemma screamed.

Darkness exploded from her body in waves powerful enough to shatter nearby trees.

Jayden almost lost hold of her.

“Keep her down!” Lara screamed.

King Barry slammed his hand against the glowing symbols forcing more power into the spell while blood dripped heavily from Lara’s nose.

The curse was draining all of them.

“Claudimus daemonium… Ligamus tenebras… Custodimus animam veram… Dormiat corruptio…”

Silver chains made entirely from magic wrapped around Gemma’s wrists and throat.

She thrashed violently against them.

“No!” the demon screamed through her voice.

Lara’s eyes glowed bright silver.

“You are not taking her soul.”

The symbols around Gemma ignited brighter.

Then the final phase of the curse began.

Ancient underworld magic exploded upward around the circle while the kings spoke together.

“Per portas inferni clausas… Per reges antiquos… Per cineres mortuorum… Damnamus daemonium ad somnum aeternum!”

The sky cracked with thunder.

Gemma screamed so loudly the entire battlefield froze.

Darkness burst from her chest in one violent explosion while a black light consumed her completely.

Lara stepped forward.

Whispered the final curse.

“Sleep until the darkness weakens… Sleep until your soul remembers the light and the holes… Sleep until the demon no longer owns your mind we give you power to fight the demon in your mind…”

Her voice hardened.

“Dormi, Gemma.”

BOOM.

A massive shockwave exploded across the battlefield.

The storm above us stopped instantly.

Gemma’s body collapsed motionless into the mud.

The crimson vanished from her eyes.

The darkness disappeared.

And for the first time all night…

Silence fell across the battlefield.

Then behind me—

Luicen laughed weakly.

Cold fear crawled down my spine.

Because the chains around him had started cracking.