Chapter 177: The First Sign

Four years passed. Four years of peace. Four years of quiet.

I was fifty five now. Really feeling my age. Joints aching. Moving carefully. But alive.

Sarah and Maya were fifty four. Both slowing down. Both content. Both happy with simple life.

We lived together. Three sisters. Three retired Lunas. Three old women enjoying peace.

Luna visited every month. Her pack was thriving. Five hundred wolves now. Strongest pack ever.

Thomas, her son, was eighteen. Looked forty. Powerful Guardian. Respected leader. Making changes. Making differences.

Margaret was fifteen. Still growing normally. Beautiful. Strong. Her Luna power fully developed now. Controlled. Impressive.

"She's ready. Ready to lead. Ready to fight if needed." Luna was proud. But also worried.

"The prophecy. It's almost time. One more year." I remembered. Couldn't forget. Five years almost up.

"Margaret sees it clearly now. Every night. The same vision. The same threat. The same ending." Luna looked scared.

"Tell me. Everything. What does she see?" I needed to know. Needed to prepare.

"Darkness. But not like before. Not void. Not emptiness. Something alive. Something intelligent. Something ancient." Luna explained. "It's been sleeping. Underground. For thousands of years. But it's waking up. Because we woke it."

"We? We woke it? How?" Sarah asked. Concerned.

"The Dominion battle. When we combined. When we released all that power. It felt it. It stirred. It started waking." Luna looked guilty. "We saved Earth but we also triggered something worse."

"What is it? What's waking up?" Maya demanded.

"Margaret doesn't know. Just calls it the Ancient One. The First Evil. The Beginning of Darkness." Luna shivered. "It's older than Guardians. Older than supernatural beings. Older than almost everything."

"And it's coming in one year?" I calculated. Five year prophecy. Four years passed. One left.

"Not coming. Rising. It's already here. Under the Earth. Deep. Waiting. Growing stronger. Planning." Luna pulled out her phone. Showed news articles.

Earthquakes. Hundreds of them. All over the world. All in the last month.

"Scientists say it's normal. Tectonic activity. Plate movements. Natural." Luna scrolled. "But Margaret says it's moving. The Ancient One. Positioning itself. Preparing to rise."

"Where? Where will it rise?" I asked. Strategic thinking. Battle planning. Old habits.

"Mount Vesuvius. In Italy. The volcano. It's going to erupt. But not lava. Not ash. The Ancient One. It rises through the volcano. Destroys everything within a thousand miles. Then spreads. Consuming. Destroying. Ending." Luna was shaking.

"When? Exactly when?" Sarah was already planning. Preparing mentally.

"One year from today. Exactly. Margaret saw the date. April twenty third. Next year. That's when it happens." Luna looked at me. "That's when you fight. When Luna Triad fights. One last time."

Through the bond Sarah and Maya felt it. The weight. The fear. The acceptance.

"We're fifty five. Fifty four. Old. Slow. Weak compared to before." Sarah was realistic. Honest.

"But we're still Luna Triad. Still powerful. Still the only ones who can stop it." Maya was determined. Brave.

"How do we stop it? What's the plan?" I needed details. Needed strategy.

"Margaret doesn't know. The vision ends when you arrive. When you face it. What happens after that she can't see. It's blocked. Hidden. Unknown." Luna looked helpless.

"So we go in blind. We fight something ancient and powerful. With no plan. No backup. No hope." I summarized. Grim. True.

"You have backup. Me. Thomas. Margaret. The entire supernatural world. Everyone will fight." Luna was fierce. "We won't let you face this alone."

"No. This is Luna Triad's fight. The prophecy is clear. Just us three." I was firm. Protective.

"Four. Not three. Four." Luna corrected. "I'm Luna too. I fight with you. Non-negotiable."

"You have babies. You have a pack. You have responsibilities." I protested.

"And you're my mother. You're my family. You're my Luna Triad." Luna looked at me. Determined. Stubborn. "I fight. That's final."

Through the bond I felt Sarah and Maya. They agreed. Four Lunas. Together. Like against the Dominion.

"Fine. Four of us. One year to prepare. One year to train. One year to get ready." I accepted. No choice really.

"What do we tell people? The pack? The Council? The world?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing. Not yet. No point causing panic a year early." I decided. "We prepare quietly. We train secretly. We wait."

That night I couldn't sleep. One year. One year until the final battle. The real final battle. The actual ending.

At fifty five. Old. Widowed. Tired. Broken.

I'd fight one more time. Save the world one more time. Be hero one more time.

Or die trying. Probably die trying. Almost certainly die trying.

But I'd do it. Because Margaret saw it. Because prophecy demanded it. Because I was Luna Triad.

And Luna Triad never quit. Never ran. Never stopped.

Even at the end. Even when old. Even when it was impossible.

We'd fight. We'd try. We'd give everything.

One last time. One final battle. One ultimate sacrifice.

In one year. At Mount Vesuvius. Against the Ancient One.

Four Lunas. Against the First Evil. Against impossible odds. Against certain death.

But we'd fight anyway. Because that's who we were. Who we'd always been. Who we'd die being.

Heroes. Protectors. Luna Triad.

Forever. Always. Until the very end.